Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Matt Cardona Says He Wants To Return to WWE, How GCW Changed His Career, Betting On Yourself

Episode Date: December 15, 2022

Matt Cardona (@themattcardona) is a professional wrestler who has worked for NWA, AEW, Impact Wrestling, GCW and was known as Zack Ryder in WWE. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about the incredible 2022 that he had, why he wants to go back to WWE, his goal to win the WWE Championship, his thoughts on Cody Rhodes wrestling against Seth Rollins with a torn pec at Hell in a Cell, how he has been able to monetize The Major Figure Wrestling Podcast, his infamous match with Nick Gage, getting the fans to hate him, what happened after his AEW debut and much more! For more information about Matt and The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast visit: https://majorwfpod.com/ If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. For more information about Chris Van Vliet and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are going. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Bleas! Oh, yeah, welcome back to another audio adventure on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet, and Matt Cardona is back with us on the show. This is our third interview in a little over two years. And, I mean, if we look back at this, the first one was May 2020. He was part of that first huge wave of releases from WWE, right when the world, like, first screeched to a halt and kind of shut down. Then we chatted with him again in February of last year.

And then think of everything that's happened between then and now. I mean, he's arguably been the most talked about wrestler on the independent scene. And he's just truly taken ownership of what his character is and he's turned it into something so special. The way that his mind works when it comes to monetizing wrestling is really, really fascinating. We just, dig into that a lot here. But the big question is, is Matt Cardona going back to WW. And if he does go back to the WWE, is it going to be Matt Cardona or is he going to be Zach Ryder? So Matt tells me during this interview that, yeah, he wants to go back to WWE. And one of his goals is to win the WWE championship. So it's going to be very,

very interesting to see what happens in 2023 with Matt Cardona. Take a screenshot. let us know you're listening and tag us so that we can share it out. He is at the Matt Cardona. I'm at Chris Van Fleet, and thank you for all these reviews that have been coming in on Apple Podcasts. We started reading them out again on the show like a few weeks ago, and man, there's now been like 20, maybe more than that over the last few weeks. So please leave a review, and we'll read it out on the show.

As our way to say, thanks for being with us on this adventure. John Faisal left this one that says, A Legendary Podcast, My Favorite Podcasts of All Time. Chris, you are truly talented. Your positive energy is so inspirational and you're truly one of my personal heroes. Wow. The conversations you have are always intelligent,

insightful, and fun. You feel like you're just listening to advice and stories from a great, long-time friend. Chris, you're a great person and your approach to life is inspiring. When I was a graduate student, your podcast was my constant companion

while I wrote my 50-page graduate thesis. Even now, my full-time job, I still listen to your podcasts. As always, keep up the excellent work, Chris. Well, thank you so much for the very, very kind words there, John. I really appreciate it. So, yeah, if you have Apple Podcasts, if you're listening to this on your iPhone, if you can leave a few words, that would be so, so helpful.

All right, let's do this. Ladies and gentlemen, Matt Cardona. I was trying to figure out when our last one was. I think it was over a year. You didn't have that ring the last time we talked. The wedding ring? Yeah. Or the wrestling ring, which I got to close it in.

You certainly didn't have the NWA heavyweight champion, Chip. Well, I mean, unfortunately, I don't have it anymore. This is just a replica. I am the real world champion, though, the uncrowned champion. So much has happened since the last time we talked. And I mean, I've seen you a few times since. We just haven't had an interview. But like GCW really changed the whole course of your career.

Yeah, that match with Nick Gage. I've said it many times definitely changed my career. changed my life. I knew it would create buzz, but there's no way I could have predicted how much buzz it would create. I mean, that night, we trended number one over the Olympics and UFC, a UFC paperview, you know, just some quote, unquote, independent show. But everyone wanted to see Zach Ryder get carved up by Nick Age. And I did, but I ended up winning and became the death match game. What did the conversation with Nick look like before that match? Because Because that guy is seemingly not afraid of anything.

Were you trepidious at all about anything in that match? I was scared to death. And honestly, before I walked to that curtain, I'm like, they might try to kill me in this ring. And that would be the trending moment, right? Like Nick Gage kills Matt Cardona in G.C.W. ring. I was scared to death. I watched the dark side of the ring, or at least I tried to, the Nick Gage episode. And I couldn't get through it.

It was so gory and disgusting. And I'm like, holy shit, I have to wrestle this guy. Was there any point where you're like, all right, that sounds like a nice idea, Nick, but there's no way we're doing this, this, or this. No, I knew that, listen, I knew this is going to be a big night. I wore all white. I knew I was going to bleed, right? Of course, death match, light tubes, glass, you're going to bleed.

But my white shirt turned like maroon red. And there's one point in the match I superplex Nick through this pane of glass. and there's like, it's blood coming out of my arm, but it's like ooze. It's so thick and disgusting. And the referee was concerned. Once the referee was concerned, that I was like concerned. Oh, if a death match referee is concerned.

