Add Matt Cardona to the list of talents that want a piece of GCW Champion Nick Gage.
The Impact Wrestling star made a surprise appearance at GCW’s Zombie Walk show Sunday in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and attacked Gage after his successful title defense against Jimmy Lloyd.
Gage was destroying light tubes and such that were left in the ring when a man dressed in a black hooded robe and mask entered the ring staggering like Jon Moxley. He then kicked Gage in the gut and delivered Moxley’s Paradigm Shift DDT, making fans think it was the former AEW Champion.
Instead, Cardona took off the mask and revealed himself to a thunderous ovation which eventually turned into some boos. Before he left, he grabbed Gage’s title belt and held it over his head.
Moxley recently made his own surprise appearance to confront Gage at last month’s GCW Draft Day and the two brawled to end the show.
Three new matches have been announced for this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
Pick Your Poison makes its return as Matt Cardona and Brian Myers will choose each other’s opponent for this Thursday’s Impact. TJP vs. Josh Alexander has also been announced for the episode.
Former tag team partners Cardona and Myers will face off at Impact Wrestling’s Rebellion pay-per-view on Sunday, April 25. Ace Austin defending his X-Division Championship against TJP and Alexander in a triple threat match has also been announced for the PPV.
This week’s Impact will be the show’s second episode since moving to Thursday nights. Here’s the updated lineup for the episode:
Press conference with AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and Impact World Champion Rich Swann
Jazz’s retirement ceremony
Matt Cardona vs. an opponent of Brian Myers’ choosing
Brian Myers vs. an opponent of Matt Cardona’s choosing
TJP vs. Josh Alexander
Rebellion will be headlined by Omega and Swann facing off in a title vs. title match.
Jazz put her career on the line and lost to Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo in a title vs. career match at Impact’s Hardcore Justice Impact Plus special last weekend.
Left My Wallet returns with a special free episode featuring newly debuted Impact Wrestling star Matt Cardona and friend of the show Flex Rumblecrunch.
Matt recently made his Impact debut and he’s here to talk action figures, diet and nutrition, and just a little bit of sports with Flex and I. We discuss when we first met, his time on the indies before WWE, who he was afraid to work with on the indies, and the tryout that got he and Brian Meyers signed.
We then talk about wrestling figures, the change in culture inside wrestling locker rooms, the Figure Wrestling Federation, figure fantasy drafts, and even more toy talk.
We wrap up by talking in-ring training, Bill Demott and Deep South Wrestling, staying ready, and a quiz to test Matt’s lack of sports knowledge.
Matt is one of the most easy going, kind, and relaxed people in or out of the business. Enjoy this talk with the three of us have a great time talking toys, wrestling, and sports.
The former Zack Ryder made his Impact Wrestling debut at tonight’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view.
In a match that wasn’t announced in advance, Matt Cardona faced Ace Austin at Hard to Kill. Cardona won by disqualification when Madman Fulton interfered to save Austin. Cardona fought off Fulton and stood tall after hitting Radio Silence.
Cardona tweeted after making his Impact debut: “I needed tonight. Thanks @ScottDAmore for the opportunity. Thanks @IMPACTWRESTLING. Thanks to all my fans! I’m #AlwayzReady…I’m #HardToKill…and I’m NOT DONE with @The_Ace_Austin & @FultonWorld!”
Austin, who won Impact’s Super X-Cup at Genesis earlier this month, came to the ring at tonight’s PPV and cut a promo demanding to be added to the Manik vs. Rohit Raju vs. Chris Bey X-Division Championship match. Scott D’Amore said he was going to give Austin another match instead, then introduced Cardona as his opponent.
Cardona was released by WWE during the company’s roster cuts last April. He had a short-term stint in AEW following his release from WWE, including teaming with Dustin Rhodes, QT Marshall & Scorpio Sky in an eight-man tag match against The Dark Order at All Out in September.
Cardona hosts the Major Wrestling Figure podcast with his friend and former tag team partner Brian Myers (formerly known as Curt Hawkins in WWE). Myers recently signed a contract with Impact Wrestling. After being released by WWE in April, Myers made his return to Impact in July. Myers defeated Josh Alexander on tonight’s Hard to Kill pre-show.
A look at the Road Warriors, the biggest drawing tag team in pro wrestling history, is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. We talk about the birth of the team, the background of Joe Laurinaitis, the early days of Hawk, Animal and Rick Rude in pro wrestling, the role of Ole Anderson and Eddy Sharkey in the story, why the Road Warriors did and didn’t work certain territories, why they rarely worked with Bruiser Brody, why they ended up in AWA, JCP, and how they wound up with WWE. We also look at their departure from WWE, Animal leaving wrestling, and their return.
Also in this issue:
COVID in WWE, AEW and CMLL, changes that were made, why AEW and WWE had a breakout in the same week, how AEW is changing its procedures, the belief of how this all started and much more.
G-1 Climax tournament, with an overview of the first shows, this week’s lineups, standings, poll results, star ratings and more covering all the first week shows.
Sports news that affects WWE’s next television deal as well as shakeups at NBCU that also do. We look at a new WWE marketing idea, Stephanie McMahon’s stock sale, why WWE stock fell, Undertaker talks the end of his documentary, changes at NXT UK, What NXT UK talent were told at meeting this week, NXT UK Heritage Cup tournament, former WWE star talked about returning, more on the Retribution storyline, who is doing the rules and the story behind the finish of the Raw match. We also have international ratings notes, WWE up for awards, new WWE marketing ventures, Roman Reigns talks changes in his presentation, Dwayne Johnson talks, why Kane is in the news again, WWE market value as well as a look at the most-watched shows on the WWE Network.
