WWE released a lot of talent during the pandemic, and some of them were already brought back by Triple H. Matt Cardona has not returned to WWE yet since Zack Ryder’s release, but his wife, Chelsea Green, is waiting for it.

Chelsea Green on Matt Cardona’s Possible Return

Cardona and Green have a very happy life at home, but she probably misses having him on the road. Although they keep different schedules, it appears that she isn’t losing hope on both of them operating under a WWE schedule again someday.

While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Chelsea was asked about Cardona’s potential WWE return. This is something that she is also patiently waiting on.

“I would also love to know that, I’m waiting. I am patiently waiting. Because not that I want to be partnered up with him in WWE. That would be great. I think we could have an amazing mixed match, tag team division, whatever it is. But I don’t know. I don’t know why, I would love to know why I would love to be a fly on the wall of kind of like the meetings of the top guys in WWE. But I do feel like in my heart of hearts, it’s only a matter of time, it feels crazy that he wouldn’t be.”

Matt Cardona Reinvented Himself on the Indies

Chelsea Green also addressed how Matt Cardona was able to reinvent himself after his WWE release. She saw the evolution into indie death match wrestling God, and she seems to be all for it, although she called it insane to witness.

“Oh my gosh. He’s doing amazing and I know that he always says I knew that this is what I had in me. I didn’t know because I didn’t care about him in wrestling when we got together. So for me to see the evolution of Zack to Matt has been insane. I just had no idea that he had that in him to totally change and evolve and, and become this entirely new persona.”

“But let me tell you a little story about that. Because when he first was released from WWE, and this, I get so angry with him, because guess the whole world is like, Oh, I’m Matt Cardona. He’s the only person to walk through the forbidden f*cking door and all he does all these amazing things. Let me tell you something. Okay. When he got released, you know what I told him to do? I said, I don’t think you should sign anywhere Matt, I think that you should contact every single company. I have all their information, I’ve been on the Indies for, seven years. And I think you should do all of them. And you should do them all sporadically. So that each week people don’t know where you’re going to be. It paints a picture of you are literally everywhere and you’re unstoppable. And guess what? He laughed at me. He laughed at me and he was like, No, I don’t think so. And he pursued one thing, and it was like, one thing. And then he ended up doing what I said to him a year later, and it and it’s amazing. That why he is the indie Wrestler of the Year or whatever, because he’s everywhere. So you’re welcome. [Did Matt give you credit?] No, he never does. So that’s why I’m giving myself credit. And like, we should clip that and then make him retweet it.”

What’s Next

Triple H decided to bring back a number of Superstars that Vince McMahon released. As of this writing, Matt Cardona hasn’t had his name called, but he is also very busy on the indies as he continues to carve out a place for himself outside WWE.

AEW only had Cardona in for a handful of appearance, thanks to Cody Rhodes. He hasn’t been back to the land of All Elite since their Daily’s Place era. Only time will tell where Cardona appears next, but WWE may have a ready-made storyline with Chelsea Green waiting on him.

SE Scoops will have more coverage of this story, just in case Matt Cardona’s path finds him back in WWE. 

Matt Cardona, best known to wrestling fans as Zack Ryder in WWE, is a master of branding and self-promotion. When WWE creative didn’t have anything for him in the early 2010’s, Cardona took it upon himself to create the groundbreaking Z! True Long Island Story digital series. He generated so much organic popularity that the company had no choice but to feature him more prominently on television.

He’s been wrestling independently since leaving WWE in 2020, with appearances for Game Changer Wrestling, All Elite Wrestling, Impact and more. Throughout his career, Cardona has proven to be creative and innovative.

Necessity has been one of the main reasons Cardona has been forced to get so creative. When WWE wouldn’t push him, he took matters into his own spray-tanned hands and made them push him. When he saw that WWE let the “Zack Ryder” trademark lapse, he jumped at the chance to secure the name and monetize it himself. According to the Long Island Broski, that was not a smooth process.

Zack Ryder Trademark Battle

Cardona recently spoke with Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net for the Pro Wrestling Boom podcast. During his discussion with the veteran journalist, Cardona explained that he had big plans for a “Matt Cardona vs. Zack Ryder” cinematic match. That would have led to all sorts of merchandising opportunities, including a “Ryder & Cardona two-pack” of wrestling figures produced by his very own toy company, Major Bendies.

Unfortunately, WWE lawyers fought Cardona’s attempt to secure the Zack Ryder Trademark. He knows a legal battle with WWE would be costly, so decided to abandon his effort. As a result, he’s officially closing the book on that portion of his career.