Right. Exactly. Yes. So then like, you know, I started getting lightheaded. We finished the match. I won. Long story short, I'm the death match king. But holy shit.

And, you know, there's no, there's no medical team backstage at the showboat casino. know in Atlantic City, right? There was there was this nurse. I think, you know, she was a nurse. She stitched me up, did a horrible job. I mean, she did her best, right, with what she had. And she told me, yeah, these stitches are dissolvable. Don't take them out. Of course, they were not. I got infected. It was brutal. It was the aftermath is what hurt the most because I flew right away cross-country to Disneyland. I had a big Disneyland trip planned. So John Carlo, if you know who John Carlo is, he worked for GCW, works for AEW now. We didn't have any bandages.

So I just went to his hotel room and he taped towels around my body. Oh, my God. And that's how I flew cross country. And I did all the rides at Universal Disneyland because I'm a- You're insane. What did Chelsea think of all this? Well, she was the one who found me in that hotel room the next day. And she had to go get all the bandages.

And she bandaged me up and cleaned me up. But a lot of people thought I was crazy going into it. I got so many texts and DMs, like, don't do this. This guy's crazy. I'm like, if I'm convincing people in the business, oh, this is going to be great. Was there any point right before the match where you're like, I just, maybe we don't need to do this? No, I knew if we were going to do it, we were going to do it. We weren't, you know, if we're having this death match, Matt Cardone versus Nick Cage, I was going to go all the way.

So pizza cutters, glass, light tubes, we did it. I mean, I'm very proud of that match. I've retired as the death match king. No more death matches for me. There's no reason to do another one, right? I mean, I don't think we will capture that magic. I don't think we could recreate it. So I'm fine with just having one.

It's funny because I saw DDP last week at Russell Casey. Yeah, you're doing all this hardcore stuff now. I'm like, no, I did one match. You know, and I'm just playing off this death. Match King, Moniker, and it's making the GCW universe so mad, and it's awesome. I love it. Well, look, there's a difference in pro wrestling between, like, getting heel heat and, like, getting cheap heat by, like, making fun of the local sports team.

And then it, like, crosses over and, like, crosses this line into, like, people legitimately disliking you. And I feel like you're in that latter category. Yeah. I mean, when I won that death match, you can see the footage. There's people just throwing trash in me, bottles. Someone threw a pizza cutter at me. It was crazy.

Not all GCW shows are like that, you know, where, you know, I come to the crowd, come through the crowd, and there's people flipping me off and yell at me, but no one tries to get physical, at least not yet. So, like, when we talk the first time right after you got released from WWE, you were, you know, starting to figure things out as Matt Cardona for the first time in your career. Where do you think, like, that was headed if it wasn't for GCW? Well, that's the thing, because, you know, I got released. I knew, okay, I'm Matt Cardona now, right? But who is that? I knew I needed to change, but you can't just turn heel on the Indies. You know what I'm saying?

It just doesn't work that way. So the death match, the GCW, it really started this snowball effect where I go through to, you know, random indie shows and it's like 50-50 am I getting cheered or booed? First, it's like 25% getting booed. I'm like, this is weird. Then 50-50, then 75% getting booed. Now it's 100%. I don't get here anywhere I go.

And I love it. And that's what I need. I just needed something, a catalyst, if you will, to spark this new version of me. It's been so much fun. And for a while, you know, I was like a baby facing impact. And then like I'd be doing an indie show the next night and getting booed. So like, I love that now, no matter where I go, people know, fuck this guy. It's so much fun.

I don't know if there's anybody that's had a bigger reinvention since their WWE release. other than you? What do you think is the biggest difference between Zach Ryder and Matt Cardona? Yeah, I mean, even at the very end, like the past couple years in WWE, I was trying to be a little more serious, you know, got in better shape, drop the woo woo-woo shit. But like, if you don't get the time on television to showcase that, I mean, who really knows, right? So I think now being my own boss, you know, I'm not signed to any company. I've refused contracts. I just want to be my own boss. I don't want to answer to anybody. I'm having so much fun and it's working. And I love just being able to try things.

All I've ever wanted was an opportunity to try. And a lot of the things that I've tried since being released have worked. Some things that I've tried haven't worked. And that's just how it is. That's how you learn. That's how you grow. We've seen you make appearances in AEW, Impact Wrestling. How many of these companies have tried to lock you down and you went, no, I want to do my own thing?

