Cody Rhodes reveals details of personally inviting former WWE star to join him in AEW - "I wanted my friend"

Cody Rhodes helped Tony Khan and the other Executive Vice Presidents launch AEW in 2019. The second-generation star helped lead the company on-screen and behind the scenes until his departure in 2022. He also helped several of his friends get signed or brought in for special appearances, including a multi-time WWE champion.

Matt Cardona's 15-year WWE tenure ended on April 15, 2020, as he and longtime friend Brian Myers were released along with others due to COVID-19 budget cuts. The former Zack Ryder and the former Curt Hawkins have since found success outside of WWE. Cardona began working for AEW that summer under a limited appearance deal, debuting on July 29 to save Rhodes from an attack by The Dark Order. The Indy God's in-ring debut came one week later as he and Cody defeated Alex Reynolds and John Silver.

The American Nightmare recently joined Cardona and Myers for an episode of The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast, and they discussed why the current WWE Champion wanted Tony Khan to book The Long Island Iced-Z.

"At the time, when I was working for AEW, [I] had asked Matt if he wanted to be part of a tag team situation with me. Do something together, and then I think we worked it out, we talked about — what was it? Three or five shows? It wasn’t a long-term commitment, but I wanted to bring him in, and I wanted my friend. As you heard on the introduction earlier... my [does air quotes] 'best friend’... I wanted him to be part of what I was doing. WWE and [Matt] had parted ways at that point, so man... what a free agent that’s out there. This is just a win-win," Cody Rhodes said. [H/T WrestleZone]

Cardona ended up working an eight-man match at All Out 2020, where he teamed with Dustin Rhodes, QT Marshall, and Scorpio Sky for a 15-minute win over The Dark Order. That was it for the limited deal, but he did return this past March to answer an open challenge issued by former stablemate Adam Copeland. Cardona came up short with the TNT Championship on the line that night.

Cody Rhodes reveals Matt Cardona's meeting with AEW boss

Cody Rhodes helped longtime friend Matt Cardona sign a limited appearance deal with AEW shortly after his WWE career ended in mid-2020.

On The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast, Rhodes recalled how he set up a meeting with Cardona and AEW boss Tony Khan. Cody thought this would have been a private meeting, but it took place at a Dynamite after-party, with the whole roster and others hanging around.

The meeting was described as awkward, with Rhodes admitting they should have held it in an office somewhere or flown to where Cardona was because this setting was not great. He added that Matt had every right to think the meeting was going to be private.

"It was so insanely awkward for such a period of time because I noticed that Matt was like, you know when Matt gets kinda nervous? You know, like the shoulders tense up and his face gets a little more red than it already is, like there's, you can feel his energy getting nervous. So, I noticed he was a little nervous about this meeting, which whatever, I'm not judging that by any means. But he hasn't told me anything that he's gonna say and of course, I trust my best friend is gonna be just fine with this and I don't have to do anything other than, 'Hey guys, here you are.' That's it. They have a conversation," Cody Rhodes said.

Rhodes continued and provided a play-by-play of exactly how the conversation went, recalling the unbelievable comments Cardona made that "killed him" and "tore him to shreds."