Cardona debuted in professional wrestling in 2004,teaming withBrian Myers on the independent circuit. Both men were signed by WWE the following year, making their main roster debuts in 2007. After the team split in 2009, he made appearances on WWE'sECW brand until 2010, following which he was featured sparingly on television. In 2011, he launched aYouTube web series in which he proclaimed himself WWE's "Internet Champion"; this, along with his creative use ofsocial media, helped him establish a substantialcult following. Over the course of his time with WWE, Cardona held theIntercontinental,United States, and(Raw) Tag Team Championships (the latter with Hawkins on two occasions).
Matthew Brett Cardona was born inMerrick, New York, on May 14, 1985.[5] While in high school, he overcamesynovial sarcoma, which had started in his foot and spread to his lungs. He was forced to miss a year of school.[6][7]
Cardona was trained byMikey Whipwreck.[8] He debuted with New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) in 2004, using the nameBrett Matthews. He began regularly teaming withBrian Myers and the duo ofMyers and Matthews went on to defeat the NYWC Tag Team Champions Dickie Rodz andMason Raige by disqualification, for which titles do not change hands.[9] On the next event on June 4, they won a rematch decisively to become the NYWC Tag Team Champions.[10] Later that month, they were attacked by The Dead Presidents (Lo Lincoln and Boog Washington) to set up a feud where they eventually lost their titles against them on August 27.[10] On September 23, they were entered into a three-way match with then champions, but Team Tremendous (Dan Barry and Ken Scampi) ended up with the championship.[9] After continuing to win matches, they re-earned a match against Team Tremendous and won the titles for the second time on January 25, 2006. They held the championship until they faced the B.S. Xpress (Tony Burma and Mike Spinelli), who defeated them for the titles on March 26.[10]
In March 2015,Devon Nicholson described an incident from 2006 thatBill DeMott was involved with while he was head trainer for the WWE's DSW developmental territory. Nicholson described an incident whereDrew Hankinson was completely naked in the ring for a long period of time and gave nakedstink faces to Cardona andMelissa Coates while DeMott held jelly donuts over their faces. The wrestlers agreed to do this (with the other talent encouraging them) to get out of regular training for that day.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] DeMott refuted the notion that it was his idea, stating that the other trainees came up with because they wanted to skip the session.[21][22]
In 2007, The Major brothers allied withEdge (center) and changed their names toCurt Hawkins and Zack Ryder
The team was moved to the main roster in May 2007. They worked on WWE'sECW brand, winning only their first match[23][24][25] until they weredrafted toSmackDown! in June.[26] On November 9 they won a battle royal to receive aWWE Tag Team Championship match, but didn't win.[27]
AtArmageddon, the duo dressed up likeEdge and interfered in theWorld Heavyweight Championship match, replacing Edge at several points along the match to help him win the title and thusturningheel for the first time in their WWE career.[28] On December 21, the Major Brothers were revealed as an acquaintance to Edge and his lover,SmackDownGeneral ManagerVickie Guerrero. The Major Brothers were repackaged and renamed, with Cardona and Myers being renamedZack Ryder andCurt Hawkins respectively.[29] Occasionally referred to as the Rated-R Entourage by commentatorsMichael Cole andJohn "Bradshaw" Layfield, the group allied with Guerrero's nephew,Chavo Guerrero and his enforcerBam Neely as the groupLa Familia, which dominated SmackDown's storyline through 2008. Ryder and Hawkins interfered in Edge's match atWrestleMania XXIV againstThe Undertaker, but Undertaker eventually won the match.
