Matt Cardona, then going by the Zack Ryder, got himself over with WWE fans despite receiving very little television time thanks to his YouTube show True Long Island Story. Fans would chant “We Want Ryder” at shows, his merchandise would sell out, and he, therefore, proclaimed himself the Internet Champion. The speculation was that WWE management was actually annoyed with Cardona getting himself over without their involvement, and that’s why he never received a sustained push.
Now while appearing as a guest on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast, Cardona would reveal that at the time, Triple H told him that he was a mark for himself and that 10 years prior, the locker room would have kicked his ass. Cardona says he replied by saying, “well, the locker room loves me,” prompting Triple H to claim that is why attendances were down.
Cardona’s time with WWE was very peculiar, with management seemingly going out of their way to devalue him as an asset. For years fans would call for Cardona to quit the promotion, but likely due to having grown up as a fan of the promotion and living his dream, plus regularly receiving a decent paycheck, he continued to make the best of what he was given.
WWE would eventually release him in April 2020, forcing him to look for other employment possibilities. Since then, he has appeared briefly for AEW and is now an Impact Wrestling regular. Additionally, his recent foray into the world of deathmatch wrestling with Game Changer Wrestler has seen him become one of the most talked-about wrestlers online, again giving him a legitimate claim as the Internet Champion.
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