Vince McMahon's reaction to former US Champion's idea to "get fired in real life"
Matt Cardona recalls pitching an interesting idea to Vince McMahon that would have seen him get fired from WWE.
Cardona has been ruling the independent scene ever since his WWE release two years ago. He is one of the best heels in the business today.
Matt Cardona recently spoke at the Headlocked Panel at C2E2, and discussed several topics in regards to his WWE run. He recalled pitching an idea to Vince McMahon during his stint with the company. The angle would have seen him get fired by WWE. Cardona would have then made a bunch of appearances on the independent scene, before returning.
“One thing I pitched was something where I would get fired and then start doing like indies and stuff like that, and then come back. There was more to it than that. But, that’s something I actually pitched to Vince, and he seemed to like it. He just threw me off to some other writer. So, maybe he didn’t like it and he knew I was going to go in circles," said Cardona.
Matt Cardona added that he wanted to get fired for real, but an alternative idea made the script where an authority figure would have fired him in storyline.
“But then it got to a point where it was actually got into a script where the GM would fire me. But I was like, ‘no, I don’t want to get fired by the GM, I want to get fired in real life,’" Cardona added. [H/T WrestlingInc]
Matt Cardona has had nothing but praise for Vince McMahon ever since his release
Matt Cardona was released in 2020 after being with the company for about 15 years. He has been pretty respectful towards his former boss Vince McMahon ever since. Cardona did quite well as a mid-card act in WWE, but was never pushed as a main event star.
He was one of the hottest acts in WWE in 2011, courtesy of his hit YouTube show "Z! True Long Island Story." He was getting loud reactions on a weekly basis, but WWE failed to capitalize on the hype. Cardona was involved in a forgettable angle with John Cena, Eve Torres, and Kane on the road to WrestleMania 28 in 2012, which didn't do much for his character.
It's interesting to note that WWE did a somewhat similar story to what Matt Cardona pitched. "The Summer fo Punk" angle in 2011 kicked off with CM Punk's legendary Pipebomb promo on an episode of RAW. He then 'left' WWE with the top title after defeating John Cena at Money In The Bank 2011.
At the time, Punk had threatened to take the title to other promotions. This didn't happen, though, and he returned to WWE mere days later.