AtThe Great American Bash on July 20, Curt Hawkins (the former Bryan Major) and Ryder won the WWE Tag Team Championship fromJohn Morrison and the Miz in afatal four-way match which also featuredJesse and Festus andFinlay andHornswoggle after Hawkins pinned Jesse.[30][31] Their victory meant that they were the youngest team to hold the championships.[32] BySummerSlam in August,[33] La Familia had begun to fracture and Ryder, with Hawkins, went back to appearing on their own.[34][35] On the September 26 airing ofSmackDown, Hawkins and Ryder lost the titles toThe Colóns (Carlito andPrimo) in their first televised title defense.[36] On April 15, 2009, Ryder was drafted back to the ECW brand as part of the2009 supplemental draft, separating the team.[37]
Ryder made his return toECW on May 5, 2009, in a backstage segment with General ManagerTiffany. He now sported short spiky hair, tanned skin, sunglasses, a headband, half-trunks/half-tights, displaying something of an arrogant Long Islandguido character and more frequent uses of catchphrases "woo woo woo" and "you know it", that he had used sparingly in the tag team.[38][39] He lost to Finlay in his first singles match, on the May 7 episode ofSuperstars.[40] His first win was on the May 19ECW on Sci Fi over ajobber,[39] in what is now known as the "exploding trunks" match due to the jobber suffering awardrobe malfunction during the match.[41] On September 15, Ryder won a 10-man battle royal to earn contendership to theECW Championship[42] but lost to the champion,Christian, the following week.[43] On the November 3 episode ofECW, Ryder entered a love angle withRosa Mendes who became hisvalet.[44] He also feuded withTommy Dreamer, culminating in a match on December 29 where Ryder won to force Dreamer to leave the company.[45]
"It was way before TheJersey Shore. I was with Curt Hawkins as the Edge Heads—a long haired blonde kid. And I needed a change. I needed something different. So I just took my real personality, turned the volume way up, cut the hair, went to all the clubs on Long Island, like GLO, and fist pumped with all my broskies until I finally found who I really was, and portrayed it to the world, throwing up the 'LI' hand signal".
Ryder on his new character after he stopped teaming with Hawkins.[46]
When the ECW brand came to an end in February 2010, Ryder and Mendes moved to theRaw brand, making his debut on the February 25 episode ofSuperstars, defeating Primo. Ryder made hisRaw debut on March 1, losing toMVP in aMoney in the Bank qualifying match.[47] He participated in an untelevised 26-man battle royal atWrestleMania XXVI, being the last person eliminated by the winnerYoshi Tatsu. Mendes was drafted to SmackDown as part of the2010 Supplemental Draft without Ryder,[48] so Ryder sought a new valet, trying to impressAlicia Fox andGail Kim while they watched his matches at ringside. During a match withEvan Bourne on the May 10 episode ofRaw, Fox attempted to interfere on Ryder's behalf but was stopped by Kim, leading to Bourne winning the match.[49] The two new pairings faced off in a mixed tag team match on the May 17 episode ofRaw, which Ryder and Fox lost.[50] Ryder had a return win over Bourne on May 27'sSuperstars.[51] The next week onRaw, Fox attacked Ryder with an axe kick afterRaw guest hostAshton Kutcher put a bounty on Ryder's head.[52] During the June 7 Viewer's Choice episode ofRaw, Ryder was voted to team withThe Miz, defeatingJohn Morrison andR-Truth.[53] The next week, Ryder had a title shot in a fatal four-way match for theUnited States Championship, but lost.[54] Months later, in August, he was given aWWE Championship match againstSheamus that lasted 11 seconds, which was the second-shortest WWE Championship match in WWE history, in an attempt by Sheamus to circumvent the company's 30 day championship defence policy.[55]
During this time, Ryder became a mentor on thesecond season ofNXT toTitus O'Neil. They debuted in a losing effort against John Morrison and Eli Cottonwood;[56] O'Neil was the first rookie eliminated from the second season, on June 29.[57] On the July 27 episode of NXT, Ryder, now sporting normal trunks, lost againstPercy Watson, making him the first mentor of season 2 to lose to a rookie in a singles match.[58] For the remainder of the year and well into 2011, Ryder mostly became used on the non-brandedSuperstars show, occasionally teaming with Primo, and has since dropped his half-trunks/half-tights gear and began wearing normal trunks. Ryder won a2010 Slammy Award for Most Annoying Catchphrase in December.[59]
As a result of being underutilised on television, Ryder became dissatisfied with his place in WWE and he started aYouTube web series[60] calledZ! True Long Island Story in February 2011[61] to promote his character.[62] The web series soon earned Ryder a dedicated fan following: his T-shirts sold out despite not appearing on television[62] and by June, "We Want Ryder" chants were started by the audiences ofRaw and theCapitol Punishment pay-per-view without Ryder appearing on the show.[63][64]
The web show's popularity led to Ryder having a rise in status, making more appearances on television. Between April and June, Ryder appeared duringRaw more often, often in backstage segments withJohn Cena.[65][66] On the July 29 episode ofSmackDown, Ryder was appointed as the assistant to SmackDown General ManagerTheodore Long, allowing him to make television appearances on bothRaw andSmackDown.[67]
