Matt Cardona admits he "wasn't man enough" to "knock on Vince McMahon's door" and question humiliating WWE storyline

Former WWE Superstar Matt Cardona (FKA Zack Ryder) recently recalled a major spot that got the wrestling world buzzing twelve years ago. The 39-year-old star admitted that he should have spoken to his former boss, Vince McMahon, about the segment that featured Kane pushing him off the stage during his feud with John Cena ahead of WrestleMania 28.

During an episode of Monday Night RAW in February 2012, a distraught Ryder confronted John Cena after The Doctor of Thuganomics and Eve Torres shared a ki**. Since Eve was portrayed as Cardona's love interest back then, The Indy God also slapped the former WWE Champion and almost escaped getting a receipt at the hands of Cena.

Through a video message on Titantron, The Big Red Machine taunted The Cenation Leader to give in to anger. Then, in a shocking display of disrespect, Kane shoved Zack Ryder, who was injured and in a wheelchair, right off the stage!

WWE took the former United States Champion off TV following this wild segment. Fans believed the company left The Ultimate Broski out in the cold as the storyline was tossed out. Speaking on The Wrestling Matt podcast, Matt Cardona admitted that his character momentum was stalled despite his best efforts.

"I thought the wheelchair thing was great. I mean, it still pops up all the time, you know, and at the time, I thought it was part of the process. I could see why people thought it was a burial, and yes, it did end up storyline-wise leading to me not being featured on TV anymore, and at the time, it did feel like my hard work was being erased. But like I said, I didn't knock on Vince's [McMahon] door; I wasn't man enough back then to ask what was going on; I blame myself for that," Ryder said. (H/T: Wrestling Inc.)

Check out the full episode below:

---

WWE legend wants to face Matt Cardona in a deathmatch

Wrestling veteran Sabu recently opened up about making an in-ring return to lock horns with the former WWE United States Champion.

During an appearance on Conversations with The Wrestling Classic, Sabu mentioned that a deathmatch against Matt Cardona would be explosive.

"If all else fails, [I’ll face] Rob Van Dam, but to me, that’s too predictable. It’s too easy. Of course, we’re going to have a great match. I want something else. Maybe Matt Cardona in an explosion match when the time is right. Maybe not January, but down the line more," he said.

You can watch the video below:

The 39-year-old star recently teased a WWE return for the Battle Royal Match to determine Trick Williams' next challenger for the NXT Championship. It will be interesting to see if the erstwhile Zack Ryder returns to the Stamford-based promotion next week.