On this week’s episode of AEW Collision, fans in London, Ontario, Canada were treated to a huge surprise return from the “Indy God” and the “Deathmatch King” Matt Cardona. Cardona answered Adam Copeland’s open challenge for the TNT title after he won it for a second time on AEW Dynamite last week. The two wrestlers have no shortage of history together in the ring but whenever Cardona has been asked what his dream match is, he always goes back to Copeland.
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When Copeland was forced to retire from professional wrestling in 2011, Cardona thought all hope was lost. Then the unimaginable happened — Copeland returned at the 2020 Royal Rumble. By that point, Cardona was on his way out of the company, so they didn’t cross paths. Once again he lost hope that it’s something that would ever happen until Copeland debuted in AEW at last year’s AEW WrestleDream pay-per-view. In an AEW digital exclusive, Cardona reflected on getting to have his dream match that he never thought would take place.
“This isn’t just something I would answer Q&A’s with on Twitter, “who’s your dream match?” And I’m not even talking about our history — the Edgeheads, all that, ‘he taught me everything that I know in this business, he saved my career.’ I’m not even talking about that. I’m saying pre me even being a pro wrestler. Looking up to Adam, looking up to Jay — those were the guys when they made it, when they made it to the top of this business, maybe someone like me can,” Cardona reflects. “To have this match, honestly I thought it wasn’t gonna happen. Adam had to retire, he comes back, we aren’t in the same company. But “Alwayz Ready” right? It’s not just a nickname or hashtag or catchphrase. It’s the way I live my life, my career. Everything that he’s taught me over the years, even things he doesn’t even know he taught me, just by me watching, before I knew him. Even now he’s the “Rated R Superstar” but because of what he taught me I’m the “Self Made Superstar.” I didn’t win tonight but Adam if you’re watching this, maybe we go to Long Island, NY, my hometown, and you put that title on the line. Because I’m Alwayz Ready.”
The congratulations came pouring in for Cardona from fellow wrestlers and fans alike. Cardona took to his social media pages earlier this afternoon to further discuss what the moment meant to him. “When I was in high school, Edge was one of my favorite wrestlers. I’d have matches with him (an invisible version) in my bedroom or trampoline,” Cardona wrote. “Him reinventing himself into the Rated R Superstar made me an even bigger fan of his.A couple of years later, @Myers_Wrestling and I made it to WWE but were drowning as The Major Brothers. We were about be fired. We had an idea to be Adam’s entourage…his Edgeheads. He didn’t need us but we certainly needed him. He took a chance on us, saved our careers, and changed our lives.” Check out the full post below.
