Matt Cardona On His Plans After Short Term AEW Deal Expires
Matt Cardona made his AEW debut on July 29 when he helped save real-life friend and current TNT Champion, Cody. One week later, Cardona made his in-ring debut in a winning effort when he tagged with Cody for the first time in their careers.
Wrestling Inc. first reported in July that Cardona's current AEW contract is only for five dates. He was a recent guest on Bro Bible's "Not About Wrestling" show and discussed where things stand between him and his new company as far as a long-term future.
"Yeah, so I only have a couple of dates signed," Cardona said. "But I didn't go there just to get a new t-shirt, you know? I'm there for the long haul. That's the goal. That's the plan. To show the world what I can do. To win some championships, have some fun and it's a great environment there.
"You know, the past two weeks I was there, I loved it. It was great. You know, it was weird being like the new kid in school. You're meeting all these new friends and stuff like that, but you know, the reception online has been great. Couple of haters, whatever, it's life, gonna happen, but I was happy with my performance and I can't wait to do more with them."
Although he finds himself in a new company for the first time in 15 years, Cardona is widely respected in the professional wrestling industry and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge that could help AEW's younger, more inexperienced wrestlers as they work their way up and battle for television time. Cardona reflected on his career and mentioned nobody ever gave him bad advice, but he learned not to ask too many people for advice because everyone has their own way of doing things and a new wrestler could easily get confused by being pulled in so many different directions. His reflection on the topic brought up whether or not he finds himself in the mentor role or offering up his own advice.
"If it's something drastic, I think maybe I would say something, but the majority of the time I would just let them come to me if they wanted my advice," Cardona said. "It's like when you're in the gym and you see someone with horrible, horrible form and not like you know, some egomaniac guy, but like some kid you know he's new to the gym you know he doesn't know, right? So, I always (think), 'Do I say something to him? Like, no hey, bud you're doing it wrong.' Not that I'm the foreign police but because I want to help him out. Maybe I should do that more often."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Bro Bible with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Mehdy Labriny contributed to this article.