Matt Cardona has revealed that a rumour circulated about his time in AEW and that there is no truth to it.
Released from his WWE contract in April 2020, Cardona’s 15-year run with the company came to an end and the former Intercontinental Champion looked to other promotions for the first time in his wrestling career. Following his 90-day non-compete expiring, Cardona competed in 2 matches for AEW on an episode of Dynamite and the All Out 2020 pay-per-view. Following on from the appearances, Cardona was not signed by the promotion and would later appear in Impact Wrestling before competing in the Deathmatch against Nick Gage in GCW that led to his King of the indies run.
Speaking with Kenny McIntosh in Issue 46 of Inside The Ropes Magazine about his time in AEW, Cardona stated that while he was devastated at not getting a contract with All Elite Wrestling, his memorable indie run would not have taken place if he did:
“I’m not sure [why I didn’t receive a contract]. I thought I delivered on the shows. My merch was the number one shirt of the week. At the time I was devastated that I did not get offered a contract, I absolutely was, because there was nowhere else to go and build my name. I’m sure I could have found an independent that was running with social distancing but that’s not what I wanted to do. So I wanted to wait until the world opened back up.
When AEW didn’t work out for me at the time, I was absolutely devastated. Looking back, it was a blessing in disguise, but it wasn’t until the world opened up the following year that I was just dipping my toe in the independent scene, so to speak.”
Now one of the most successful performers on the independents, McIntosh noted to Cardona that he has some of the longest lines at conventions as a result of his success and marketability, to which Cardona noted that he will have some of the highest prices, to a point:
“. . . And the highest prices (laughs). I go around to these conventions, I see what everyone else is doing and I gotta go higher than that. I’m not going higher than Sting, but it’s all situational. (laughs). That’s gonna be a headline, “MATT CARDONA CHARGES MORE THAN STING.”
Discussing the joke headline of Cardona charging more than Sting, the former GCW World Champion admitted that there was a rumour circulating that the reason he never got signed by AEW was because he was asking for “Sting money”, which Cardona stated was absolutely not the case:
“Hey, that actually was a rumour. I don’t think I’ve ever said this publicly, but that was actually a rumour about why I didn’t get hired in AEW. Apparently—first of all, this is not true—I’m not sure if this was said but this definitely didn’t come out of my goddamn mouth: I heard one of the reasons I wasn’t signed to AEW was because I was asking for “Sting money”. That’s the rumour I’ve heard, which is such a ridiculous thing that I have to laugh about it. We’ve never even talked about it.”
Matt Cardona Discusses Dream Match That Finally Came True
Making his return to AEW in March 2024, Cardona finally got the match he always wanted as he was revealed to be the mystery opponent for Edge on an episode of Collision. During the same interview, Matt Cardona detailed how the dream match in AEW was made possible.
The full interview can be found in Issue 46 of Inside The Ropes Magazine, which is available to purchase here.
If you use any quotes from this article please credit Inside The Ropes.