Matt Cardona Calls Not Signing With AEW 'A Blessing In Disguise,' Says He'd Be On Dark

Though Cody Rhodes had a successful career all over the world after he left WWE in 2016, his path may not be for every wrestler. For instance, that same trajectory charted by "The American Nightmare" didn't work for Matt Cardona. 

Despite being "Alwayz Ready," it seemed like AEW wasn't ready for him when he was released from WWE in 2020. But with the benefit of hindsight, the "Michael Jordan of Wrestling Figure Collecting" can see that things worked out better for him in the long run.

During a recent appearance on "Casual Conversations With The Classic," Cardona revealed that his long-time friend Rhodes was there for him as soon as he lost his dream job. But some of the connections made for him didn't play out exactly how the he anticipated.

"Cody right away put me in contact with his agent," said Cardona. "He gave me some great advice, but in the wrestling business, if a producer or an agent is giving you feedback on a match, sometimes that advice doesn't work for you. I realized I don't want an agent. I don't need somebody doing my bookings. I want to be in the trenches. I want to be the guy knowing the numbers. I want to be the guy doing the negotiating. I want to be the guy in control."

Some fairly big decisions were made for him before Matt Cardona could fully realize exactly what he wanted out of his career. But when he saw the writing on the wall at AEW, he made the call to bet on himself rather than repeat old patterns.

"Cody set me up for sure," the former Zack Ryder continued. "He got me that AEW cup of coffee run and I'm grateful for that. It didn't work out at the time and I'll admit that I was bummed out. I was like, 'Oh s**t. Now what?' Looking back, it's a blessing in disguise. If I would have signed with AEW, then I'd be on f***ing 'Dark' right now. No offense to those guys. That's not what I want. I was already that guy in WWE. I want to be in control of my own destiny and in control of my own fate."

From that point on, that was exactly what he did. Cardona won world championships in a number of promotions including NWA, GCW, and World Series Wrestling. Along with his "Major Wrestling Figure Podcast" cohorts, he has expanded the possibilities at the merch stand for independent wrestlers, and his toy collection is more extensive than ever. Matt Cardona is clearly living his best life right now, so no one can really fault him for the path that he took to get there.