Well, I mean, the AEW thing, listen, it's not like they offer me a deal. it down. That's not what happened. What happened? I don't exactly know. I did a couple shows there. I thought I was going to be all for something. I wasn't. I'm like, okay, now I got to move on, you know. I just don't want to be tied down anywhere in WWE, not that I had handcuffs on by any means, but I was there for so long. I got sound when I was 20 years old. When did we get fired? 2000. So I was there for like 14 years. It's a long time. You know, so now it's my chance to make my own schedule and be my own boss and brandy out and do all these other things, whether it be grow the major wrestling career podcast or,

you know, I just did the last match musical. I did a fucking musical, you know, all these things I'm getting to try now. It's just I don't want to be tied down anywhere. I don't want to, hey, is this okay? Can I do this? I don't want to do that. I think there was a point in time that, you know, if in 2020 you had been brought back to WWE, you would have been brought back as Zach Ryder and right back into what you were doing before. And then I think your good friend, and Cody Rhodes kind of broke the mold there and went, no, no, what happens in other places, what happens on the Indies does exist in this wrestling zeitgeist.

And I feel like if you did go back to WWE, you wouldn't be Zach Ryder. You'd be Matt Cardona. I mean, if it was up to me, if I would ever go back, it would be as me. Always Ready, Matt Cardona. Now, if there was going to be a surprise run in or Royal Rumble or something,

if the Always Ready music hit or the Woo-W hit, which one would get a bigger pop, I understand. know the Zach Ryder would, but I don't want to, I don't want to live in the past. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm 37 years old. I'm in the prime of my career. I mean, listen, I always say like the PWA 500 doesn't matter unless you're number one or number 13. I was number 13, which, you know what?

I'm very, very proud of that. The only unsigned guy in the top 20, I think it's pretty damn cool that, you know, that I'm being able to do G. ECW, Impact, NWA, all these random Indies, getting a rest of all over the world and doing it on my terms, it's so much fun. There was like this fantasy booking that was floating around of a cinematic match where it's Matt Cardona taking out Zach Ryder. Is that something that we could see one day? Actually, you know, someone, someone, they came to me wanted to do that. But the thing is, I don't own the Zach Ryder IP intellectual property.

So like, we'd have to dance around that. And this is going to sound like horrible to say, too. I just don't have the fucking time to do it. You don't have the time to shave the beard and grow the beard back. That's what you're saying. Not only that. I don't have the time to like, I don't have the bandwidth. I'm just so thin.

Some days I need to plan out when I'm going to take a shit. That's how busy I am. And I love it, though. What time does it usually happen? It really depends. It really depends on my schedule. It depends how much pre-workout you took, right? Sure, sure.

So typically I'm wrestling. We're doing an appearance Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I do the podcast on Monday. We do this thing called What Not. It's like a live auction every Monday. And then the podcast has turned into wrestling figures, wrestling shows, live podcasts. So I'm doing podcast work every single day. What started off is a 45 minute once a week show has turned into a fucking business,

which is fucking incredible and insane at the same time. So if you went back to WWE, you might not be able to do most of that stuff. Well, then I wouldn't go back. Have you had any conversations with them? Listen, I appreciate you asking me this, but here's the truth. If I were to go back, I wouldn't reveal it here. And if I wasn't going back, I wouldn't reveal it here. Because I want people, I want people talking.

So the more they talk, you know, the more people are talking about Matt Cardona, the better for me. I'm the internet champion, then now forever. So let them talk. Here's the thing about this run you've had over the last year is like, I don't know how you top this. Like, 2023 is almost done. We're heading into, sorry, 22. almost done. We're almost in at 2023. What do you do? Honestly, I asked myself the same

question. Uh, 2021, I thought was fucking incredible with the, the death match king, all that stuff. And how am I going to top it in 2022? Well, we sold out GCW. I say we, I feel like I'm a part of that team. Sold out the Hammerstein ballroom, started off the year with that. Main event did impact, hard to kill for the world title. Won the NWA world's every title. Uh, so much stuff has happened in 2022. We're like, shit. What am I going to do? 2023. Yeah, seriously. I feel like you need to go back and win back your NWA World Heavyweight Championship. I think so. You know, it was unfortunate. I had the bicep injury, which came out of nowhere, right? No one expects to get injured. There's no good time to get hurt. But fortunately for me, like, my

schick is me talking, my character. So I still did all my independent bookings. You know, my schedule is busier than ever because I had to add rehab into that. So like, I would still do that. I still everything I was doing making towns the podcast going to the gym oh shit and rehabbing to get this bice it better uh but now it's better it feels 100% uh shit happens right i mean what am i going to do um but i didn't miss any bookings i didn't miss any time like yes i wasn't taking bumps in the ring but i was still making all these towns doing all these shows yeah i had billy corgan on the show and he talked about how after you got injured he said to you like yeah it's okay you don't need to show up and you're like no no i want to be there and he was like

I don't know that's the old school in me, but like, you got to go. You got to make the towns, right? Like, I was going to get there no matter what. You know, at first, I was concerned on maybe the doctors won't let me fly because I just got the surgery. So I'm like, fuck. How long is this drive from Orlando, whoever the fuck the show was?