“I applied for [the Zack Ryder trademark] knowing there’s a chance [WWE] could fight it and they have so that’s it, I’m letting it go,” he said. “… I’m not gonna fight — because at the end of the day, it’s their intellectual property. They would win if we ever went to court over it so I tried, they fought it so that’s it, I’m backing down.”

“Zack Ryder is dead, in my opinion … It’s over, it’s dead, it was great. I’m grateful for that time but it’s done.”

– Matt Cardona

There’s always a chance we could see ‘Zack Ryder’ make another run in WWE, but he’s moving on from ever owning that character himself. Cardona’s wife, Chelsea Green, recently returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble.

• Matt Cardona Comments on Whether He’s Interested In a WWE Return

Check out our exclusive interview with Matt Cardona (June 2022):

Former WWE star Zack Ryder recently had an interview with Chris Van Vliet where he talked about a number of things and also shared some interesting financial comparisons about his podcast.

The former US Champion, real name Matthew Cardona has his own podcast dubbed The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast which he co-hosts alongside fellow former WWE star Curt Hawkins aka Brian Myers.

During the interview, Ryder was discussing if his podcast could become a full-time career in future and he revealed that their show actually made more money last year than he was making with his WWE contract:

“I do think that for sure. Yeah, I think it’s totally possible. So, I will say that the company, the Major Wrestling Figure podcast as a company made more last year than my WWE contract, I’ll say that.”

• Zack Ryder On How He Felt On Losing The IC Title The Night After WrestleMania

Zack Ryder explained that while the earnings from the podcast are split among multiple people, the amount of money it made still exceeded his WWE pay:

“That’s not…that’s split between me and Brian [Myers], we have a producer etc. I’m saying there’s there’s other things. I don’t know the net or the gross; I’m not a businessman, or whatever!

I don’t know it in those terms, but the amount of money that did come in for the podcast? It was more than I made in WWE, or more than my contract.”

Zack Ryder was released from his WWE contract after almost 15 years as part of the coronavirus budget cuts last year. He has made appearances for AEW and Impact since then but he hasn’t signed a contract with any promotion.

Zack Ryder finally got a WrestleMania moment after being with WWE for more than a decade when he won the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match during the WrestleMania 32 event.

However, the former WWE star did not have a very long reign with the title and fans were not very happy with the fact that the company actually took the belt off him the next night on Raw in a match with the Miz.

Though while talking about his short reign during a recent session with Pro Wrestling Junkies, Ryder claimed that losing the title actually made the moment because it fitted his underdog character:

“I think losing the next night made the moment, I wish I could have lost it that same night. Why have the title for two weeks or two months? Unless I’m going to go undefeated for two years or something, just take it off me. That’s just the Zack Ryder character – the underdog that finally gets it and then it gets taken away.”

• Also Read: WWE Responds To Reports Of New Lawsuit From Matt Riddle Accuser

Zack Ryder continued by saying that the loss made his win special because nobody thought that he was going to win in the first place and people resented the fact that he lost it so soon.

Apart from this, the former WWE star also talked about things like his recent AEW stint and he revealed that he has actually made a list of AEW stars he wants to face. You can check out his comments on the matter at this link.

Although Matt Cardona has joined AEW that doesn’t mean that he’s under a long term deal. 

Cardona, formerly known as Zack Ryder, is currently working on a five appearance deal with the company, according to Wrestling Inc.

It appears to be a tryout situation for the former WWE Intercontinental Champion with the possibility of him signing a longer deal should he impress AEW executives including AEW President Tony Khan. 

Ryder had been on the sidelines while he awaited his WWE non-compete deal to expire from April through July 15th. Of course, he was let go during the company’s massive layoffs and furloughs. 

The public reason given at the time was that the cuts were due to budget cuts related to the coronavirus. It turns out that the firings came during the same quarter that WWE had its most profitable time to date. 

Cardona made his promotional debut this past Wednesday night when he saved  Cody Rhodes from an attack by the Dark Order. This came right after Rhodes had successfully retained the AEW TNT Title over Warhorse. 

Cardona will team with Cody to face John Silver and Alex Reynolds next Wednesday night on Dynamite in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place on TNT.

• Matt Cardona (Formerly Zack Ryder) Makes AEW Debut

Zack Ryder (well, Matt Cardona) is all elite. The former WWE wrestler made his AEW debut on this week’s episode of Dynamite in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place on TNT.

Cody Rhodes successfully retained the TNT Championship over Warhorse. After the match, two members of The Dark Order ran out and attacked Rhodes and Warhorse. Arn Anderson got into the ring and was ready to throw down. 

This is when Ryder walked out to the ring, looking jacked, and made the save. He hit his finisher to both guys to clear the ring. He hugged it out with Rhodes to end the segment.

