Former WWE star pulls out of major event; mystery replacement teased
A former WWE Superstar announced that he would not be able to compete at an upcoming major event. However, the veteran teased a mystery star as his replacement in the match.
Matt Cardona, formerly known as Zack Ryder in WWE, appeared on last night's edition of TNA Impact and announced that he is not medically cleared to face PCO at TNA Emergence later tonight. However, he teased that a "mystery monster" would serve as his replacement in the match at Emergence.
Former WWE star Santino Marella serves as the director of authority in TNA Wrestling and interrupted Cardona during the promo. Cardona blamed TNA's doctors for not clearing him in the promo, and followed it up with a message on Instagram today. The former Intercontinental Champion shared that he had found the mystery monster for the match against PCO tonight.
"I’m sorry fans…I will NOT be at #TNAEmergence tonight. But I have found a MYSTERY MONSTER to be my replacement! @tnawrestling," he wrote.
Matt Cardona opens up about his time as a WWE Superstar
Matt Cardona recently disclosed that he will be forever grateful for his time spent in the company.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling earlier this year, the veteran discussed his time in the promotion and noted that it set him up for success on the independent wrestling scene. Cardona's tenure came to an end in 2020, but he has become a huge star outside the company.
"Listen, I am forever grateful for my time in WWE and of course, my time in WWE set me up for this independent run. But I knew I couldn't just be Matt Cardona but still be Zack Ryder. I knew I had to do a complete 180 and that's exactly what I did. When I first got released, I didn't know what I was gonna do. I knew I needed something and it was the death match with Nick Gage that started it all. I capitalized on that and I built upon that, and these past four years have been the most successful years of my career," he said. [From 4:31 onwards]
You can check out the interview with Cardona in the video below:
Matt Cardona is married to SmackDown star Chelsea Green in real life. Only time will tell if the 39-year-old gets the chance to return to the company in the future.