On the September 19 episode ofRaw SuperShow, Ryder won a non-title match against United States ChampionDolph Ziggler with the help of guest starHugh Jackman who punched Ziggler mid-match.[68] Following his victory over Ziggler, Ryder received a match for the United States Championship the following week and again atVengeance, but both unsuccessful due to interference fromJack Swagger.[69][70] Rydermain eventedRaw SuperShow for the first time on November 7, teaming with John Cena in a losing effort against The Miz and R-Truth.[71] AtSurvivor Series later in November, with Ryder not wrestling on the card, there were multiple "We Want Ryder" chants, including during the United States Championship match and duringThe Rock's show-closing speech.[72]
On the December 5 episode ofRaw SuperShow, Ryder lost a match to Cena and a chance for a WWE Championship shot, but Cena surrendered his WWE Championship match so Ryder could have a second chance, but for the United States Championship. This second chance was a no disqualification match against thenWorld Heavyweight ChampionMark Henry, which Ryder won with interference from Cena,[73] thus earning him a United States Championship match atTLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, which Ryder won over Dolph Ziggler to capture his first ever singles title.[74] Shortly after, Ryder left his position as assistant to the SmackDown General Manager due to his championship commitments.[75]
2012 turned out to be less of a success for Ryder than 2011.The Baltimore Sun wrote, "The 2011 calendar year was a dream for Ryder... But 2012 was a nightmare..." Seemingly all the glory of his YouTube hit fizzled... After WrestleMania, he was rarely seen on WWE TV".[76] By March 2012, John Cena noted that Ryder had "fallen off the face of the earth" despite 2011's success.[77] Ryder was eventually ranked byPro Wrestling Torch writer Benjamin Tucker as No. 1 in the "Top 10 Crashing Stars of 2012". Tucker noted that Ryder was once again a jobber despite getting himself over in 2011.[78]
Fans supporting Ryder as he prepares to faceThe Miz in April 2012
Going into 2012, Ryder started trying to romanceEve as part of a romantic storyline.[79] As Cena's friend, Ryder also became a target ofKane, who was feuding with Cena at the time and attacked Ryder on several occasions. On the January 16 episode ofRaw SuperShow, Ryder lost his United States Championship to Jack Swagger due to a kayfabe rib injury he suffered at the hands of Kane;[80] Ryder never received an automatic title rematch despite being the former champion.[81] Ryder's injuries mounted after he waschokeslammed through theRaw SuperShow stage[82] andTombstoned at theRoyal Rumble.[83] On the February 13 episode ofRaw SuperShow, a wheelchair-using Ryder saw Eve kiss Cena, after Cena saved her from a kidnapping by Kane. After a confrontation with Cena, Kane wheeled Ryder off the stage, injuring him even further.[84] While Ryder was out injured, Eve sparked a heel turn for her character when she revealed that she had never liked Ryder and haddisingenuously used him for fame and publicity.[85] Ryder returned on the March 5 episode ofRaw SuperShow, confronting Eve on her recent actions, but she managed to seduce him and the two shared a long backstage kiss afterwards.[86] Ryder then joined Theodore Long's team for a match to determine the General Manager of Raw and SmackDown atWrestleMania XXVIII. During the match, Eve distracted Ryder, costing him and Team Teddy the match, and she added further insult to injury by giving Ryder a low blow after the match.[87] After wrestling sporadically, Ryder failed to gain revenge on Kane for his attacks on him earlier in 2012, when Kane easily defeated Ryder in the pre-show match ofOver the Limit.[88] He wonThe Great American Bash 20-man Battle Royal[89][90] on the special "Great American Bash" July 3 episode ofSmackDown to become the acting SmackDown (or "ZackDown", as he called it) GM the next week.[91][92]
At theNight of Champions pre-show on September 16, Ryder won a 16-man battle royal to become number one contender for the United States Championship. However, later on in the pay-per-view, he failed to capture the title from defending championAntonio Cesaro.[93] During the debut episode ofMain Event on October 3, Ryder andSantino Marella were entered into a tournament to decide the number one contender to the tag team titles, where they defeatedJustin Gabriel andTyson Kidd to advance to the semi-finals.[94] The following week onRaw, the duo (eventually known as Team Co-Bro) was eliminated from the tournament after losing to Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes andDamien Sandow).[95][96] As 2012 drew to a close, Ryder commented that the year had "sucked".[97]
"... it really kind of broke the spirit of the locker room. For years, we were told... that there's abrass ring... and it's there for the taking if you work hard enough and get yourself over. And [Ryder]... defied the odds and actually does it, and all the boys are rooting for him... He gotover without the [WWE] office, without TV time... And then they did just crush it and take it all away from him... It's like, you're not going to getpushed unless they pick you to get pushed, and that's kind of it".
