Former WWE star confesses he was "devastated" after AEW didn't offer him a contract

A former WWE star recently confessed that he was "devastated" after AEW didn't offer him a contract. This was after he made a few appearances for the Tony Khan-led promotion.

Matt Cardona first made a name for himself in the WWE under the ring name Zack Ryder. He quickly became one of the most popular stars on the roster due to his charisma and personality. However, the Stamford-based promotion was always reluctant to push into the main event scene despite his growing popularity.

After spending several years with WWE, Matt Cardona was released from his contract in 2020. Following this, he made a few appearances with AEW that same year, but the Indy God never signed a full-time contract with the young company.

During a recent interview with Inside The Ropes Magazine, Matt Cardona mentioned that he wasn't sure why Tony Khan didn't sign him in 2020. He mentioned that he was devastated when he wasn't offered a contract since there was nowhere else to go.

"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."

Cardona continued to say that he was initially devastated when he wasn't signed to AEW but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

"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." [H/T Ringside News]

Cardona has been one of the top wrestlers in indie circuits. He has won multiple titles in various promotions over the past few years and also returned to AEW earlier this year to answer Adam Copeland's TNT Championship open challenge.

Matt Cardona denied rumors that he asked for "Sting money" to join AEW

When Matt Cardona didn't sign with All Elite Wrestling even after making a couple of appearances for the promotion, it raised a lot of eyebrows. Many people speculated that he demanded a high salary from Tony Khan's promotion.

During the same interview, Matt Cardona denied all rumors that he asked for "Sting money" by saying the topic never even came up.

"Hey, that actually was a rumor. I don’t think I’ve ever said this publicly, but that was actually a rumor 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 g***** mouth: I heard one of the reasons I wasn’t signed to AEW was because I was asking for 'Sting money.' That’s the rumor I’ve heard, which is such a ridiculous thing that I have to laugh about it. We’ve never even talked about it." [H/T Ringside News]

The Indy God has also shown interest in returning to WWE, where his wife, Chelsea Green, currently works. It will be interesting to see if Matt Cardona will ever be signed to a contract in All Elite Wrestling or return to the globe juggernaut.