Saturday’s UFC show and more thoughts on Colby Covington and the line between playing bad guy wrestler and being offensive is.
WWE’s next two major shows with the cards and backgrounds.
Dragon Gate Dangerous Gate show from this past week.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Today’s guests on The Bump included Kyle O’Reilly, Santos Escobar, and Hiram Garcia. Next week’s guests for The Bump will be Wade Barrett, RJ City, and actor Ken Jeong.
Edge on the Busted Open radio show said that he didn’t have a time table regarding when he would be able to return from his triceps injury he suffered at Backlash earlier this year. “So, I don’t know yet,” he said. I know it’s a lot slower than I thought it was going to be because I just have this mentality of, ‘Right. No big deal. Surgery, PT and we grind through it, we break down the scar tissue and off we go.’ So, I don’t know if it is the injury itself, if I’m a little older, I don’t know what it is, but it’s not as fast as I would’ve liked.”
The Rock revealed the cast of the upcoming NBC show based on his life. Bradley Constant will play 15-year-old Rock, Stacey Leilua will play Ata Johnson, Joseph Lee Anderson will play Rocky Johnson, Uli Latukefu will play 20-year-old Rock, Ana Tuisila will play Lia Maivia, and Adrian Groulx will play 10-year-old Rock. The show is currently slated to premiere mid-season.
PWInsider is reporting that Jeff Hardy’s next court date for his October 2019 arrest for driving while impaired has been moved to 10/22 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bryan Rose has a review of WWE 2K Battlegrounds for the Nintendo Switch.
The Singh Brothers spoke to Global News Canada about being unable to return to WWE due to COVID-19 restrictions
There will be a WWE panel at the New York Comic-Con on Friday, October 9 that will feature Zelina Vega, Triple H, and Drew McIntyre as they discuss the biggest moments that have taken place on WWE Raw.
Cameron Grimes turns 27 today, while Isaiah “Swerve” Scott turns 30.
Other Wrestling
Trevor Murdoch defeated Aron Stevens last night on United Wrestling Network’s Primetime Live to win the NWA National championship.
Variety has an article on the one year anniversary of AEW Dynamite’s launch on TNT.
On the Pro Wrestling Junkies podcast, Matt Cardona says his short-term AEW contract expired on September 5 following his match at AEW All Out. He expressed interest in continuing his run with AEW.
The latest Aces High article looks at Tanahashi’s thoughts on Antonio Inoki’s shift towards what would be known as Inokism following the departure of Keiji Muto.
A packed AEW Dynamite saw every champion in action last night.
The main event featured AEW World Champion Jon Moxley teaming with Darby Allin in a win over Brian Cage and Ricky Starks. After the match, Allin pointed at Moxley, indicating a challenge. It was then announced that the two will face off on next week’s Dynamite for the title.
There is no shortage of challengers for Moxley as MJF also challenged the champion. He delivered a “state of the industry address” where he claimed that Moxley has been ducking him.
Cody retained his TNT Championship with a win over Warhorse, but the big news coming out of that segment was in the post-match. In his AEW debut, Matt Cardona, the former Zack Ryder, came to Cody’s aid after Alex Reynolds and John Silver of The Dark Order attacked Cody.
Hangman Page and Kenny Omega retained their AEW World Tag Team titles with a victory against The Dark Order’s Evil Uno and Stu Grayson.
Other highlights saw AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida win a non-title match against Diamante and Best Friends, Jurassic Express and Orange Cassidy defeat The Inner Circle in a 10-man tag. Later in the show, Chris Jericho challenged Cassidy to a debate next week and a match on August 12.
For more of what you missed from last night, including FTR signing their AEW contracts, scroll below.
Even with another title challenger looming, AEW World Champion Jon Moxley has a title defense set for next week’s AEW Dynamite in the no. 5 contender, Darby Allin.
Following their tag team victory over Brian Cage and Ricky Starks Wednesday, Allin and Moxley stared each other down as the announce team said that a title match between the two was signed for next week even though neither was aware of it.
This will be Allin’s second shot at the AEW title after losing in a Philadelphia street fight to then-champion Chris Jericho last October on the third-ever Dynamite. Allin and Moxley have faced each other several times in their careers and once in AEW, a match Moxley won on the November 20th Dynamite.
Earlier in the night, MJF challenged Moxley to a title match at All Out.
In other action and promos set for next week:
Matt Cardona (the former Zack Ryder) will make his AEW debut and team with TNT Champion Cody Rhodes against John Silver and Alex Reynolds. Cardona made his on-screen debut Wednesday, saving Rhodes after the two Dark Order members attacked Rhodes and Warhorse after their title match.
In a 12-man tag match, Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page will team with the Young Bucks and FTR to face Mr. Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, Five (Alan Angels) and Ten. The match was made after a brawl broke out following the champions’ Wednesday win over Grayson and Uno.
Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy will have a “Super Wednesday Debate” with a special guest moderator to help build their Dynamite match for August 12th.
There will be an update on MJF’s challenge to Moxley for All Out.
The former Zack Ryder appeared on tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
He appeared following the TNT title match between Cody and independent star Warhorse. John Silver and Alex Reynolds of the Dark Order attacked Cody after he successfully defended the title. Ryder checked on Cody once everything cleared and the two shook hands. Announcers identified him under his real name, Matt Cardona.
Cardona was a part of wide-ranging cuts by WWE that took place back in April after being a part of WWE since 2005. His no-compete expired on July 18. On that day, he posted a teaser video hyping his return to the independent scene.
Prior to his release, he had re-formed his team with Curt Hawkins, who has now appeared in vignettes hyping his debut for Impact wrestling under his real name, Brian Myers.
