Matt Cardona Had 24 Hours To Get Gear For WWE Return

Matt Cardona, aka Zack Ryder in WWE, has revealed that he did not have his gear ready until the last 24 hours of his return to "WWE SmackDown."

Ryder, who made a surprise return to WWE to take part in the "Last Time is Now" tournament, detailed in an interview with "Notsam Wrestling" how he had sold his previous Zack Ryder gear after his WWE release and had to order a new set prior to his return. Despite being booked to appear on the show, he was still not certain that he would make it to television. 

"Listen, in this business, I don't believe anything until it happens. I will say this. I believe it was either Tuesday or Wednesday when I had to order Zack Ryder gear in 24 hours. I just know I needed gear in 24 hours because I was leaving Thursday. And the thing was, once I got released, I sold off all my non-sentimental Zack Ryder gear, and I couldn't like show up in like WrestleMania gear," he said.

In the end, he made it to the MVP Arena in Albany, New York, with three sets of gear, including a brand new unused vest. 

"I did go with the brand new Zack Ryder gear, Matt Cardona gear, and then just in case the Zack Ryder gear didn't make it — because it was shipped to New York — I had makeshift Zack Ryder gear," said Ryder. "There was Matt Cardona gear that did not have any MC logos on it. So, I had three sets of gear, two sets of boots, you know, two entrance vests, which I didn't end up wearing any of them because I had the t-shirt. So, I got a new Zack Ryder vest that I'll never ever wear that I spent hundreds of dollars on."

Although his return to WWE was a one-off, he still had merchandise being sold on WWE's official store.