In 2013, Ryder most commonly appeared onSuperstars and lost all his singles matches onRaw andSmackDown.[99] Ryder entered the2013 Royal Rumble match (his only PPV match for the year) and was eliminated with no eliminations after two minutes.[100] After weeks of the roster's emasculation at the hands of authority figure Triple H, Ryder and several other babyfaces finally savedDaniel Bryan from a beat-down byThe Shield andRandy Orton on the September 16Raw.[101] In response, Triple H arranged for Ryder and Justin Gabriel to faceLuke HarperandErick Rowan ofthe Wyatt Family on the nextSmackDown, where Ryder's team lost.[102] On the nextRaw, Bryan, Ryder and the other babyfaces faced the Shield in an 11-on-3 handicap elimination match; Ryder was eliminated byRoman Reigns, but his team eventually won the match.[103]
Ryder in May 2014
In January 2014, thePro Wrestling Torch Newsletter released a ranking of WWE's roster; Ryder was ranked as a lower-tier babyface and the third lowest babyface on the roster.[104] Ryder was also unsuccessful in winning three battle royals: theAndré the Giant Memorial Battle Royal atWrestleMania XXX,[105] a battle royal for the United States Championship in May and a battle royal for theIntercontinental Championship atBattleground.[106][107] On the July 21 episode ofRaw, Ryder picked up his first singles victory onRaw since December 2012,[99] but it was only afterLayla interfered against Ryder's opponent,Fandango.[108] In November 2014, Ryder announced that he had torn hisrotator cuff.[109] John Cena gave a storyline explanation that a comment onTwitter led toThe Authority punishing Ryder.[110]
Ryder returned on January 25, 2015, at theRoyal Rumble in the Rumble match at No. 9 and was quickly eliminated byBray Wyatt.[111] Ryder participated in the 2nd annual André the Giant Memorialbattle royal atWrestleMania 31 which was won byBig Show.[112] Ryder, being accompanied by the cast ofEntourage, answered Cena's United States Championship open challenge on the May 25 episode ofRaw in his hometown and in the final WWE event held in theNassau Coliseum, but failed to win after a countered450 Splash.[113] On the June 4 episode ofSmackDown, Ryder acceptedKevin Owens' open challenge for theNXT Championship, which he lost.[114]
In June 2015, Zack Ryder began appearing in WWE's developmental systemNXT, where he formed a tag team with NXT's returningMojo Rawley.[115] After a month-long feud with the likes ofThe Mechanics (Scott Dawson andDash Wilder) andJason JordanandChad Gable, along with countless victories over the teams, The Hype Bros teamed up withEnzo AmoreandColin Cassady to defeat The Mechanics, Jordan and Gable in an 8-man tag team match atNXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. On the October 16 episode ofNXT, The Hype Bros competed in a match for theNXT Tag Team Championship in a losing effort. On the October 22 episode ofNXT, Ryder competed in a 26-man battle royal to determine the number one contender for theNXT Championship. Ryder was unsuccessful, although he was among the last few competitors in the match.
