Ex-WWE Star Says He Refused To "Beg" AEW For A Contract
This former WWE man wasn't going to "sit there and beg" Tony Khan for an AEW deal.
Matt Cardona, best-known for his lengthy stint in WWE as Zack Ryder, has said he wasn't going to "sit there and beg" for an AEW contract last year.
During an interview with the 'Pro Wrestling 4-Life' podcast, Cardona refused to badmouth Tony Khan or AEW. However, he wasn't prepared to bust out his best begging bowl and hang around too long if a full-time deal wasn't forthcoming.
It wasn't.
Even so, Matt described All Elite as "the place to be", and made sure to note that everybody backstage was super-welcoming to him between July-September 2020; Cardona only worked two matches with AEW. He teamed with Cody Rhodes against Dark Order members Alex Reynolds and John Silver on the 5 August Dynamite (taped on 30 July), then wrestled in an eight-man tag at All Out.
That "little agreement" was short-lived. Khan and other AEW top brass didn't produce a long-term deal for Cardona, and he has since moved on to IMPACT Wrestling. Unlike AEW, they did draw up a contract for the former Intercontinental and United States Champ to sign.
Cardona doesn't have any regrets about the way things panned out.