Former champion blames a snowstorm for halting his WWE push after thunderous return at Royal Rumble 

Matt Cardona believes his potential push in WWE was hindered by a severe blizzard after a sensational return at Royal Rumble 2015.

Former champion blames a snowstorm for halting his WWE push after thunderous return at Royal Rumble 

Royal Rumble (via X)

The Royal Rumble is one of the most prestigious premium live events in WWE’s history. It is widely celebrated for its traditional 30-man Royal Rumble match. The match will have fast-paced exchanges, eliminations, and surprising returns. That said, former WWE superstar Zack Ryder, a.k.a. Matt Cardona, has recently claimed that his WWE push was halted by a snowstorm following the Royal Rumble return.

A fan page recently shared a video of Matt Cardona’s Royal Rumble return from 2015. The former United States Champion was quick to notice the tweet and offer his response. Quoting the video, Cardona said that he believed he was about to receive a major push, seeing the crowd go raucous over his return. However, his potential push was thwarted by a snowstorm, per the 38-year-old.

YouTube video

Matt Cardona made his surprising return at the Royal Rumble 2015. He was the ninth entrant in the match. Cardona walked down the aisle to a thunderous ovation from the crowd. Thus, the superstar thought he might receive a push on the upcoming edition of Raw. Unfortunately, a severe snowstorm in Hartford, Connecticut canceled the Raw after the Rumble.

FS Video
Pop was loud I thought they gotta use me tomorrow on Raw… There was a snowstorm and Raw was cancelled.
Matt Cardona on X

Moreover, the 38-year-old suffered a torn rotator cuff injury back in late 2014. As a result, he returned to the Rumble after undergoing successful rotator cuff surgery. Despite the crowd on his side, the late Bray Wyatt quickly eliminated Cardona.

Matt Cardona sheds light on his potential return to WWE

Matt Cardona, formerly Zack Ryder, has not been with the Stamford-based promotion since April 2020. Following his release, Cardona has established himself as one of the key players in the Indie scenes. He has competed on several independent wrestling circuits, including All Elite Wrestling. In an interview from earlier this year, Cardona weighed in on his WWE return.

Matt Cardona
Matt Cardona (via Matt Cardona)

Speaking on the Heated Shenanigans Podcast via Wrestling Inc., Cardona discussed the conditions under which he would consider returning to WWE. The 38-year-old noted that he has no desire to go back to WWE unless there is some concrete creative direction for him.

I did the whole 'just the guy on the roster' thing, I have no desire to do that again. If I'm going to 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.
Matt Cardona on Heated Shenanigans Podcast

Continuing his statement, Cardona added that he has proved that he is capable of holding his own in wrestling over the last three years. Thus, he doesn’t want to be “just another guy on the roster” coasting along without a proper creative direction. With Triple H at the helm, it will be interesting to see how well Matt Cardona fares in WWE if the latter ever returns to the company.

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