Former WWE Superstar Zack Ryder Teases Reviving Old Gimmick

Back On April 15, Zack Ryder (Matt Cardona) was released by WWE along with 33 other Superstars. Nine producers and Gerald Brisco were also furloughed while Kurt Angle was let go. The releases came after WWE announced they would be making cutbacks because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Since being released, Cardona has retained a positive outlook and has set up a Pro Wrestling Tees store and continued to promote The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast he hosts with Curt Hawkins. The Ultimate Broski has also started making preparations to return to the ring as he recently teased he would be reviving his Internet Champion gimmick.

Cardona tweeted: "The reigning...defending......#AlwayzReady #NotThere," accompanied by an image of a title belt which had "INT" inscribed on it. 

Matt's Internet Champion persona was extremely popular in WWE in the early 2010s. As he wasn't being used on WWE TV, Ryder created a YouTube web series called Z! True Long Island Story which caused him to get over with the audience as "We Want Ryder!" became a common chant at Monday Night Raw. This ultimately forced WWE to put Long Island Iced Z on TV and Zack ended 2011 as the United States Champion. The company did little with Ryder from 2012 onwards but he retained a soft spot in many fans hearts as he received a massive pop at WrestleMania 32 when he captured the Intercontinental Championship. 

Where Cardona ends up remains to be seen, but during a recent Q & A on Instagram live, Cody Rhodes did not rule out bringing his friend to All Elite Wrestling. 

The American Nightmare said: "That guy's the best and he's got I think over two million followers on Twitter and over one million followers on Instagram. So, very broad influence, incredibly famous, more famous than a great deal of guys out there. But that doesn't always translate and probably the thing that Zack or Matt, the biggest hurdle he'll face is his friendship with me. He's one of my only really really close friends in wrestling. Maybe my only friend in wrestling and I have my brother here, I have my beautiful wife and they all do the work. So, this can't be All Friends Wrestling, you've got to handle it the best way."