Meanwhile, on the main roster, Ryder continued wrestling onSuperstars andMain Event from June 2015 to March 2016. He suffered singles losses toBo Dallas,Rusev and The Miz, but managed to trade singles wins and losses withAdam Rose,Heath Slater,Stardust andTyler Breeze.[116][117]
AtWrestleMania 32, Ryder substitutedNeville in theladder match for the Intercontinental Championship and won.[118][119][120] He lost the title to The Miz the following night onRaw.[121] Three days later onSmackDown, Ryder received a rematch, whereMaryse helped Miz to retain.[122]
"So humorous. WWE has no story for Ryder's title win on Sunday, then ends his title run the next night to put the belt back on a mid-card heel who hasn't done anything in a while".
After that, he was put in the orbit for the United States championship, working with wrestlers like Rusev,[124] Big Show,[125] or Sheamus.[126] AtBattleground, Ryder was defeated by the United States champion Rusev.[127] After the match, with Rusev continuing to beat down Ryder, Ryder's former tag team partner Mojo Rawley would make the save, thus reforming The Hype Bros tag team. On August 21 at theSummerSlam pre-show, The Hype Bros teamed withThe Usos (Jimmy andJey) and American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) to faceThe Vaudevillains (Aiden English andSimon Gotch), Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango), andThe Ascension (Konnor andViktor) in a 12-man tag team match, where Ryder's team was victorious.[128]
The Hype Bros later participated in an 8-team tournament to crown the inauguralWWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions, where The Hype Bros defeated The Vaudevillains in the first round, before losing toHeath SlaterandRhyno in the semi-finals.[129][130] However, after American Alpha were removed from the tournament following an attack by The Usos, it was announced that The Hype Bros would face The Usos at theBacklash pay-per-view to determinate who would face Slater and Rhyno in the finals, but The Hype Bros would go on to lose the match.[131] They also participated in multi-tag matches atSurvivor Series andTLC: Tables Ladders and Chairs.[132][133]
On the December 13 episode ofSmackDown, Ryder injured his knee and was inactive for six months.[134] He returned on the June 13, 2017, episode ofSmackDown, reuniting with Rawley. On June 18, at theMoney in the Bank pre-show, The Hype Bros facedThe Colóns (Primo andEpico Colón)in a winning effort.[135] Two days later onSmackDown,Shane McMahon announced that Ryder and Rawley would have an opportunity to become number one contenders for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at the June 27 episode ofSmackDown in a match against tag team champions The Usos, in which they lost.[136]
On the November 28 episode ofSmackDown Live, the team was dissolved when, after a lost against The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan), Rawley attacked Ryder.[137] They would face atClash of Champions and during a tournament for the United States title with Rawley winning both matches.[138][139][140] AtWrestleMania 34, Ryder participated in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where he was eliminated by Mojo Rawley.[141]
On April 16, Ryder was drafted to Raw brand as part of theSuperstar Shake-up.[142] Before the April 23 episode ofRaw, Ryder suffered a MCL, ACL and calf muscle strains in a match againstMike Kanellis. As a result, Ryder missed theGreatest Royal Rumble event, at which he was scheduled to compete.[143] Ryder returned on the May 7 episode ofMain Event, defeating his former partner Curt Hawkins.[144]
For the first few months of 2019, Ryder was paired with Hawkins, and the two feuded with the WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson).[145][146] On theWrestleMania 35 kickoff show, Ryder and Hawkins defeated The Revival to capture the titles for a second time in their career. The next night onRaw, Ryder and Hawkins made their first successful title defense, defeating The Revival in a rematch and would later beat them again on the April 29 episode ofRaw.[147] Following that, the team was largely absent from television and mainly appeared at live events. Even though they were the champions, they only made two appearances on WWE programming during the month of May: a loss toThe Viking Raiders (Erik andIvar) on the May 6 episode ofRaw and a win againstLuke Gallows and Karl Anderson on the May 27 episode ofMain Event.[148] On the June 10 episode ofRaw, Ryder and Hawkins lost the titles back to The Revival in a tag-team triple threat match also involving The Usos.[149] AtSurvivor Series on November 24, Ryder and Hawkins competed in a ten-man interbrand battle royal, but were the third team eliminated.[150] In his final pay-per-view appearance, Ryder and Hawkins lost to the Viking Raiders atElimination Chamber on March 8, 2020.[151] The following night onRaw, Ryder was defeated byBobby Lashley in what would be his final WWE match.[152] On April 15, both Hawkins and Ryder were released from their WWE contracts as part of budget cuts stemming from theCOVID-19 pandemic, thus ending Ryder's 15-year tenure with the company.[153]
