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Since his WWE departure, Matt Cardona has managed to debut for two different wrestling promotions. Lately, he's been working with IMPACT Wrestling in a feud with his former tag team partner Brian Myers. However, his first destination was AEW.
Cardona has genuinely enjoyed working as a free agent, giving himself time to work wherever he wants while also focusing on other projects.
IMPACT Wrestling and AEW shocked the world in December when it was revealed that they were working together. It's been one of the most exciting storylines to come out of the sport in quite a long time.
As unfortunate as his release was, Matt Cardona managed to enter the waters of free agency at the perfect time.
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Though Matt Cardona was let go by WWE in 2020, it seemed to be a blessing in disguise. The former Intercontinental Champion went on to work for both All Elite Wrestling and IMPACT Wrestling.
While speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Cardona explained how great it felt to have freedom to do whatever he wanted with little to no red tape.
"Creative freedom? And by creative freedom I mean, I can literally do this interview with you right now. I don't have to like send it in and ask for approval. Right now in there's people in WWE getting e-mails saying 'You tagged so-and-so in your Instagram post.' Like I can tag whoever I want."
Being able to do what he wanted meant that he could work for whichever company and wrestle whoever he wanted when the opportunity arose. Matt Cardona explained why he decided against signing any long-term contracts as of late. He also stated why he only worked a handful of dates with All Elite Wrestilng.
"After April 15, I was in contact with so many different people, promotions. The AEW thing worked out first, and that was only for like a couple of dates. I think it was for two Dynamites and a PPV. AEW was awesome, it was fun, it was great, but I was in such a long term relationship I didn't want to jump into another relationship with anybody. To be honest, I was enjoying the free time at home, building the podcast."
Matt Cardona has most recently worked in IMPACT Wrestling
After that, Matt Cardona had been away from the ring for months. Eventually, IMPACT Wrestling contacted him to work Hard to Kill and some tapings.
"It was the end of December and I hadn't been in the ring since September. Not only had I not had a match since then, I hadn't even been in the ring. Before I knew it, I'd gotten a text the Friday before Hard to Kill that said 'hey you wanna come to work tomorrow?' I said 'You know what? Always ready.' It just kinda worked out. There was no real plan beforehand, of course I had been in talks with them for a few months but it was nothing concrete."
Matt Cardona said that he was happy to be a free agent for the moment. He claimed that it's allowed him to truly focus on his other passions as well as his in-ring career.
With IMPACT, AEW, NJPW, and even AAA working with one another, it's left many wrestlers with the opportunity to work with the best performers in the world. Matt Cardona will be certain to take advantage of his position, and fans can't wait to see where that leads next.
