Former WWE Star Says Match With Nick Gage Changed His Career

Matt Cardona has stated that a match with Nick Gage changed his career. Cardona, while talking on the "Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast," said that the feud with Gage in GCW solidified his place as a draw on the independent scene. That was where, instead of the lovable Zack Ryder character from WWE, Cardona showed his utility as a sleazy, cowardly heel.

"When I won that GCW Title and the fans are throwing garbage into the ring, it wasn't a couple [of] bottles, I was being showered with things," Cardona recalled. "Someone even threw a pizza cutter at me — you watch the replay, you can see it — which is pretty, pretty dangerous. But I was absolutely loving it, right? Because I wanted to be a heel, a bad guy, for so long, but in WWE, I don't write the show. You can pitch things all day, but I can't just become a bad guy. Or even when I got released and I was on the independents, you can't just become a bad guy. Something needs to happen." 

Getting booed out of the building in GCW allowed him to shift gears and take his in-ring career in a different direction from the lovable "woo woo woo" guy or the likable toy collector.

"It changed my career, it changed my life," Cardona continued. "That night where I beat Nick Gage, it changed everything for me. I know it would create some buzz, that's why I did it ... I did not anticipate how much buzz it would create." 

Cardona has no plans to do another death match any time soon, but he may do it on one condition. "In my opinion, I'm retired from death match wrestling, but money talks, so we'll see."