Fans won’t have to wait long to see Matt Cardona’s in-ring debut. It was announced that next week on Dynamite, Cody and Cardona will team up against the Dark Order in tag team action.

You can see footage of Matt Cardona’ AEW Dynamite debut here:

Zack Ryder’s Road to AEW

Ryder, real name Matt Cardona, was released by WWE due to budget cuts related to the coronavirus back in April. Just like all of the other wrestlers who were released by the company, he had to wait until July 15th until he could sign with another promotion. Ryder was a longtime wrestler for the company. 

Leading up this debut, there had been speculation that he might be headed to AEW due to his friendship with Rhodes. That answer has been made. Now, it will be interesting to see where this leads him. 

Cody Rhodes Talks Possible Interest In Signing Ex-WWE Stars & Tessa Blanchard

Zack Ryder was recently a guest on “Keepin it 100” with Konnan and Disco Inferno. Ryder talked about how he got over with some fans on YouTube, social media, and being “the Internet Champion” in WWE. He was asked if he thought Vince McMahon resented him for getting over outside of the company.

“I wasn’t the first guy to have a YouTube show, I wasn’t the first guy to have social media. I think I was the first guy to use it to accelerate my career,” Ryder said. “There was clearly nothing going on for me. Yes, I was in WWE, I was on RAW but I was doing nothing.”

Ryder then talked about how despite getting over with some fans, he never knocked on Vince’s door and asked why he was being used the way he was.

“I could have easily knocked on his door and said ‘hey, Vince, what’s going on here?'” Ryder said.

“I at the time was a couple of things, I was naive, I wasn’t mature enough, I wasn’t man enough to knock on his door and ask, so we’ll never know.”

Ryder continued to say he’s not bitter. He also reiterated that he could have asked Vince why he was being used the way he was.

“I blame myself for that. I never want to regret things or hold grudges or blame other people because then you are just bitter and I just don’t want to live that life,” he continued.

• Zack Ryder Opens Up On His Release From WWE

Ryder’s comments can be heard in the player below:

Zack Ryder (real name Matt Cardona) was released from WWE last month. He first signed with the company in February of 2006. In his time with WWE, Ryder won the Intercontinental and United States titles once and the tag team titles twice. He spoke with Chris Van Vliet recently about his release from the company.

Ryder spoke about how the morning of his release, WWE talents were sent a video from Vince McMahon.

“It was a video from Vince McMahon talking about the state of the company and the state of the world and basically saying layoffs would be coming,” Ryder said.

He then continued to say after seeing the video, he felt it was likely that he would be one of the ones let go.

“I’m a smart guy, I’m like ok, prowrestlingtees.com/mattcardona let’s set it up right now,” he said. “I already had it set up, I had my logo guys making logos, ProWrestlingTees making logos for me, I knew it was coming. I mean, I didn’t know but I had a pretty good idea.”

Zack Ryder On Recent Contract Negotiations With WWE

He continued to talk about how for the last year he had been in negotiations with WWE over renewing his contract.

“My contract would have been up in August, I had never resigned,” he continued. “For about over a year we had been in contract negotiations and the anxiety that I was living with ‘do I stay, do I go?’ I grew up wanting to be a WWE Superstar, of course, but my career has been up and down, up and down, and with all the new opportunities out there, do I really want to stay here or go somewhere else?”

“When the decision was made for me? Oh my god, it was like ‘thank you!'” he continued. “Instantly relieved.”

Ryder’s comments can be heard in the player below:

• Zack Ryder On How He Got Put Into The IC Title Match At WrestleMania 32

Former WWE Superstar Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The creator of Z True Long Island Story would discuss a number of topics from his time in WWE and subsequent release.

During the interview Matt Cardona would make impassioned comments about languishing backstage at WWE. The former Zack Ryder made it clear that he was in professional wrestling to be at the top of the mountain, to be a World Champion.

“I don’t have a family, I don’t have kids to feed. If I was in that situation, maybe I’d be thinking differently, right?” Cardona began. My dream, my goal was to always be a professional wrestler. Not just be any professional wrestler but be one of the top ones.”

Matt Cardona Wants To Wrestle

Matt Cardona would then go into his time ‘sitting in catering,’ a phrase often used by fans to describe someone under contract to WWE but sparingly being used on RAW, SmackDown or NXT. “I don’t go to work to just sit in catering and eat that sh*tty salt and pepper chicken” Cardona would proclaim.

“I want to wrestle, I want to be creative,” he continued. “I want to do something. I’m so excited about it [the release] and it’s just like, it really does feel like Christmas. I have those 90 days [release clause] and right now this world is so messed up I couldn’t even work anyway.”