After leaving AEW, Cardona began to work withImpact Wrestling in a similar limited appearance deal.[163] He made his surprise debut on January 16, 2021, atHard To Kill, where he defeatedAce Austin by disqualification.[164] On the January 26 episode ofImpact!, Cardona teamed withJosh Alexander to defeat Austin andMadman Fulton.[165] Soon after, Cardona would begin a feud with his former tag team partner, Brian Myers. AtNo Surrender, Cardona andEddie Edwards were defeated by Myers andHernandez,[166] and Cardona was defeated by Myers again atRebellion in a singles match.[167] The feud ended atSlammiversary, where Cardona teamed up with his real-life fiancée,Chelsea Green to defeat Myers andTenille Dashwood.[168] AtBound for Glory, Cardona competed in theCall Your Shot Gauntlet match, where he would be the runner-up in the match after being lastly eliminated byMoose.[169] AtTurning Point, Cardona lost toW. Morrissey with the help of Moose.[170] On the December 2 episode ofImpact!, Cardona pinned Moose in a tag team match, thus earning him an Impact World Championship match atHard To Kill.[171][172] At the event, on January 8, 2022, Cardona was unsuccessful in capturing the title in a three-way match also involving Morrissey.[173][174]
On the February 3 episode ofImpact!, Cardona defeatedJordynne Grace to win theImpact Digital Media Championship after hitting her with a steel chair, thus turning heel.[175][176][177] AtNo Surrender, he defeated Grace by disqualification after she delivered to him a low blow.[178] On the February 24 episode ofImpact!, Cardona defeated Grace for the title again in aDotcombat match.[179] On the April 15 episode ofImpact!, Myers reunited with Cardona and attacked W. Morrissey during an in-ring promo, with the help of Chelsea Green. At the end of the segment, they smashed Morrisey through a table. Later in the show, Green gaveMickie James a cheap shot and then knocked her down with Myers and Cardona's help. The following week, Cardona retained his title against the returningJames Maritato.[180][181][182] He would lose the title against Rich Swann during an independent event.[183] On October 7 atBound for Glory, Cardona made his return by competing in the Call Your Shot Gauntlet, eliminatingGisele Shaw andTaylor Wilde before being eliminated by Bhupinder Gujjar.[184]
On May 14, 2023, Cardona confirmed he was officially done with Impact Wrestling.[185] However, Cardona returned to Impact Wrestling on October 21, atBound for Glory as a participant in the 20-person Intergender Call Your Shot Gauntlet match, eliminatingJake Something,Sonny Kiss,Frankie Kazarian,Eric Young and Brian Myers before being eliminated by Jordynne Grace.[186]
On June 6, 2021,Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) held itsZombie Walk show at the Showboat Hotel inAtlantic City, New Jersey. FollowingNick Gage's match with Jimmy Lloyd for theGCW World Championship – which ended in a no contest – a hooded figure entered the ring. The figure flailed their limbs around and performed adouble underhook DDT on Gage, leading fans in attendance to believe it wasJon Moxley. When the hooded figure unmasked, however, it was revealed to be Cardona.[187] Prior to this confrontation, Cardona had called out Gage for weeks via social media. Gage also attempted to attack Cardona at a live podcast event.[188] Cardona challenged Gage for the title at night one ofGCW Homecoming, which also took place at the Showboat Hotel, on July 24, 2021.[189] At the event, Cardona defeated Gage in adeathmatch to win the title, marking his first ever world championship in any promotion.[190][191] In GCW, he had a gimmick that tried to "fix" GCW, bringing sports entertainment elements such as dressing like Vince McMahon when he was ECW Champion, referring to the fans as GCW Universe and introducing a new title design with a spinner version of the belt.[192] He would lose the championship to Jon Moxley on September 4, 2021, atThe Art of War Games.[193] At GCW's Welcome to Heartbreak event inLos Angeles, Myers and Cardona reunited alongside Chelsea Green as "The Major Players," losing toX-Pac andJoey Janela in the main event.[194]
