Cardona debuted in professional wrestling in 2004,
teaming with
Brian 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's ECW brand until 2010, following which he was featured sparingly on television. In 2011, he launched a
YouTube web series in which he proclaimed himself WWE's "Internet Champion"; this, along with his creative use of
social media, helped him establish a substantial
cult following. Over the course of his time with WWE, Cardona held the
Intercontinental,
United States, and
(Raw) Tag Team Championships (the latter with Hawkins on two occasions).
Matthew Brett Cardona was born in
Merrick, New York, on May 14, 1985.[5] While in high school, he overcame
synovial 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 by
Mikey Whipwreck.[8] He debuted with New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) in 2004, using the name Brett Matthews. He began regularly teaming with
Brian Myers and the duo of
Myers and Matthews went on to defeat the NYWC Tag Team Champions Dickie Rodz and
Mason 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 that
Bill DeMott was involved with while he was head trainer for the WWE's DSW developmental territory. Nicholson described an incident where
Drew Hankinson was completely naked in the ring for a long period of time and gave naked
stink faces to Cardona and
Melissa 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]
The team was moved to the main roster in May 2007. They worked on WWE's
ECW brand, winning only their first match[23][24][25] until they were
drafted to
SmackDown! in June.[26] On November 9 they won a battle royal to receive a
WWE Tag Team Championship match, but didn't win.[27]
At
Armageddon, the duo dressed up like
Edge and interfered in the
World Heavyweight Championship match, replacing Edge at several points along the match to help him win the title and thus
turningheel 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 renamed Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins respectively.[29] Occasionally referred to as the Rated-R Entourage by commentators
Michael Cole and
John "Bradshaw" Layfield, the group allied with Guerrero's nephew,
Chavo Guerrero and his enforcer
Bam Neely as the group
La Familia, which dominated SmackDown's storyline through 2008. Ryder and Hawkins interfered in Edge's match at
WrestleMania XXIV against
The Undertaker, but Undertaker eventually won the match.
At
The Great American Bash on July 20, Curt Hawkins (the former Bryan Major) and Ryder won the WWE Tag Team Championship from
John Morrison and the Miz in a
fatal four-way match which also featured
Jesse and Festus and
Finlay and
Hornswoggle after Hawkins pinned Jesse.[30][31] Their victory meant that they were the youngest team to hold the championships.[32] By
SummerSlam 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 of SmackDown, Hawkins and Ryder lost the titles to
The Colóns (
Carlito and
Primo) in their first televised title defense.[36] On April 15, 2009, Ryder was drafted back to the ECW brand as part of the
2009 supplemental draft, separating the team.[37]
Long Island Loudmouth (2009–2011)
Ryder made his return to
ECW on May 5, 2009, in a backstage segment with General Manager
Tiffany. He now sported short hair, tanned skin, sunglasses, a headband, half-trunks/half-tights, displaying something of an arrogant Long Island
guido 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 of Superstars.[40] His first win was on the May 19 ECW on Sci Fi over a
jobber,[39] in what is now known as the "exploding trunks" match due to the jobber suffering a
wardrobe malfunction during the match.[41] On September 15, Ryder won a 10-man battle royal to earn contendership to the
ECW Championship[42] but lost to the champion,
Christian, the following week.[43] On the November 3 episode of ECW, Ryder entered a love angle with
Rosa Mendes who became his
valet.[44] He also feuded with
Tommy Dreamer, culminating in a match on December 29 where Ryder won to force Dreamer to leave the company.[45]
"It was way before The Jersey 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 the
Raw brand, making his debut on the February 25 episode of Superstars, defeating Primo. Ryder made his Raw debut on March 1, losing to
Montel Vontavious Porter in a
Money in the Bank qualifying match.[47] He participated in an untelevised 26-man battle royal at
WrestleMania XXVI, being the last person eliminated by the winner
Yoshi Tatsu. Mendes was drafted to SmackDown as part of the
2010 Supplemental Draft without Ryder,[48] so Ryder sought a new valet, trying to impress
Alicia Fox and
Gail Kim while they watched his matches at ringside. During a match with
Evan Bourne on the May 10 episode of Raw, 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 of Raw, which Ryder and Fox lost.[50] Ryder had a return win over Bourne on May 27's Superstars.[51] The next week on Raw, Fox attacked Ryder with an axe kick after
Raw guest hostAshton Kutcher put a bounty on Ryder's head.[52] During the June 7 Viewer's Choice episode of Raw, Ryder was voted to team with
The Miz, defeating
John Morrison and
R-Truth.[53] The next week, Ryder had a title shot in a fatal four-way match for the