Cardona finished by using a metaphor to describe his time waiting for the 90 clause to finish. “There’s no way to work right now, but that’s why it’s like Christmas gifts! You just turn the corner, and your dad has set up the cameras, you can’t go get them yet and I just see those those Christmas gifts and I want to rip them open and wrestle and just have fun. It’s, I have goosebumps right now just talking about it.”

You can check out Matt Cardona’s Pro Wrestling Tees store here.

Where do you think the former Zack Ryder will end up? On the indies or AEW, IMPACT, NWA? Let us know in the comments

Also Check Out:

• ACH Reflects On WWE T-Shirt Controversy: ‘I’m Ashamed Of Myself’
• Lacey Evans Shares Her Thoughts On Recent WWE Releases
• Aiden English On Difference Between Working With Triple H And Vince McMahon

Zack Ryder’s Intercontinental Championship win at WrestleMania 32 was one of the highlights of his WWE career and the former champion himself admits that it was one of the top moments of his wrestling career.

However, the former WWE star was not originally expected to be part of the bout at all and he was put in the match due to the injury of the former Cruiserweight Champion Neville, now better known as Pac.

During his recent appearance on Busted Open Radio, Ryder talked about the match and said that it was the top moment of his career in the company. He then recalled the ups and downs going into the bout and revealed how he got the spot:

“Someone got injured. It was Neville, Pac, that got injured, and I went right up to Road Dogg, who was head of creative. I don’t remember exactly what I said. I think it was an out-of-body experience. I just rattled off why I think I deserve to be in that match. I think he could just feel that passion just coming out of my body.

I guess one of the things I said was, ‘I never heard my music play at Mania,'” said Zack Ryder “and later he said that was the comment that stuck with him and got him to vouch for me to get me in there.”

• Also Read: Nikki Bella Says Ronda Rousey’s Debut Was A Slap In The Face For Other Wrestlers

Zack continued by saying that just coming down the aisle and hearing his music for the first time at WrestleMania after so many years in WWE was a win for him alone and then winning the title was another incredible moment.

His father, who was sitting in the audience slid in the ring after this win and during the interview, the former WWE star revealed that this was not part of the plan and Dolph Ziggler waved his father over to get into the ring after the match.

Former WWE Superstar Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The creator of Z True Long Island Story would discuss a number of topics from his time in WWE and subsequent release.

Mass Text

Talking directly about the day of release, Cardona said “we all got this mass text to watch his Vince McMahon video, explaining that the cuts would be happening. So, I can’t say it was unexpected.”

Matt Cardona Being Anxious

Matt Cardona would elaborate further, saying this WWE contract was actually coming up for renewal, and that he had felt anxious about what direction his career would take. “I never re-signed my contract so my deal was going to be up in August” Cardona revealed. “I had been dealing with contract negotiations for over a year. The anxiety that I had about it, like do I stay? Do I go? It was really eating me up. So when that call was made and I was released the decision was made for me, instantly, I was relieved. You know what I’m saying? Because the anxiety I had for over a year. Subconsciously, Consciously, it anxiety was instantly gone.”

14 Years

The former Zack Ryder would then discuss the potential opportunities that he has ahead of him on the independent scene, having been with WWE for 14 years. “I felt so excited because I want to work. I want to do stuff, I want to be creative, you know? To now be able to do whatever I want. I’ve been fortunate that I was with WWE for 14 years, that’s when I signed, I was was 20 years old, I grew up there.”

“I grew up as a as a wrestler, I grew up as a man, but It’s time. It’s time for me to go out and do it my way. To do my things, to fail on my own, to succeed on my own. Even having like a pro wrestling tees store! Thinking of ideas, I just love the hustle. I love being creative and I love wrestling so I cannot wait for the future.”

You can check out Matt Cardona’s Pro Wrestling Tees store here.

Where do you think the former Zack Ryder will end up? On the indies or AEW, IMPACT, NWA? Let us know in the comments

Also Check Out:

• ACH Reflects On WWE T-Shirt Controversy: ‘I’m Ashamed Of Myself’
• Lacey Evans Shares Her Thoughts On Recent WWE Releases
• Aiden English On Difference Between Working With Triple H And Vince McMahon

Matt Cardona is no stranger to social media. The man formerly known as Zack Ryder is a pioneer in utilizing the Internet to connect with (and build) his fan base.

Cardona held a Q&A session on Instagram over the weekend. He answered a wide variety of questions from fans, including his time in WWE and the next chapter of his wrestling career.

