Matt Cardona Threatens Mick Foley With Potential Deathmatch
Matt Cardona has been all over the professional wrestling scene in 2021, but his most noteworthy headlines came this past summer during his feud with then-GCW Champion Nick Gage. Cardona and Gage's death match at GCW Homecoming trended on Twitter for hours due to its remarkable violence and unforgiving spots.
Immediately after capturing the GCW World Title, Cardona hopped on a plane to California to bring his newly-won championship to Disneyland.
"I had all that bloody gear, bloody boots, and then TSA checked my bag and opened up my bag. It looked like I had murdered somebody," Cardona told Barstool Sports' Rasslin'. "I just murdered his career. The next day I went to a nice little hotel in Los Angeles and took a nap. It was the Universal Studios hotel. Believe it or not, GCW doesn't have a medical team. There was a, and I use the term loosely, a nurse backstage who stitched me up. She told me they were dissolvable. They were not. I ended up getting infected.
"Giancarlo from GCW taped towels to my arm and back. That's how I flew cross country to LA. I took a little nap at the hotel, and listen, I knew I was going to mess up this bed, so I put some towels down over the sheets, but I still bled out all the way down to the mattress. It looked like someone was murdered. We had to tell the hotel, 'Hey, no one was murdered up there. I just got injured at work.'"
Cardona has since proclaimed himself the 'Death Match King,' a moniker he is content with never defending again. Some of his hardcore peers have not given Cardona the props he feels he deserves; however, which has the former Zack Ryder frustrated.
"F–k Mick Foley," Cardona said, seemingly in character. "That's all I have to say. This guy, you'd think he'd be so proud of me. Fellow Long Islander, fellow death match king, but he's turned his back on me. I don't know what his deal is. I don't know if its that I beat up his son-in-law Frank the Clown. I don't know if he's hot about that. I think he just needs to stop running his mouth.
"Right before I got released from WWE, my personal writer was Dewey Foley, Mick's son. So if Mick doesn't shut the f–k up, I'm going to have Dewey Foley book me vs. Mick Foley in a death match, and of course I'm going to win."
Cardona finds himself in quite the unique position within the pro wrestling landscape. The Internet Champion works as a face in Impact Wrestling, but as a heel in GCW. This flip-flopping status is not intentional, Cardona notes, as he always leaves it up to the fans.
"On these indie shows, I just stand there and I let the people dictate. Am I going to be a heel tonight, or am I going to be a babyface? I'm sure my opponent doesn't like it, not knowing what kind of match we're going to have, but that's how I've been doing it," Cardona said. "Sometimes total heel, sometimes total face, sometimes 50/50. It's interesting because I haven't really changed who I am. I'm a white meat babyface in my opinion. I don't get why the GCW Universe doesn't like me. I'm just there to help them. NWA? I'm just there to save NWA. When I was a six-year-old kid turning on NWA, I thought it sucked. I thought it was dated and boring. Even now I watch it, and it sucks. It's old, dated, and boring. I'm there to help them out! That's it. I want to be the face of the company. I want to help them.
"If they're going to boo me, maybe that'll change my attitude a little bit. Maybe I'll throw up a middle finger every once in a while, but if they're going to cheer me, I'll slap those high fives," Cardona continued. "It doesn't change my move-set. It's the same f–king moves. I'm not there to create f–king gifs. I'm there to create buzz and create dollar signs."
While 2021 was Cardona's career year, the Broski is already looking to eclipse those accomplishments in 2022.
"I think we just grow. To start the year going for the world title in Impact Wrestling, then to [GCW at the] Hammerstein Ballroom sold out. Listen, I'm not saying that I'm the reason GCW sold out the Hammerstein Ballroom, but I will say this: There is no f–king way they would've sold it out if I didn't come to GCW," Cardona said. "I am very, very excited to be in Hammerstein. The roster, the company, the fans. I was there when we filmed the commercial. Even just now talking about it, goosebump city. The only show I went to at Hammerstein was the first ECW One Night Stand. My trainer, Mikey Whipwreck, an ECW original, took me there and I watched as a fan. To be back there is going to be awesome.
"I'm already planning a WrestleMania entrance for the Hammerstein Ballroom," Cardona continued. "I'm very, very excited. It's going to be a hell of a night."
Matt Cardona competes for the Impact World Title at Impact Wrestling Hard to Kill on January 8, 2022.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Barstool Rasslin' with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.