United States Championship, but lost.[54] Months later, in August, he was given a
WWE Championship match against
Sheamus 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 the
second season of NXT to
Titus 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 lost against
Percy 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-branded Superstars show, occasionally teaming with Primo. Ryder won a
2010 Slammy Award for Most Annoying Catchphrase in December.[59]
Rise of the Ryder Revolution (2011–2012)
As a result of being underutilised on television, Ryder became dissatisfied with his place in WWE and he started a
YouTube web series[60] called Z! 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 of Raw and the
Capitol 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 during Raw more often, often in backstage segments with
John Cena.[65][66] On June 6, Ryder had his first match on Raw in 2011, losing to
Kofi Kingston.[67] On the June 16 episode of Superstars in front of his hometown of
Long Island his status as a face wrestler was confirmed when he defeated his former tag team partner Primo.[68] On the July 29 episode of SmackDown, Ryder was appointed as the assistant to SmackDown General Manager
Theodore Long, allowing him to make television appearances on both Raw and SmackDown.[69]
On the September 19 episode of Raw, Ryder won a non-title match against United States Champion
Dolph Ziggler with the help of guest star
Hugh Jackman who punched Ziggler mid-match.[70] Following his victory over Ziggler, Ryder received a match for the United States Championship the following week and again at
Vengeance, but both unsuccessful due to interference from
Jack Swagger.[71][72] Ryder
main eventedRaw for the first time on November 7, teaming with John Cena in a losing effort against The Miz and R-Truth.[73] At
Survivor 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 during
The Rock's show-closing speech.[74]
On the December 5 episode of Raw, 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 then
World Heavyweight ChampionMark Henry, which Ryder won with interference from Cena,[75] thus earning him a United States Championship match at
TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, which Ryder won over Dolph Ziggler to capture his first ever singles title.[76] Shortly after, Ryder left his position as assistant to the SmackDown General Manager due to his championship commitments.[77]
Return to lower-tier status (2012–2015)
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".[78] By March 2012, John Cena noted that Ryder had "fallen off the face of the earth" despite 2011's success.[79] Ryder was eventually ranked by Pro 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.[80]
Going into 2012, Ryder started trying to romance
Eve as part of a romantic storyline.[81] As Cena's friend, Ryder also became a target of
Kane, who was feuding with Cena at the time and attacked Ryder on several occasions. On the January 16 episode of Raw, Ryder lost his United States Championship to Jack Swagger due to a kayfabe rib injury he suffered at the hands of Kane;[82] Ryder never received an automatic title rematch despite being the former champion.[83] Ryder's injuries mounted after he was
chokeslammed through the Raw stage[84] and
Tombstoned at the
Royal Rumble.[85] On the February 13 episode of Raw, 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.[86] While Ryder was out injured, Eve sparked a heel turn for her character when she revealed that she had never liked Ryder and had
disingenuously used him for fame and publicity.[87] Ryder returned on the March 5 episode of Raw, confronting Eve on her recent actions, but she managed to seduce him and the two shared a long backstage kiss afterwards.[88] Ryder then joined Theodore Long's team for a match to determine the General Manager of Raw and SmackDown at
WrestleMania 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.[89] 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 of
Over the Limit.[90] He won
The Great American Bash 20-man Battle Royal[91][92] on the special "
Great American Bash" July 3 episode of SmackDown to become the acting SmackDown (or "ZackDown", as he called it) GM the next week.[93][94]
At the
Night 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 champion
Antonio Cesaro.[95] During the debut episode of Main Event on October 3, Ryder and
Santino Marella were entered into a tournament to decide the number one contender to the tag team titles, where they defeated
Justin Gabriel and
Tyson Kidd to advance to the semi-finals.[96] The following week on Raw, the duo (eventually known as Team Co-Bro) was eliminated from the tournament after losing to Team Rhodes Scholars (
Cody Rhodes and
Damien Sandow).[97][98] As 2012 drew to a close, Ryder commented that the year had "sucked".[99]
"... it really kind of broke the spirit of the locker room. For years, we were told... that there's a
brass 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 got
over 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 get
pushed unless they pick you to get pushed, and that's kind of it".
