Mastermind behind Chris Jericho’s non-AEW appearance that sparked uproar revealed

Chris Jericho suddenly appeared at a non-AEW event earlier this week, which stirred up interesting conversations about the promotion. The man who made this happen has just been revealed, and this was none other than Matt Cardona (FKA Zack Ryder).

Three days ago, The Nueve invaded GCW and attacked Cardona ahead of their bout set for ROH Final Battle this Friday Night at the Hammerstein Ballroom. This sparked controversy, as a few days prior, both Ricky Starks and Willie Mack were pulled from their GCW bookings due to the current tension between the promotion and Tony Khan.

While speaking to Bill Pritchard of WrestleZone during the Final Battle media call, Tony Khan revealed that it was Matt Cardona himself who asked if he wanted to pull off that angle to promote their match. Khan was happy to send Chris Jericho, as this was something that was going to elevate the feud.

"Matt helped put that together. Matt asked me about it, and obviously, I was happy to send Chris to promote the match that is happening on ROH as part of the double main event. It's something we spent weeks building up on ROH and AEW TV, which is a nice thing. There is a lot of matches and potential things that could happen with Matt being the challenger and potentially being the ROH World Champion going forward. That's something to keep an eye on. With Matt appearing there, and this being a title match, it made sense to do something to promote. It's very much along the lines of things we've done with other matches along the ways over the years." [H/T Fightful]

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Matt Cardona was reportedly offered an AEW contract amidst his feud with Chris Jericho

Two weeks ago, Matt Cardona came out and staked his claim as the next challenger for Chris Jericho's ROH World Championship.

This will not only be his debut match on the promotion, but his first singles match with Jericho since 2016. The Indy God also made several appearances for AEW this year, with a surprise match earlier in March and one last week against Bryan Keith of The Learning Tree.

It was reported by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio that Matt Cardona was offered a contract by AEW. However, he could not confirm whether it had been signed or not.

"I know he was offered a contract. I don’t know if he’s signed or anything," said Meltzer.

This Friday, fans should tune in for Final Battle as this looks to be an interesting contest by the two former WWE Superstars. This will be Chris Jericho's first title defense on a ROH show, and he'll do this against someone who has proven to be a great threat to him.