WWE released over 20 wrestlers last month. Among the talent let go were Cardona and longtime partner Brian Myers (Curt Hawkins). The duo wrestled together on-and-off for many years. They continue to host the Major Figure Wrestling Podcast together.

Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins achieved championship success together in WWE, but Matt Cardona says he plans to venture out on his own in the months ahead.

Matt Cardona Flying Solo

When asked about the possibility of keeping their team together, Cardona says he and Myers have already agreed to go their separate ways. He would consider reuniting with Myers as a special attraction, but he’s looking forward to resuming his singles career.

“We are not teaming,” he said. “We are not teaming anywhere unless one of the things we want to do is … e’d like to put on live wrestling shows. I would love to team with him in that environment. Or I’d love to wrestle like the Rock N’ Roll Express or the Headbangers. But other than that, we’re going our own separate ways.”

Check Out: Cody Rhodes Says Matt Cardona’s Best Days In Wrestling Are Still To Come

Cardona revealed that he already has new ring gear and theme music ready to go, as soon as he’s able to wrestle again. “I’m always ready,” he said. “That’s not just a catchphrase. Not just a hashtag. Always ready.”

Internet Championship

Back in 2011, not many pro wrestlers were using the Internet to connect with fans. WWE’s creative team did not have much for Zack Ryder, so Matt Cardona took it upon himself to develop the character independently. Before Being The Elite, we had Zack Ryder’s Z! True Long Island Story.

The show was groundbreaking. WWE had no choice but to feature Zack Ryder more on television due to the show’s popularity. To commemorate the success, Zack Ryder created his own championship belt: the Internet Championship.

Cardona saw opportunity and merchandise dollar signs – if only WWE would allow him to wear the belt on television. Unfortunately, those requests were repeatedly denied.

“I was denied and I was told that I’m a mark for myself, which isn’t true,” he said. “I explained. Just like the Million Dollar Championship, right? It’s an accessory. It’s cool because with a gimmick and you could have sold these things. You could have made a killing selling these things, the foam, the replicas. But that did not happen.”

The belt did appear in video games and as an accessory to some of his action figures. But he never got to wear in on TV. Cardona bemoaned, “I think there was some money lost, a lot of money lost.”

Matt Cardona called the Internet Championship, “definitely my most prized possession.”

• Matt Cardona Teasing The Return of the Internet Championship

Follow Matt Cardona on Instagram and check out his store at Pro Wrestling Tees.

All Elite Wrestling’s Cody Rhodes has addressed the idea of the promotion signing recently released WWE Superstar Zack Ryder. Taking part in a Q&A session via Instagram, Cody was asked whether fans could expect to see Ryder show up in AEW in the future. Although he clearly holds Ryder in high regard, Cody stressed how he didn’t want the company to become “All Friends Wrestling.”

Cody Rhodes noted how Ryder is the best and has managed to earn a broad social media following across Twitter and Instagram. “Very broad influence, incredibly famous, more famous than many guys out there. But that doesn’t always translate.” He noted how the biggest hurdle Ryder will face will be their pre-existing friendship.

“The American Nightmare” shared how Ryder is one of his really close friends in wrestling. He noted how Ryder may be his “only friend” in wrestling. Cody then stressed AEW can’t just be “All Friends Wrestling.”

“You have to handle it the best way,” Cody Rhodes explained. “If you put on the Nightmare Family jacket, you’ve got a massive bullseye on your back, just in the locker room alone. It’s a total heat seeker. But I’m looking forward to what he does next. He’ll turn a lot of heads. I think and hope our paths will cross down the road. He’s just entering wrestler prime. Men’s wrestler prime is 35 to 40.”

When Ryder was first released, Cody Rhodes uploaded an honest, emotional response to the news. He stressed how Ryder’s best days are “ahead of him” and that he believes he will succeed, wherever he ends up.

It appears that the recently released WWE star Zack Ryder is looking to bring back an old idea he used to get himself over with the fans while he was in WWE.

It was recently revealed that the former IC Champion has filed an application to trademark the term Internet Champion for his own personal use.

After this, Ryder took on his Twitter and posted the following teaser of his title, while also tagging the popular pro wrestling belt maker Wildcat Belts:

Zack Ryder started a YouTube show called Z! True Long Island Story back in February 2011 and proclaimed himself as the Internet Champion of the company.

The fans liked the concept, and it became a hit. The former WWE star then had a custom belt made for his title and he even defended the championship in a few WWE shows before the idea died.

• Also Read: Renee Young Got Heat For Recent WWE Backstage Incident

Now the latest tweet suggests that Zack Ryder is looking to revive the old concept and bring back the Internet Championship and possibly a variation of his Z! True Long Island Story YouTube show as well.