On December 4, 2021, atHard Times 2, Cardona made his debut for NWA attackingNWA World's Heavyweight ChampionTrevor Murdoch following his match withMike Knox. On February 12, 2022, atNWA PowerrrTrip, Cardona defeated Murdoch to become the new champion.[195] During Night 2 of theCrockett Cup, he retained the title by disqualification againstNick Aldis, in a match whereJeff Jarrett was the special guest referee.[196] On June 11, atAlwayz Ready, Cardona was forced to vacate the title due to an injury.[197] On November 12, atHard Times 3, Cardona competed in a three-way match for the title, which was won byTyrus when he pinned then-champion Murdoch.[198] On February 11, 2023, atNuff Said, Cardona fought Tyrus for the title in a losing effort.[199]
On the March 28, 2024 episode ofTNA Impact, Cardona along withSteph De Lander returned to TNA in a 8-4-1 match.[208] On the April 11 episode ofTNA Impact, he and De Lander made a second appearance smashingJordynne Grace through a table. Following this, Cardona would be sidelined for months, due to suffering a torn pectoral muscle.[209]
On the August 1 episode ofTNA Impact, Cardona returned and attackedPCO at his wedding with Steph De Lander.[210] Cardona would begin a feud with PCO, as he had considered De Lander to be his "property", due to a contract agreement that De Lander had signed for her visa.[211]
This would lead to a tag team match scheduled forVictory Road between the team of Cardona and De Lander and the team of PCO and Rhino. However, the match did not happen, as De Lander announced that she had suffered a neck injury before the match was supposed to begin. Cardona would attack Rhino, after the segment.[212]
Cardona made his return to WWE as part of the TNA invasion storyline with the NXT brand as Matt Cardona,[219] wrestling his first match in five years on the October 14, 2025, episode ofNXT, losing toJosh Briggs.[220] He returned on the November 14 episode ofSmackDown asLA Knight's mystery opponent in the "Last Time is Now" tournament first round match to determine John Cena's final opponent, reprising the Zack Ryder ring name and gimmick.[221]
Professional wrestling style, persona, and reception
Throughout his 15-year tenure with WWE, Cardona had several gimmicks as Zack Ryder, from his debut in 2007 as an Edgehead forEdge'sLa Familia to a social media influencer dubbed "Long Island Iced Z" that kickstarted the "Ryder Revolution" in 2011. During this period he would use a multitude of different signature and finishing moves such as alifting inverted DDT, aninverted overdrive dubbed theZack Attack, and currently ajumping leg lariat dubbed theRough Ryder, now dubbedRadio Silence.
After his departure from WWE in 2020, Cardona reinvented himself as a "super-fan of all things wrestling" who paid tribute to WWE in order to rile up fans on the independent circuit. Cardona would dress up in Vince McMahon'sECW World Heavyweight Champion outfit to one of his GCW World Championship defenses, introduced a new "spinner belt" design for the championship to parody theWWE Championship spinner belt, and took aspects of "extreme icons" includingMick Foley andThe Sandman and "mutated them in his own narcissistic image."[222]
In 2022, Cardona had taken on a "belt collector" gimmick, traveling around to various independent promotions, winning their top championships, and holding them alongside his Impact Digital Media, NWA World's Heavyweight, and self-promoted Internet Championships, holding as many as seven titles representing five different promotions at one point in April 2022,[223][224] while at the end of September 2023, he held nine different belts.[225][226]
Cardona is known for being one of the first wrestlers to become popular thanks to his online presence.[227][228] British wrestlerDrake Maverick claimed that, without him "your Twitter, Instagram, YouTube promo wouldn't exist."[229]