In 2013, Ryder most commonly appeared on Superstars and lost all his singles matches on Raw and SmackDown.[101] Ryder entered the
2013 Royal Rumble match (his only PPV match for the year) and was eliminated with no eliminations after two minutes.[102] After weeks of the roster's emasculation at the hands of authority figure Triple H, Ryder and several other babyfaces finally saved
Daniel Bryan from a beat-down by
The Shield and
Randy Orton on the September 16 Raw.[103] In response, Triple H arranged for Ryder and Justin Gabriel to face
Luke HarperandErick Rowan of
the Wyatt Family on the next SmackDown, where Ryder's team lost.[104] On the next Raw, Bryan, Ryder and the other babyfaces faced the Shield in an 11-on-3 handicap elimination match; Ryder was eliminated by
Roman Reigns, but his team eventually won the match.[105]
In January 2014, the Pro 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.[106] Ryder was also unsuccessful in winning three battle royals: the
André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at
WrestleMania XXX,[107] a battle royal for the United States Championship in May and a battle royal for the
Intercontinental Championship at
Battleground.[108][109] On the July 21 episode of Raw, Ryder picked up his first singles victory on Raw since December 2012,[101] but it was only after
Layla interfered against Ryder's opponent,
Fandango.[110] In November 2014, Ryder announced that he had torn his
rotator cuff.[111] John Cena gave a storyline explanation that a comment on
Twitter led to
The Authority punishing Ryder.[112]
Ryder returned on January 25, 2015, at the
Royal Rumble in the Rumble match at No. 9 and was quickly eliminated by
Bray Wyatt.[113] Ryder participated in the 2nd annual André the Giant Memorial
battle royal at
WrestleMania 31 which was won by
Big Show.[114] Ryder, being accompanied by the cast of Entourage, answered Cena's United States Championship open challenge on the May 25 episode of Raw in his hometown and in the final WWE event held in the
Nassau Coliseum, but failed to win after a countered
450 Splash.[115] On the June 4 episode of SmackDown, Ryder accepted
Kevin Owens' open challenge for the
NXT Championship, which he lost.[116]
In June 2015, Zack Ryder began appearing in WWE's developmental system
NXT, where he formed a tag team with NXT's returning
Mojo Rawley.[117] After a month-long feud with the likes of
The Mechanics (
Scott Dawson and
Dash Wilder) and
Jason JordanandChad Gable, along with countless victories over the teams, The Hype Bros teamed up with
Enzo AmoreandColin Cassady to defeat The Mechanics, Jordan and Gable in an 8-man tag team match at
NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. On the October 16 episode of NXT, The Hype Bros competed in a match for the
NXT Tag Team Championship in a losing effort. On the October 22 episode of NXT, Ryder competed in a 26-man battle royal to determine the number one contender for the
NXT Championship. Ryder was unsuccessful, although he was among the last few competitors in the match.