Ryder was one of the guys released by WWE as part of their budget cuts. There is no word yet on what he is planning for his future but we should get a better idea after July 15, when his non compete clause with the company expires.

AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes has taken a moment to share his thoughts on the recently released WWE Superstar Zack Ryder. Cody shared his feelings after news broke regarding the release of several WWE staff and Superstars.

Cody Rhodes uploaded a photo of Ryder’s WrestleMania 32 Ladder Match victory, where he won the Intercontinental Championship. He accompanied it with a heartfelt caption, highlighting Ryder’s extensive WWE career, his accomplishments, and his tenacity and perseverance.

Cody wrote how “In a world of weekend warriors and “play wrestlers”, this dude exudes passion and drive for pro-wrestling like no other.”

He reflected on how Ryder would continually try to better himself whether it was his in-ring work or in molding “his body into such a specimen DRUG FREE with hard work and will.”

Cody then shared how he has a rule in wrestling. To him, if you have gotten over with the fans before, you can do it again. Cody stressed how this rule fully applies to Ryder. He noted how at only 34-years-old, Ryder’s best days are ahead of him. He reflected on how “future endeavors are limitless when you actually endeavor.”

Cody Rhodes On His Picture Choice

“The American Nightmare” then explained why he chose Ryder’s WrestleMania victory for the picture. Cody shared how that day was one of his with WWE. He wrote how it was a special moment to witness people erupt when Ryder claimed the title. Even more so when Ryder’s father jumped into the ring to embrace his son.

“Hearing Dolph coordinate for his father to come over the rails(meanwhile I was ass deep into a broken ladder and stuck but had the best seat in the house) and seeing father/son embrace, I thought I’d be jealous or bitter, but I was truly happy and proud for one of my peers. Congratulations my friend, and good luck!”

Zack Ryder is fed up with WWE “fans” who take advantage of Superstars who are nice enough to greet people in public and sign autographs.

There are no written rules about how to act when you see pro wrestlers (or celebrities) in public. If a wrestler is eating or if they’re out with their kids, it’s probably best to back off and be respectful.

Fans have been known to camp out at various locations in hopes of meeting their favorite Superstars, including arena entrances, hotels and even airports. Then there’s another group of people who go overboard – surprising and asking them to sign merchandise, which they turn around and sell.

Unfortunately, Zack Ryder had one of these unpleasant experiences this week. The 12-year WWE veteran called out a “fan” who wanted him to sign 5 action figures.

After signing 3 action figures, Ryder politely refused to sign any more. The guy did not take ‘no’ for an answer and repeatedly asked the Long Island Broski to sign more. Ryder reused, knowing they were headed straight to “Edward Bay” (auction website, eBay).

Ryder says he’s all about the fans and will gladly sign merchandise they will cherish for years to come. However, when people blatantly abuse the etiquette of meeting celebrities, “these people ruin it for the real fans.”

Zack Ryder and longtime tag team partner Curt Hawkins host the Major Wrestling Figure podcast, which focuses on the world of pro wrestling action figures.

Last night saw The Revival become crowned new RAW Tag Team Champions after emerging victorious from a triple threat match. The matchup also featured former-champions, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins, as well as The Usos.

After the match, Kayla Braxton caught up with both Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins as they coped with having lost their titles.

“This one stings. It stings a lot, I can’t lie to you,” Hawkins said. “I lost 269 matches in a row, but this one hurts more than all those. We’ve been down this road before. It’s not the first time, it won’t be the last time. The slogan’s still going to be ‘Win, Lose, Never Defeated.’”

Ryder would then interject himself into the interview.

Clearly frustrated, he admitted that “It sucks. You weren’t the one who got pinned. I got pinned. You won the titles for us, and I just lost them. Everything we worked 10-plus years for I’ve just lost. And yeah, it’s our t-shirt, but it still sucks, man. I hate it. […] We’ve made a whole career out of coming back. That’s our story. The comeback.”

Ryder and Hawkins initially won the tag team championships from The Revival back on April 7th at WrestleMania 35. It’s not the first time the pair have held gold together, however, with the team claiming the tag championships back at the 2008 Great American Bash pay-per-view.

There must be something in the air in WWE right now. Despite only winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championships last night during SmackDown Live, Matt Hardy has suggested a “Winner Take All” matchup for next Monday’s episode of RAW.

His tweet was in response to Zack Ryder, who sent out a message proposing “Major Brothers vs Hardy Boyz? #SDLive #TagTeamTitles”.

