Former WWE star Matt Cardona (fka Zack Ryder) recently spoke with Wrestling Inc. to discuss his work with AEW and how he hopes to remain with the promotion after his short-term contract is up.
How he talks to Cody everyday:
I’ve been great friends with Cody for a couple years now, so we talk almost every day if not every day. So definitely, we spoke that day. We spoke before that day. We spoke after that day. We’re always talking, always communicating.
How their relationship developed after seeing each other as competition:
At first we weren’t friends. It’s like any other job. There’s people that you’re really good friends [and] with some people, you just say hi and bye to, and Cody was one of those guys. We kind of broke into WWE the same time, kind of each other’s competition. We’re the same age, but we were never enemies just never good buds, and it wasn’t until we realized we both love theme parks that really got us talking. And then we did a trip together to Universal Studios to see the new Harry Potter stuff that was opening up, and then from there, from that day, instant buds. Theme park stuff all the time and then obviously became closer friends.
How he hopes to remain with AEW after his short-term contract is up:
It’s no surprise I’m good friends with Cody, and it’s no surprise that he has a little stroke in the company. So it’s kind of like a perfect fit,” Cardona admitted. “You see online that I haven’t signed a long-term thing, and that’s true, but I’m not there to just get a new t-shirt on ShopAEW.com. I want to win championships. I want to be on Dynamite every week. I want to be on the PPVs. So right now, we haven’t come to a long-term agreement, but that’s certainly my plan to be there long term.
Check out the full interview above.