Following his release from WWE, Matt Cardona (Zack Ryder) became the hottest prospect on the independent circuit in 2021. He had a career-defining run in GameChanger Wrestling (GCW), where he defeated GCW stalwart Nick Gage to win the GCW World Championship.
Bringing unprecedented attention to the promotion, he subsequently adopted the notorious persona of ‘The Deathmatch King,’ but retired the gimmick following his title loss to Jon Moxley.
Matt Cardona recently spoke to the Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast and stated that if he were to consider another deathmatch, it would have to be a high-profile event with some substantial cash involved. He said,
“People ask me this all the time, would I do another deathmatch? That match (with Nick Gage), in my opinion, selfishly, was iconic, it changed my career so there would have to be a really big stage and a lot, a lot of money to get me to even think about doing another one. There’s been so many promoters who reach out and want me to do random deathmatches. Brett Lauderdale, GCW booker wanted me to do another one. I just won’t do it. I beat Nick Gage in the most talked about and most famous deathmatch in wrestling history. I’m the deathmatch king. In my opinion, I’m retired from deathmatch wrestling. But, money talks so we’ll see.”
