Since being released in April 2020, Matt Cardona has completely reinvented himself on the independent wrestling scene and had significant runs in IMPACT! Wrestling, NWA and GCW. During this time he won multiple championships.
In 2021 he defeated Nick Cage for the GCW World Championship. The following year he became the NWA World Heavyweight Champion and the Impact Digital Media Champion. More recently he became the first-ever Jericho Cruise Oceanic Champion.
The former WWE Intercontinental Champion, who has also been linked with a return to the company recently, has been speaking recently to praise a surprising source for having a big impact on his early career development.
Matt Cardona Heaps Praise On ECW Legend Mikey Whipwreck
In a recent episode of Stories With Brisco and Bradshaw, Matt Cardona heaped praise upon the impact that Mikey Whipwreck had upon him during the early stages of his career.
“So, it was such a weird dynamic. I’m September 2003, I went to the school and there’s no real trainers, like this guy is teaching you to lock up. This guy is teaching you how to do moonsaults, what’s going on here. Even then I was like this isn’t right, there should be one guy teaching the basics. I’m learning a hammer lock, and the next day I’m learning how to do a 450, this doesn’t seem right [laughs].
That school eventually closes down, but I was still on the shows. I was in somebody’s posse, one of those bodyguard type guys. I wasn’t having matches yet, but I was on the shows. Then Mikey [Whipwreck] came back in and they reopened the school and he was teaching guys from scratch, but I was already advanced technically because I was on the show.
I didn’t learn from scratch from Mikey, but he would teach me like the structure of the match, which was so important because like I said earlier, anyone can do the moves but you need to know why you’re doing this move, why you’re putting it here or the ways to dictate a locker room. That stuff was the invaluable stuff he taught me.”
H/T: Fightful for the above transcription