Matt Cardona, Fka Zack Ryder, On Finding Himself Following WWE Firing

After spending well over a decade working in WWE, Matt Cardona (known in the company as Zack Ryder) was released in 2020, forcing the wrestler to reinvent himself on the independent scene. During a recent appearance on "Walkway To Fight Club," Cardona looked back on his termination and revealed that it's something he believes needed to happen in order for him to advance his career.

"WWE had offered pretty much everybody new contracts a year before I got fired, because AEW was starting up," Cardona said. "They'd offered everybody big new deals, five-year deals, big money. I didn't sign it, because ... even then, I'm like, 'I don't know if I want to stay here. I see how the company sees me.'"

While Cardona felt that the company "threw [him] a bone" from time to time, it was clear to him that he would never reach the levels he wanted to reach in WWE without proving himself elsewhere. Still, he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to leave until the company made the call to let him go.

"I needed that," Cardona continued. "It took me a while to find myself because we were in ... the very beginning of the pandemic. There [were] no independents to do, there was nowhere to go. I did the cup of coffee in AEW — it didn't work out. I wasn't even wrestling."

Cardona now credits TNA Wrestling, which was still known as Impact Wrestling at the time, for helping reinvigorate his wrestling career. The former WWE star has found great success in that company over the last several years, though Cardona also lamented the fact that he has yet to receive any offers from one of the bigger wrestling promotions.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Walkway To Fight Club" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.