Matt Cardona Reveals How He Got Connected with Nick Khan That Paved the Way for His WWE Return

Matt Cardona has revealed the story behind Nick Khan calling him last year, inquiring what he wanted out of him.

Matt Cardona Reveals How He Got Connected with Nick Khan That Paved the Way for His WWE Return

Matt Cardona and Nick Khan [via- WWE and SBJ]

It took almost 6 years for Matt Cardona to bury the ghosts of Zack Ryder and get the desired recognition from WWE, for which he’d been working his tail off on the independent circuit. The New Yorker did make a one-off appearance on SmackDown last November, but he came back as Zack Ryder and even lost to LA Knight in the then-ongoing The Last Time is Now tournament for determining John Cena‘s last match opponent.

Almost 1.5 months later, ‘The Long Island Iced-Z’ realized his dream of returning to WWE as Matt Cardona. He interrupted Kit Wilson on the first SmackDown of 2026 and ousted him in an impromptu match, and this time around, Cardona was back for good. How did it come together for ‘The Deathmatch King’? Cardona made the revelation while appearing on Cody Rhodes‘ What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast.

During the 85-minute-long conversation that they had, ‘The Indy God’ disclosed how he got in touch with the WWE president, Nick Khan. It happened at a time when Cardona was working for TNA last year, and they invaded NXT on the 9/23 edition of the show. ‘The Woo Woo Woo Kid’ would eventually go on to have his first match on NXT three weeks later, where he got stunned by Josh Briggs.

At the time, Cardona’s wife, Chelsea Green, was in Saudi Arabia with the coterie of WWE stars promoting the Royal Rumble PLE. Nick Khan was also there, and Green approached the WWE prez to ask whether he watched her husband compete in a match on NXT. Khan told ‘The Hot Mess’ that he always wanted to have a chat with her husband, and he asked Green to give him his number.

After Green shared Khan’s contact number with Cardona, the latter wasted no time in texting him. Cardona received a call from the WWE president, and that’s when the 40-year-old expressed his desire for a WWE return. That’s what got the ball rolling for Matt Cardona coming to WWE as a full-time member of the roster, as per what he said during the aforementioned chat with Rhodes.

Matt Cardona sends message to Randy Orton ahead of WWE SmackDown

Matt Cardona got highlighted in a major way on last week’s SmackDown. The former Intercontinental Champion succumbed to the wrath of an unhinged Randy Orton. The latter faked an apology for going off on Cardona in that backstage interaction they had earlier on. ‘The Viper’ went low on the New Yorker after pulling him in for a hug and the subsequent handshake to make Cardona feel he was truly sorry.

Randy Orton decimated Matt Cardona on SmackDown
Randy Orton decimated Matt Cardona on SmackDown [via- WWE]

Orton snapped and dropped Cardona with the RKO. ‘The Apex Predator’ put Cardona’s arm through a steel chair and stomped over it to create an impression of breaking his arm. The erstwhile Zack Ryder has sent a message to Orton after his callous beatdown of him just a week after the 14-time world champion betrayed his brother-like friend, Cody Rhodes.

Cardona declared through a post on X that he’s not finished despite the damage that Orton inflicted on him. He stressed how it took six years for him to get back in WWE, and he wouldn’t let anything take it away from him. Chelsea Green had previously urged ‘The Legend Killer’ to go easy on her man. And she would like nothing more than for her husband to get his lick back on Orton.

WWE is expected to schedule a match between them, as Cardona was already imploring GM Nick Aldis last Friday to give him Orton. Aldis denied doing it last week as he had a lot on his plate, especially with Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu stopping at nothing.

On this week’s SmackDown, Rhodes will return to address what Orton did to him, leaving the latter in a bloody mess after signing the contract for their WrestleMania 42 clash. Also, with Cardona being good friends with Rhodes, the ‘QB1’ could have the backing of Cardona in his quest against a menacing Orton.

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