Matt Cardona vs. Joey Janela at Sunday’s The WRLD on GCW pay-per-view was loaded with references to the WWE, specifically the ECW One Night Stand event from 2006. Cardona entered New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” an obvious homage to ECW’s The Sandman, while wearing a red flannel with the words “F— Mick Foley” embroidered on the back. The cheap shot at the WWE Hall of Famer seemed to come out of nowhere, but on Monday Foley opted to respond via his YouTube channel.
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“Hello everyone, it’s ‘The Hardcore Legend’ Mick Foley addressing the Matt Cardona situation,” Foley said. “Matt took a shot at Mrs. Foley’s baby boy with his interesting choice of ring attire. And while I appreciate the GCW fans flipping him off on my behalf, while I appreciate my friend, ‘The Savage Gentlemen,’ whose wedding I officiated, that’s real, wanting to do battle with him on my behalf. The truth is, from a personal standpoint, I was happy for him. Yeah, it made me laugh because I felt like Matt was done wrong in WWE. He reached for that brass ring, grabbed it and was asked to return it. Ultimately, everyone who leaves a major company has a choice to make when they hit the independent scene. And that choice is, ‘Do I just do the same things I did, the things that I was known for, or do I reinvent myself?’ I call that the Drew McIntyre route, the road less traveled.
“That is what Matt Cardona has done. He’s completely reinvented himself and in doing so has become one of the most enjoyable and valuable assets on the wrestling scene, and knowing that I’m playing just a small part in that reinvention, a tiny part, that makes me happy. And in conclusion, f— Matt Cardona,” he added.
As Foley stated, Cardona has undergone a complete reinvention since arriving in GCW last year. His feuds with the likes of Nick Gage and Effy had made him the most hated man in the company, all while he’s continued to integrate various of his time in WWE into his new persona (calling fans the “GCW Universe,” creating a GCW World Championship spinner belt, etc.). Sunday’s win over Joey Janela included interference from Virgil (wearing a Vince McMahon mask), Hornswoggle and Brian Meyers (wearing the same biker gear Edge used when he interfered at One Night Stand ’06).
