While some professional wrestlers carry a consistent persona with them throughout their entire career, many elect to completely reinvent themselves for new employers. That has been the case for a number of former WWE stars, as talent like Jon Moxley and FTR shed all aspects of their past selves upon leaving the company that promoted them as Dean Ambrose and The Revival. The same is especially true for Matt Cardona, formerly known as Zack Ryder in WWE. Upon exiting WWE in 2020, Cardona hit the independent circuit and made himself an immediate sensation, capturing enough world titles to warrant a second suitcase.
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When wrestling under his real name, Cardona is unrecognizable from his WWE persona. He frequently curses, cheats to win, and promotes himself as a caricature of a sports-entertainer.
Cardona fueled speculation on his professional wrestling future recently when he applied to trademark “Zack Ryder,” with some speculating that he could be bringing back his past name. Coupled with his wife Chelsea Green returning to WWE, and many suspected that Cardona could be heading back to his former employer. Cardona would lose the trademark application, as WWE fought back on it.
“They did let it lapse,” Cardona told Jason Powell’s Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast regarding WWE’s “Zack Ryder” trademark. “I applied for it knowing there’s a chance they could fight it and they have so that’s it, I’m letting it go.”
Cardona revealed that his interest in trademarking his old monicker was due to wanting to face “Zack Ryder” in a cinematic match.
“It would’ve been cool to do a cinematic Matt Cardona versus Zack Ryder match,” Cardona revealed. “It’s not gonna happen. I’m not gonna fight [it] because at the end of the day, it’s their intellectual property. They would win if we ever went to court over it so I tried, they fought it so that’s it, I’m backing down.”
Cardona challenges Tyrus for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship this Saturday at NWA Nuff Said.
