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With professional wrestling the hottest it's ever been, with WWE putting up some of its biggest numbers ever while AEW is about to announce a new media rights deal that could come in at as much as $200 million a year, performers all over the sport, from the very top guys like Cody Rhodes and Swerve Strickland to journeymen on the indies, are reaping the benefits.
But what happens when an ex-WWE guy tries to “Do a Drew” work all over the indie world in order to rejuvenate their stock in order to make it back to the “big show” – no, not that Big Show – but nothing happens? What happens when, after selling a ton of merch, working big programs for GCW and TNA, and hitting all the major indie markets over and over again, no reward is waiting at the end of the rainbow?
Well, former Intercontinental Champion Matt Cardona discussed just that with Steven Muehlhausen on Walkway To Fight Club, letting his fans know that, after crushing it on the indies, he still isn't sure what's next in his career.
“That’s a great question. What is left to prove on the independents? I’ve done it all. Besides just reinventing myself and becoming bigger than I was in WWE, I’ve done everything there is to do on the indies and then some. So what is next?” Cardona asked via Fightful. “I feel like I need to sign a contract somewhere, but at the same time, I don’t want to sign a contract just to sign a contract. I don’t want to be on a roster just to be a guy on a roster. Been there, done that. Listen, if WWE or AEW called and there was a good offer with some intent to use me a certain way, of course I’d have that conversation. But I’m not gonna BS, I haven’t gotten an offer from either of those companies. So until then, I just gotta keep raising my stock and elevating myself and trying to change the game on the independent level.”
So what does the future hold for Cardona? Well, the “Death Match King” isn't sure, but he does know that he can only control what he can control, and as a result, he's going to push it another step further on the indies.
Matt Cardona wants to prove he's worth a spot in WWE or AEW
Continuing his conversation with Walkway To Fight Club, Cardona noted at this point, he isn't looking to prove WWE and AEW wrong but instead, his fans right, as they're the ones who fueled his launch in the first place.
“Listen, I’ll be completely honest. I don’t know what the f**k is going on [laughs]. I’ve done everything there is to do. I am legit shocked I have not gotten an offer from any company, and that’s not me being egotistical. That’s me being realistic,” Cardona noted. “I’ve done all there is [to do]. What else can I possibly do? But I can’t let this run be fueled by bitterness or negativity. It was never, ‘Oh, I gotta prove people wrong.’ It was, ‘I’ve gotta prove my fans right,’ and I feel like I have done that. But I think the second you get bitter, the second you get angry is where you lose yourself, and I’m not gonna let this run be fueled by negativity. I’m gonna let it be fueled by trying to prove myself right, and I feel like I have. But there’s more to prove.”
With seven matches on his resume in AEW and his wife, Chelsea Green, currently working for WWE, it's clear he is very much on both promotions' radars moving forward. Whether either sees a role that would fit his talents, however, remains to be seen, as if Cardona was down just to be another guy, he'd likely already be on a major roster.
