Matt Cardona opens up on his time in WWE; claims he will be "forever grateful" for his stint with the company (Exclusive)

Over the last four years, former WWE star Matt Cardona has emerged as the biggest name in the independent wrestling circuit. The star has managed to create a brand with his entertaining style and is known as the "Indy God."

Cardona wrestled in WWE as Zack Ryder. He won the United States Championship, Intercontinental Championship, and the RAW Tag Team Championship during his stint with the company.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling, Cardona mentioned he loved his time in WWE. He believed his stint there set him up for success on the independent circuit. He felt that "Death Match" with Nick Gage got him a lot of attention and in the last four years, he has been successful in every sense.

"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 Zyder. 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. I don't care how you define success - money, accolades, happiness, most successful whether you want to count accolades, money, or happiness." [From 4:31 onwards]

Cardona also added that he did miss wrestling in arenas like the Madison Square Garden. However, he was focused on things under his control and doing his best to move the needle.

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