Matt Cardona Discusses 'Mind F***' WWE Return

The seeds for Matt Cardona's full-time WWE return were initially planted in September 2025 as he invaded the "WWE NXT" brand as a TNA Wrestling representative. The following month, he resurfaced once more to face "NXT" star Josh Briggs, with an appearance in WWE's "The Last Time Is Now" tournament then following in November. Come January 2026, WWE finally welcomed the former Zack Ryder back as an official member of the "WWE SmackDown" roster.

According to Cardona, this series of events remains a total "mindf***" to him. "It was such a whirlwind of things," Cardona told "Insight With Chris Van Vliet. "... I'm doing TNA, but I'm not signed to TNA. I'm asked if I want to participate in the NXT invasion, go invade NXT. I'm like, well, if they think I really work for TNA. I went there and I got paid, right? But I didn't have a contract. I'm like, I'll sneak my way in here. So I did the invasion, which led to a match with Josh Briggs. I said, all right, that's cool. I texted Triple H, 'Thank you for the opportunity.' He texted back. It was all good."

Following his "NXT" outings, Cardona noted that his wife and active "SmackDown" star Chelsea Green put him in contact with WWE President Nick Khan. From there, a call with WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque was held, during which Cardona explicitly expressed his interest in returning to WWE on a full-time schedule.

No offer for Cardona to do so emerged from this particular meeting, though it wasn't too long after that Levesque reached out with a proposal for him to make another appearance.

"A couple of weeks go by, and he texted me, 'Hey, do you have time to talk today?'" Cardona said. "I'm like, yep, and that's when he pitched me the Cena tournament thing. I said I'm in, and I'm assuming that I'm going to do this representing TNA as Matt Cardona. So SmackDown films Fridays. You fly out Thursdays. Tuesday of that week I get a text from John Cone from WWE Talent Relations. He's like, 'Hey, we got some t-shirts for you to approve.' I'm like, 'Oh, it's cool, but how do you guys have my Matt Cardona logos?' It's like, 'Oh no, you're Zack Ryder.' I'm thinking, oh f***. Not that I don't want to be Zack Ryder. I don't have any gear, because what am I gonna wear?"

Despite the last-minute surprise that he'd compete in "The Last Time Is Now" tournament — which honored 17-time world champion John Cena — under his former ring name, Cardona managed to live up to his catchphrase of being "always ready" by arranging for new gear to be made in less than 24 hours. In it, he then took on "The Megastar" LA Knight in the tourney's opening round on the November 14 edition of "SmackDown." Knight emerged victorious after delivering a powerbomb, then a BFT on Cardona.

At the time, reports indicated that Cardona's resurgence was a "one-off" agreement, with no formal contract offer put on the table for him. Cardona himself confirmed this to be the case. Weeks later, though, Levesque circled back to him yet again, this time with the words Cardona had long waited to hear.

"About a few weeks later, I was at WrestleCade, so I guess after Thanksgiving, I'm eating dinner with the boys after signing all day and a match," Cardona recalled. "I got a call like, 'We wanna sign you.' I'm thinking, okay. I'm just assuming it's as Zack Ryder so I get all this new Zack Ryder gear made. Then a week or so before my debut I hear through the grapevine 'You're gonna be Matt Cardona.' Now I'm like, oh s***, I need new Matt Cardona gear. But I am very proud that they thought there was more value in Matt Cardona than Zack Ryder."

With his former ring name in the rearview mirror, Cardona marked his permanent return to WWE on the January 2 edition of "SmackDown" as the mystery opponent of Kit Wilson. Cardona triumphed after nailing Wilson with a Rough Ryder.

In the months following, Cardona has wrestled the likes of Randy Orton, Trick Williams, Ricky Saints, and Sami Zayn on WWE's blue brand as well. Most recently, he and Danhausen teamed up to defeat Los Garza (Angel and Berto) on the June 26 episode.

Under the WWE banner, Cardona is a former United States, Intercontinental, and Tag Team Champion. Chelsea Green, whom he married in 2021, has held the Women's United States and Tag Team Titles in the company.