Meanwhile, on the main roster, Ryder continued wrestling on Superstars and Main Event from June 2015 to March 2016. He suffered singles losses to
Bo Dallas,
Rusev and The Miz, but managed to trade singles wins and losses with
Adam Rose,
Heath Slater,
Stardust and
Tyler Breeze.[118][119]
At
WrestleMania 32, Ryder substituted
Neville in the
ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship and won.[120][121][122] He lost the title to The Miz the following night on Raw.[123] Three days later on SmackDown, Ryder received a rematch, where
Maryse helped Miz to retain.[124]
"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,[126] Big Show,[127] or Sheamus.[128] At
Battleground, Ryder was defeated by the United States champion Rusev.[129] 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 the
SummerSlam pre-show, The Hype Bros teamed with
The Usos (
Jimmy and
Jey) and American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) to face
The Vaudevillains (
Aiden English and
Simon Gotch), Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango), and
The Ascension (
Konnor and
Viktor) in a 12-man tag team match, where Ryder's team was victorious.[130]
The Hype Bros later participated in an 8-team tournament to crown the inaugural
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions, where The Hype Bros defeated The Vaudevillains in the first round, before losing to
Heath SlaterandRhyno in the semi-finals.[131][132] 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 the
Backlash 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.[133] They also participated in multi-tag matches at
Survivor Series and
TLC: Tables Ladders and Chairs.[134][135]
On the December 13 episode of SmackDown, Ryder injured his knee and was inactive for six months.[136] He returned on the June 13, 2017, episode of SmackDown, reuniting with Rawley. On June 18, at the
Money in the Bank pre-show, The Hype Bros faced
The Colóns (Primo and
Epico Colón)in a winning effort.[137] Two days later on SmackDown,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 of SmackDown in a match against tag team champions The Usos, in which they lost.[138]
On the November 28 episode of SmackDown Live, the team was dissolved when, after a lost against The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan), Rawley attacked Ryder.[139] They would face at
Clash of Champions and during a tournament for the United States title with Rawley winning both matches.[140][141][142] At
WrestleMania 34, Ryder participated in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where he was eliminated by Mojo Rawley.[143]
Reunion with Curt Hawkins (2018–2020)
On April 16, Ryder was drafted to Raw brand as part of the
Superstar Shake-up.[144] Before the April 23 episode of Raw, Ryder suffered a MCL, ACL and calf muscle strains in a match against
Mike Kanellis. As a result, Ryder missed the
Greatest Royal Rumble event, at which he was scheduled to compete.[145] Ryder returned on the May 7 episode of Main Event, defeating his former partner Curt Hawkins.[146]
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).[147][148] On the
WrestleMania 35 kickoff show, Ryder and Hawkins defeated The Revival to capture the titles for a second time in their career. The next night on Raw, 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 of Raw.[149] 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 to
The Viking Raiders (
Erik and
Ivar) on the May 6 episode of Raw and a win against
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson on the May 27 episode of Main Event.[150] On the June 10 episode of Raw, Ryder and Hawkins lost the titles back to The Revival in a tag-team triple threat match also involving The Usos.[151] At
Survivor Series on November 24, Ryder and Hawkins competed in a ten-man interbrand battle royal, but were the third team eliminated.[152] In his final pay-per-view appearance, Ryder and Hawkins lost to the Viking Raiders at
Elimination Chamber on March 8, 2020.[153] The following night on Raw, Ryder was defeated by
Bobby Lashley in what would be his final WWE match.[154] On April 15, both Hawkins and Ryder were released from their WWE contracts as part of budget cuts stemming from the
COVID-19 pandemic, thus ending Ryder's 15-year tenure with the company.[155]
After leaving AEW, Cardona began to work with
Impact Wrestling in a similar limited appearance deal.[160] He made his surprise debut on January 16, 2021, at
Hard To Kill, where he defeated
Ace Austin by disqualification.[161] On the January 26 episode of Impact!, Cardona teamed with
Josh Alexander to defeat Austin and
Madman Fulton.[162] Soon after, Cardona would begin a feud with his former tag team partner, Brian Myers. At
