Matt Cardona is revisiting his most infamous rivalry. Two years ago, Cardona dethroned death match specialist Nick Gage to become the Game Changer Wrestling World Champion. That title victory did not come without a cost, as Cardona participated in the most brutal match of his career en route to victory. The former WWE United States Champion was put through panes of glass, struck over the head with light tubes, and had his forehead sliced open by a pizza cutter. Despite the permanent scars, Cardona’s death match against Gage launched him to superstardom and set him on a path to becoming the most successful independent wrestler on the scene today.
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Later this month, Cardona and Gage will square off for the first time since their original singles encounter. Cardona will team with Steph De Lander to do battle against Nick Gage and Maki Itoh at GCW Homecoming Night 1.
Ahead of the big rematch, Cardona channeled his real-life friend and WWE superstar Cody Rhodes. Cardona shared an image of the GCW Homecoming match graphic alongside a superimposed video of Rhodes declaring that he has to “finish the story.”
Cody Rhodes Shares Loves For Matt Cardona
“I’m really proud of him. He’s out there, he’s doing the ‘Indie God’ thing with the Indiana Jones hats,” Rhodes said of Cardona in a recent interview. “Matt has been the king of the indies now, this is going on year two. You only usually get one run in that role, you know? He’s going on year two. What Matt does next is gonna be huge. If he goes to AEW, that’d be cool but if he comes back to WWE, that’s what I want, it would be off the charts. I think he’s a huge get, a huge free agent, he’s the best he’s ever been.”
Cardona and Rhodes had a brief on-screen pairing together in AEW in Summer 2020. Cardona worked a couple of dates for AEW and aligned himself with Rhodes in the process. This came before Cardona hit the indie scene and evolved into his “Indie God” persona. Cardona ultimately left AEW after his short-term deal expired and took over the indie circuit while Rhodes remained in AEW until early 2022, eventually opting to return to WWE. The two are separated for now but remain good friends to this day, with Cardona even participating in Rhodes’s recent Peacock documentary.
