Cody Rhodes Recalls Good Friend Matt Cardona Refusing To Associate With Him On-Screen

Cody Rhodes and Matt Cardona have been real-life friends for many years dating back to their days in WWE. Following his WWE release in April 2020, Cardona cited Rhodes as inspiration for how he approached his run on the indie scene, which has seen him win several titles including the GCW and NWA World Championship. Rhodes recently spoke to "Good Karma Wrestling" and had high praise for what his friend is achieving currently.

"I'm really proud of him, he's out there doing the indie guy thing with the Indiana Jones hats," Rhodes said. "Matt has been king of the indies now, this is going on year two, you usually only get one run in that role, he's going on year two." The "American Nightmare" thinks it would be "cool" if Cardona goes to AEW, but he ultimately wants to see him return to WWE.

Despite their bond, Rhodes also shared an interesting story on how Cardona once refused to associate with him on-screen.

"I have this story about Matt which I'm going to tell eventually about watching his first meeting with a certain member of management somewhere and how he tanked this meeting," Rhodes recalled. "Right in front of me. And the one big line he hit in the meeting, that I'll never forget. This is one of my real-life friends. He said, 'I just want to make it clear; I'm never putting on a Nightmare Family jacket or associating myself with him on-screen.' I got you the meeting, [then you throw me] under the bus right away."

While Rhodes didn't share where this meeting took place, the last time Rhodes and Cardona shared the ring was on the July 30, 2020, episode of "AEW Dynamite" when they teamed up to beat Alex Reynolds and John Silver. Cardona's brief run with AEW concluded following All Out that September.