No Surrender, Cardona and
Eddie Edwards were defeated by Myers and
Hernandez,[163] and Cardona was defeated by Myers again at
Rebellion in a singles match.[164] The feud ended at
Slammiversary, where Cardona teamed up with his real-life fiancée,
Chelsea Green to defeat Myers and
Tenille Dashwood.[165] At
Bound for Glory, Cardona competed in the
Call Your Shot Gauntlet match, where he would be the runner-up in the match after being lastly eliminated by
Moose.[166] At
Turning Point, Cardona lost to
W. Morrissey with the help of Moose.[167] On the December 2 episode of Impact!, Cardona pinned Moose in a tag team match, thus earning him an Impact World Championship match at
Hard To Kill.[168][169] At the event, on January 8, 2022, Cardona was unsuccessful in capturing the title in a three-way match also involving Morrissey.[170][171]
On the February 3 episode of Impact!, Cardona defeated
Jordynne Grace to win the
Impact Digital Media Championship after hitting her with a steel chair, thus turning heel.[172][173][174] At
No Surrender, he defeated Grace by disqualification after she delivered to him a low blow.[175] On the February 24 episode of Impact!, Cardona defeated Grace for the title again in a
Dotcombat match.[176] On the April 15 episode of Impact!, 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 gave
Mickie James a cheap shot and then knocked her down with Myers and Cardona's help. The following week, Cardona retained his title against the returning
James Maritato.[177][178][179] He would lose the title against Rich Swann during an independent event.[180] On October 7 at
Bound for Glory, Cardona made his return by competing in the Call Your Shot Gauntlet, eliminating
Gisele Shaw and
Taylor Wilde before being eliminated by Bhupinder Gujjar.[181]
On May 14, 2023, Cardona confirmed he was officially done with Impact Wrestling.[182] However, Cardona returned to Impact Wrestling on October 21, at
Bound for Glory as a participant in the 20-person Intergender Call Your Shot Gauntlet match, eliminating
Jake Something,
Sonny Kiss,
Frankie Kazarian,
Eric Young and Brian Myers before being eliminated by Jordynne Grace.[183]
Game Changer Wrestling (2021–present)
On June 6, 2021,
GCW held its Zombie Walk show at the Showboat Hotel in
Atlantic City, New Jersey. Following
Nick Gage's match with Jimmy Lloyd for the
GCW World Championship – which ended in a no contest – a hooded figure entered the ring. The figure flailed their limbs around and performed a
double underhook DDT on Gage, leading fans in attendance to believe it was
Jon Moxley. When the hooded figure unmasked, however, it was revealed to be Cardona.[184] 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.[185] Cardona challenged Gage for the title at night one of GCW Homecoming, which also took place at the Showboat Hotel, on July 24, 2021.[186] At the event, Cardona defeated Gage in a
deathmatch to win the title, marking his first ever world championship in any promotion.[187][188] 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.[189] He would lose the championship to Jon Moxley on September 4, 2021, at The Art of War Games.[190] At GCW's Welcome to Heartbreak event in
Los Angeles, Myers and Cardona reunited alongside Chelsea Green as "The Major Players," losing to
X-Pac and
Joey Janela in the main event.[191]
National Wrestling Alliance (2021–present)
On December 4, 2021, at
Hard Times 2, Cardona made his debut for NWA attacking
NWA Worlds Heavyweight ChampionTrevor Murdoch following his match with
Mike Knox. On February 12, 2022, at
NWA PowerrrTrip, Cardona defeated Murdoch to become the new champion.[192] During Night 2 of the
Crockett Cup, he retained the title by disqualification against
Nick Aldis, in a match where
Jeff Jarrett was the special guest referee.[193] On June 11, at
Alwayz Ready, Cardona was forced to vacate the title due to an injury.[194] On November 12, at
Hard Times 3, Cardona competed in a three-way match for the title, which was won by
Tyrus when he pinned then-champion Murdoch.[195] On February 11, 2023, at
Nuff Said, Cardona fought Tyrus for the title in a losing effort.[196]
On the March 28, 2024 episode of
TNA Impact, Cardona alongside with
Steph De Lander returned to TNA in 8-4-1 Match. On the April 11, 2024 episode of TNA Impact, he and Steph De Lander made a second appearance smashing
Jordynne Grace Through a Table
Throughout his 15-year tenure with WWE, Cardona had several gimmicks as Zack Ryder, from his debut in 2007 as an Edgehead for
Edge'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 a
lifting inverted DDT, an
inverted overdrive dubbed the Zack Attack, and currently a
jumping leg lariat dubbed the Rough Ryder, now dubbed Radio Silence.