Superstar Shake-Up

The Hardy Boyz would come out victorious in their matchup against The Usos. They would once again claim the tag team championship gold in the process. The win marks their 8th reign in WWE as tag team champions, this being their first with SmackDown’s blue belts. This was also the first time the two teams had faced each other.

Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins shocked the WWE Universe by defeating The Revival for the RAW tag team championships during the WrestleMania Kickoff show. They would successfully defend the belts in a rematch the next night on Monday Night RAW.

Next Monday sees WWE’s Superstar Shake-Up take place from Montreal, so there is always the possibility that teams may be split or moved to a different brand in order to provide new, fresh challenges and opportunities. But after ‘Mania’s “Winner Take All” match, then RAW’s teased Kofi Kingston vs Seth Rollins encounter, will we really see another take for the tag team championships next Monday night?

There are new WWE RAW Tag Team Champions and that’s Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins.

The tag team were able to beat WWE RAW Tag Team Champions The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) at WrestleMania 35. This marks their second reign as champions as they last won the titles at the 2008 Great American Bash pay-per-view event that saw them hold the gold for 63 days,

The Revival has gone as far as teasing bringing back the old design of the WWE Tag Team Titles, which has fans talking. This is just one of the many examples of how these two WWE stars want to bring back tag team wrestling to its glory days on the red brand. The Revival beat Roode and Gable to win the straps back on the February 11th episode of Monday Night RAW.

An image of promotional material in New York City that listed this match surfaced earlier this week before WWE officially announced it.

This comes after Ryder and Hawkins challenged Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder with the titles on the line at WrestleMania 35 after Monday’s RAW. WWE has since confirmed the match.

• WWE WrestleMania 35 Results & Live Coverage

What are your thoughts on Ryder and Hawkins winning the titles? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

Not for the first time, Zack Ryder has harnessed social media in order to express his frustrations at his current position.

This time, however, it was via a reply to WWE’s Viper, Randy Orton.

Orton recently uploaded a video of himself at, what appears to be, a photo or video shoot. His post was captioned “Another day at the office.”

Ryder, seeing this, would comment “They never ask me to do these shoots. Congrats man!”

It would be easy for the response to be lost in the deluge of comments made by the WWE Universe, but somehow Randy Orton saw it.

Randy would reply with words of encouragement to Ryder, saying, “‘their’ loss broski. I am sure someone will recognize your talents one day. Always considered you to be a very elite worker.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuPzyZuhxIy/

A Loaded Comment

With the burgeoning promotion, All Elite Wrestling, continuing to spark excitement by providing an alternative, The Viper’s response can, of course, be construed to be somewhat loaded.

With talent asking for — and getting — their releases, and major shake-ups occurring within WWE, it wouldn’t be out of the question for Ryder to do the same. But if he were to do so, would he end up in AEW?

Either way, it’s high praise indeed to be recognized by someone of Orton’s talent and long-standing stature.

The Royal Rumble this past Sunday featured a few surprise appearances. One of these was sure-fire Hall of Famer Kurt Angle coming out at Number 4 in the match.

According to Wrestling Observer Radio this spot was originally planned for Zack Ryder. Angle was eliminated by the second entrant in the match Shinsuke Nakamura. Again this was meant to be Ryder initially eliminated this early. According to WON this decision was made as Kurt Angle would get a bigger pop from the live crowd.

Zack Ryder has seen a very stop-start ride in his WWE career. The Long Island Iced-Z found great success with his YouTube channel earlier this decade. ‘Z True Long Island Story’ was innovative and took Ryder all the way to the company’s United States Championship. Sadly for Ryder his own attempts at ‘getting over’ appeared to have backfired. WWE began to push Ryder down the card after a disastrous programme with John Cena. This was at a time where the company hoped that Ryder’s popularity would rub off on Cena, but it had the complete opposite effect.

Whilst being bumped for Kurt Angle was clearly the right decision, it’s yet another near-miss for Ryder in his WWE career.

Zack Ryder recently took to his Twitter account to reveal a statistic regarding his in-ring career during 2018. Ryder divulged that he has gone all year without a match on Monday Night Raw. He shared the post in the hopes of securing a matchup for the New Year’s Eve show.

I haven’t had 1 match on Monday Night Raw in 2018 yet. 1 more Raw left…#AlwayzReady #StillHere

— Matt Cardona (@TheMattCardona) December 27, 2018

It’s a sad statistic for the superstar, and his message wasn’t lost on one ex-WWE performer: Cody.

The IWGP United States Champion responded to Zack’s Tweet, referencing The Office in the process, as he reminded Ryder of his previous success in recent years.

