Matt Cardona Wants To Be Presented As A Top Star If He Makes WWE Return

Former WWE Superstar Matt Cardona recently appeared on the Heated Shenanigans Podcast, and spoke about the conditions under which he'd return to the company, explaining:

"I'm not gonna come back to, you know, just be on the show. I would never go back just to be back. I've been on the roster. I was there. Very fortunate for my time there. Spent over a decade there. But I did the whole just the guy on the roster thing. I have no desire to do that again. 

"If I'm gonna be there, I want to matter. And I think I proved over the past three years that I'm more than capable of holding my own. And if I ever get that opportunity again, I think I'll prove that to the world."

As Zack Ryder, Cardona appeared on WWE television between 2007 and 2020. In that time he won the Intercontinental and United States titles once each, as well as becoming a two-time WWE Tag Team Champion alongside Curt Hawkins. However, some fans believe that Cardona could have been even more successful in WWE given the popularity he independently amassed online - with many believing that he was held back as punishment for circumnavigating WWE's traditional path to success.

In the years since being released from WWE, Cardona has had a varied and successful run in multiple promotions - winning the top titles in the NWA and GCW, while also appearing for companies such as AEW and IMPACT Wrestling.

H/T to Sportskeeda.