Matt Cardona re-signs with WWE, appears on SmackDown
Zack Ryder is back, kind of.
Matt Cardona officially returned to WWE on Friday’s SmackDown, squaring off against Kit Wilson in a surprise appearance under his given name. During the match, Michael Cole announced via GM Nick Aldis that he was officially part of the SmackDown roster moving forward. He scored the win after hitting the Rough Ryder.
Cardona has appeared several times on WWE programming in the last year, both under his real name and his former WWE name. He made a couple of appearances on NXT as part of the ongoing TNA storyline, facing off and losing against Josh Briggs. During the Last Time is Now tournament, Cardona returned as Ryder in a losing effort against LA Knight.
A former Intercontinental and United States champion, Cardona gained a cult following in the 2010s as a singles wrestler. In 2020, he and his former tag team partner Curt Hawkins were released from their WWE contracts as part of COVID-19 budget cuts. During his time away from WWE, Cardona continued to find success as an independent wrestler for promotions like GCW and also made appearances in AEW and TNA.
Bryan Rose is an editor from California that has been covering professional wrestling for well over a decade. He officially joined F4WOnline as an editor in 2017.