Matt Cardona Arrives on AEW Dynamite, Saves Cody Rhodes From The Dark Order

Former WWE Superstar Matt Cardona made his surprise arrival on this week’s AEW Dynamite. Early on in the show Cody Rhodes successfully defended his TNT Championship against independent star Warhorse, but their post-match handshake was interrupted by two members of The Dark Order. The masked men tried to gang up on Rhodes, only for Cardona to stomp his way down to the ring and batter the two.

The man formerly known as Zack Ryder then shook hands with Rhodes at ringside. The former United States and Intercontinental Champion was released by the WWE on April 15.

Prior to Wednesday night’s show, Rhodes talked about the possibility of signing both Cardona and Miro (Rusev) in an interview with ESPN.

“I think there are two free agents that are on a lot of people’s radar, that being Miro — formerly Rusev — and Matt Cardona, who was Zack Ryder,” Rhodes said. “Obviously, those free agents should be on any radar. They have literally drawn money. They have TV experience. They have high-profile experience. They have locker room experience. The pros heavily outweigh the cons. Those are two great free agents. I’m not going to go as far to say that if I had to sign anybody, those would be the two that I would sign. But I think they’re great free agents. I think if they have the passion for pro wrestling, they’re going to continue to succeed.

“Here’s the trick,” he added. “We only have a two-hour show. And a lot of our roster hasn’t even been fully realized or seen yet. I want to make sure we honor individuals like that. If you bring in a hot free agent, that means someone is going to lose a spot. That’s just the reality of it. In my capitalistic, cold nature that I have, I actually don’t mind that, because that makes everybody else step their game up. But you do want to do it fairly and responsibly. The best wrestlers, no matter where they came from, you’re going to want on your show.”

Since his release, Cardona has revealed the return of his Internet Championship, which now features his new logo.