Some perspective for you babe…several years ago the biggest star in the world(in MSG), the Rock was standing in the ring and the crowd was chanting “we want Ryder”…

Whatever you do now, do it without fear. I mean Pam went and did that Pratt Institute thing… https://t.co/rUymi8SSXr

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) December 28, 2018

Cody wasn’t the only person to respond, however, as Dolph Ziggler would also insert himself into the proceedings, adding further support for the former Intercontinental and United States champion.

https://twitter.com/HEELZiggler/status/1078756590508040192

He may not have had a single Raw match in 2018, but could 2019 see Zack Ryder on the comeback trail?

AJ Styles Misses Another Live Event

We noted before how the former WWE Champion AJ Styles missed a SmackDown brand Live Event on December 26th and The Miz and Mustafa Ali replaced Styles in his scheduled bout against Daniel Bryan.

Styles didn’t appear on last night’s Live Event from Uniondale, New York and this time, John Cena replaced the Phenomenal One and wrestled the WWE Champion Daniel Bryan in a steel cage match.

AJ has reportedly been dealing with flu which has caused some other stars to miss events in recent times as well though currently there is no news on how long he will stay out of action.

Zack Ryder On Not Being Used

While his year started with a feud on SmackDown Live, Zack Ryder has not been featured much on WWE Programming since then and he haven’t been part of any match on Raw since being drafted to the show back in April.

The former Intercontinental Champion took on his twitter to comment on this as the year-end approaches and said that he is still here and always ready for a match:

I haven’t had 1 match on Monday Night Raw in 2018 yet. 1 more Raw left…#AlwayzReady #StillHere

— Matt Cardona (@TheMattCardona) December 27, 2018

So far there is no news of WWE’s announcement of freshening things up affecting Zack’s status but with Royal Rumble approaching it’s possible that we may see him return to TV to announce his entry in coming weeks.

If you felt that the Hype Bros. team were a bit…bland…then you’re not alone. Turns out that Mojo Rawley, who comprised half of the team with Zack Ryder, pretty much felt the same way.

Rawley spoke recently with Lilian Garcia for her podcast, Chasing Glory. During the course of the conversation, they covered a number of topics including his place in the WWE, how happy he is with his position, and his previous experiences with football and the NFL.

Despite admitting that he learned a lot from Zack Ryder, Mojo was quick to point out that the Hype Bros. was a project that neither man was emotionally invested in from the start.

“He [Zack Ryder] didn’t want to do it, I didn’t want to do it but we weren’t gonna say no… we’re not gonna turn down an opportunity,” Rawley explained. “We both looked at it. You don’t know when these [opportunities] are gonna come across. Here’s two guys that are literally polar opposites. He had the path that I didn’t have.”

“It Ruined My Identity”

The end of the Hype Bros. was less of a bang, more of a whimper for both superstars.
Rawley reflected on how they broke the team up, saying, “I think we reached the point that there was no more that could be done with that tag team. Even though we didn’t accomplish much, I don’t think there was much more to learn from one another.”

“We didn’t really like how the Hype Bros turned out to be,” Rawley added. “‘Stay Hype’ all of a sudden kind of became ‘oh, I’m always energetic, I’m always laughing, I’m always making jokes.’ It ruined my identity I felt like,” Rawley confessed.

“I don’t know how we got to that point,” he said. “When I noticed that it was going down that path, I felt like it was too late. It was something to this day that I hate. I hate that. [Zack Ryder] started to feel that way too with where this tag team was going. The day that team died, careerwise, was one of the best things that could have happened to us.”

https://soundcloud.com/user-708023247/mojo-rawley-from-nfl-football

Zack Ryder had an injury scare on Monday night – but thankfully, the situation won’t require surgery.

Ryder wrestled Mike Kanellis in a match taped for Main Event prior to Monday’s RAW. The following day, he revealed on Twitter that he injured his knee during the contest, was scheduled for an MRI and would miss the Greatest Royal Rumble as a result.

The former Intercontinental and United States Champion provided an update on Wednesday evening and it’s the best news Ryder fans could have hoped for.

Got some good news this morning…MCL/ACL/Calf muscle strains…nothing completely torn…no surgery will be needed. Thanks to everyone who reached out. It’s time for #Raw to get #Zacked!

— Matt Cardona (@TheMattCardona) April 25, 2018

Ryder moved over to the RAW brand during the recent Superstar Shake-Up and should be back in action soon based on his tweet.

Update: Kanellis and Ryder had this exchange on Thursday morning regarding Ryder’s injury preventing him from traveling to Saudi Arabia with WWE:

https://twitter.com/RealMikeBennett/status/989474746248187907

I would be there…but I got hurt wrestling you. Thanks for rubbing it in.

— Matt Cardona (@TheMattCardona) April 26, 2018