Cardona asZack Ryder started a YouTube web series calledZ! True Long Island Story in February 2011. The web series was a collection of short comments from Ryder, containing comedic allusions to wrestling and pop culture; it also featured cameos from his friends, family, as well as fellow WWE colleagues.[230] The show's theme song "Just Take Care, Spike Your Hair (The Broski of the Week Song)" was written specifically about Ryder byThe Luke & Duane Show. In April 2011, Ryder proclaimed himself WWE "Internet Champion"[231] complete with a children's replica belt covered in stickers, as it was unsanctioned by WWE.[232] In July 2011, Ryder defended his Internet Championship at ahouse show in Australia, againstPrimo.[233] On an episode ofZ! True Long Island Story,Dolph Ziggler challenged Ryder to an Internet title match atWrestleMania 29 which Ryder accepted.[234] Ryder soon replaced the toy belt with a $1,500 custom-made belt. The title belt's center plate features an engraved illustration of Ryder's head and spiked hair while the side plates display his logo and those of YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook but these social media logos were not featured in WWE video games due to copyright issues.[235]
On episode 50 ofZ! True Long Island Story, Ryder announced the show would be part of WWE's official YouTube channel.[236]Z! True Long Island Story ended on January 11, 2013, which was the show's 100th episode. The show was "ended" by Dolph Ziggler, who attacked Ryder with his Money in the Bank briefcase, setting up adream sequence featuring cameos from people who had previously appeared on the show while Ryder climbed a staircase to "heaven". When Ryder woke up, he thought that the Ryder Revolution was all a dream until being told by his family and friends that it all happened.[237] Overall, the series ran 50 episodes on Zack Ryder's YouTube channel and 50 episodes on WWE's official YouTube channel. Ryder later said that he regretted allowing WWE to move his show to their YouTube channel and that WWE hadremoved content from his videos.[238] On March 10, 2014, Ryder uploaded the first episode of his new series,Zack Ryder's Last ReZort, to his own YouTube channel. In this video, Ryder (without his traditional glasses and headband) expressed his frustration regarding his dramatic plunge to the bottom of the roster, proclaiming his desire to have "lightning strike twice" and work his way back up the cards.[239][unreliable source?] In October 2014, Ryder and Dolph Ziggler "took over" an episode of WWE's YouTube series,The JBL (Not Cole) Show for its 99th episode, making it in turn the 101st episode of Ryder's show,Z! True Long Island Story.[240]
In July 2011, Ryder was featured inSports Illustrated's list of the 100 most influentialTwitter users in sports.[241] On January 16, 2013, Ryder released a music video entitled "Hoeski".[242] The song amassed over 100,000 views in four days and was also posted on WWE's official YouTube channel.[243] "Hoeski" peaked at No. 92 on the iTunes Pop Music chart on February 5, 2013.[244]
On March 18, 2017, it was announced that Ryder would be launching a new YouTube series calledZ! True Comeback Story, chronicling his return to the ring after suffering a knee injury in December.[248] In 2018, Ryder started a podcast withCurt Hawkins about wrestling figures called The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast.[249] Ever since their WWE release, they began hosting the podcast under their current in-ring names Matt Cardona and Brian Myers respectively.
On August 20, 2022, it was revealed on Sirius XM's Busted Open Radio that Matt Cardona had joined the cast ofThe Last Match: A Pro-Wrestling Rock Musical as the fictional wrestling heel, Alexander Swagger oppositeRamin Karimloo and Amber Ardolino.[250] On September 26, 2022, Cardona joined the cast for two live performances of The Last Match in Jersey City, NJ atWhite Eagle Hall.[251]
On May 22, 2023, Cardona posted a new episode ofZ! True Long Island Story as Zack Ryder.Steph De Lander would appear in the episode using her WWE name Persia Pirotta and stole the Internet Championship from him. Ryder would chase her into a limousine trying to get it back from her but was unable to do so as it would explode,kayfabe killing both of them.[252] This indicates he had gained the rights to Zack Ryder and had used this to permanently write the character off.[citation needed]
Cardona resides inOrlando, Florida. He began dating Canadian professional wrestlerChelsea Green in January 2017, and they were engaged on April 4, 2019.[254] They were married on December 31, 2021, inLas Vegas.[255]
Cardona is an avid fan ofGhostbusters. He has periodically donnedGhostbusters themed ring gear during matches,[256] and discussed his love of thefranchise in the 2016 documentaryGhostheads.[257]
^"Titles & Champs: Final list of 2012 Titleholders".Pro Wrestling Torch. RetrievedJanuary 2, 2013.(1) Champion: Zack Ryder Held Since: 12/18/11 (TLC PPV) 2012 TV/PPV title defenses: – pinfall loss vs. Jack Swagger (01/16/12 Raw TV) – Ryder never received title re-match
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