After his departure from WWE in 2020, Cardona would reinvent himself as a super-fan of all things wrestling (mainly WWE) soon after appearing on the independent circuit. As such, he riles up fans through two major methods that fans would hate. The first is the celebration of things while thanking Vince McMahon for giving him the tools to become a superstar, even dressing up in McMahon's
ECW World Heavyweight Champion outfit to one of his GCW World Championship defenses. The second is by putting his own spin on the things those same fans hold dear. Whilst some would see a wrestler wearing gear referencing some of the industry's greats as a loving tribute, Cardona's versions are twisted bastardizations that mix the hardcore fanbase's influence with a WWE-based influence.[207]
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, [208][209] while at the end of September 2023, he held nine different belts.[210][211]
Legacy
Cardona is known for being one of the first wrestlers to become popular thanks to his online presence.[212][213] British wrestler
Drake Maverick claimed that, without him "your Twitter, Instagram, YouTube promo wouldn't exist."[214]
Cardona as Zack Ryder started a YouTube web series called Z! 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.[217] The show's theme song "
Just Take Care, Spike Your Hair (The Broski of the Week Song)" was written specifically about Ryder by
The Luke & Duane Show. In April 2011, Ryder proclaimed himself WWE "Internet Champion"[218] complete with a children's replica belt covered in stickers, as it was unsanctioned by WWE.[219] In July 2011, Ryder defended his Internet Championship at a
house show in Australia, against
Primo.[220] On an episode of Z! True Long Island Story,
Dolph Ziggler challenged Ryder to an Internet title match at
WrestleMania 29 which Ryder accepted.[221] 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.[222]
On episode 50 of Z! True Long Island Story, Ryder announced the show would be part of WWE's official YouTube channel.[223]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 a
dream 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.[224] 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 had
removed content from his videos.[225] 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.[226][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.[227]
In July 2011, Ryder was featured in Sports Illustrated's list of the 100 most influential
Twitter users in sports.[228] On January 16, 2013, Ryder released a music video entitled "Hoeski".[229] The song amassed over 100,000 views in four days and was also posted on WWE's official YouTube channel.[230] "Hoeski" peaked at No. 92 on the iTunes Pop Music chart on February 5, 2013.[231]
On March 18, 2017, it was announced that Ryder would be launching a new YouTube series called Z! True Comeback Story, chronicling his return to the ring after suffering a knee injury in December.[235] In 2018, Ryder started a podcast with
Curt Hawkins about wrestling figures called The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast.[236] 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 of
The Last Match: A Pro-Wrestling Rock Musical as the fictional wrestling heel, Alexander Swagger opposite Ramin Karimloo and Amber Ardolino.[237] On September 26, 2022, Cardona joined the cast for two live performances of The Last Match in Jersey City, NJ at White Eagle Hall.[238]
On May 22, 2023, Cardona posted a new episode of Z! 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.[239] This indicates he had gained the rights to Zack Ryder and had used this to permanently write the character off.[citation needed]
Cardona resides in
Orlando, Florida. He began dating Canadian professional wrestler
Chelsea Green in January 2017, and they were engaged on April 4, 2019.[241] They were married on December 31, 2021, in
Las Vegas.[242]
Cardona is an avid fan of Ghostbusters. He has periodically donned Ghostbusters themed ring gear during matches,[243] and discussed his love of the
franchise in the 2016 documentary Ghostheads.[244]
^"Titles & Champs: Final list of 2012 Titleholders". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 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
^IMPACT Wrestling Staff (January 8, 2022).
"Hard To Kill 2022 Full Results". Impact Wrestling.
Archived from the original on May 28, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
^IMPACT Wrestling Staff (February 19, 2022).
"No Surrender 2022 Full Results". Impact Wrestling.
Archived from the original on February 20, 2022. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
^Kreikenbohm, Philip (September 3, 2022).
"Wrestling Showcase Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 15, 2022.