I don't know where it was Kentucky or something like that. I'll make the drive because I was going to be there. NWA's been great. They gave me an opportunity at the 10 pounds of gold and I ran with it, you know? Whether you watch NWA, whether you were a fan of me or not, everyone knew that, I was the NW World's Heavyweight champion. I brought it on my goddamn honeymoon.

I didn't defend it, you know, but I brought everywhere. I was proud to be the champion, and I would love to have that title again. Yeah, what did it mean to you to finally win the, quote unquote,

big one, finally win like a major championship? It was super cool, especially like, you know, all the legends who have held that title. I think there's a big difference between being nostalgic

and living in the past. And I really want to help NWA, I feel like I can definitely sink my teeth in and get them to the next level. Because listen, I don't want to just do the NWA shows like five times a year when they tape. I want it to be every week. I want to go every week and do it. So if I can do anything to add attention to that company, I'll do it. And now Tyrus is the champion.

And there's a lot of controversy about that. But listen, the guy, he gets eyeballs. There's no denying that. I'm going to plug my toy line, Major Bendies. We made a Tyrus figure. He's the number one bestseller. He went on Fox News. My future mother-in-law bought one from you guys.

Oh, yeah. I can't even, like, that's how big. She's not a wrestling fan. She's a Tyrus fan. Yeah. He read the link on Fox News, and it was like, chiching, chiching, ching, just the orders went crazy. So I totally understand why the company,

NWA is behind Cyrus. but, you know, it's not the national, you know, TV show alliance, the national wrestling alliance. And I'm somebody who will make towns with that title. And yeah, if we ever have that match, you've got to kick his fucking ass. I understand the hate from, like, traditional wrestling fans of Tyrus being the champion,

but you couldn't buy the marketing that he's doing by wearing that championship belt every time he's on Fox News channel. Right. And Eric Bischoff said to past controversy. he creates cash. People are talking. So they're talking good or bad. They're still talking about you.

I really think that you're built different in the pro wrestling world. And I say that by, and what I mean by that is a lot of guys are really good at wrestling. They're really good at talking on a mic. You're also, you're great at all that, but you're also really good at the business side of things. And I think that that part seems to be missing for a lot of pro wrestlers. Yeah, I mean, everyone knows my story over a decade ago, started. true Long Island story, my own YouTube show, because I didn't like my, my spot in the company. I knew I could do more.

And I, you know, how many goddamn pitching emails am I going to do before I realized, okay, I got to take matters into my own hands. And that's what I did with the YouTube show. And it worked. It made people realize, okay, this kid's got some personality. He's not just the guy who is already in the ring and loses in two seconds, you know? So that was, I want to say, you know, listen, I didn't invent wrestling and social media. It was going to happen eventually.

right you know there were already web shows before me but those were you know like mrs morrison you know great show the dirt sheet but you know they weren't editing that you know maybe they were like writing most of it but you know they would do it at tv before before the show started and someone would edit it and it would go up i was doing all that stuff on my own writing editing all the budget stuff everything even when w w took it over uh i was still doing all that but like what what was this in you that wanted you to be entrepreneurial because I feel like this is not a trait that every wrestler has. Yeah, listen, uh, everyone's wired differently, right? And I, I want to be a top guy in wrestling. And I'm going to, I'm going to go out swing until I am. Maybe I'll never become a top guy, right?

But I have been fighting my fucking ass off since I was 18 years old. I mean, there is nobody in this business. I've said this a bunch of times who's been counted out more times than me and has come back. you know, just when I'm just when people write me off myself included. There's definitely a time maybe like after that YouTube show died down like maybe 2014-15. I thought, well, shit. Like I'm never going to be able to do anything else. But then I ended up winning the IC title, WrestleMania, right? So I think that's where the always ready came from is not just this fucking hashtag or, you know, nickname.

It's being always ready for any and all opportunity. Because if you're complaining and pitching and moaning, whether it be online or not, and then you get that opportunity. You're not ready for it. That's on you, pal. So I'm sure in every locker room now, you're having these up-and-coming wrestlers that are trying to pick your brain.

They're asking you for advice. What's the main big piece of advice you tell them? Yeah, you know, it happens a lot. It makes me feel really old. I'm wrestling some guys. I'm wrestling this guy. His name's Merrick, Miami. He was the broski of the week on my show in like 2011.

Now I'm fucking wrestling this kid. It's pretty crazy. Or this kid, L.J. Leary in Ireland. He was a big Zach Ryder fan, caught my shirt. in the crowd once now I'm wrestling I was like Jesus how fucking old am I but I'm really not that old I'm 37 it's just I started so early but they asked a lot about social media and I say listen I don't know all the answers

I don't know really anything about like you know the analytics and like when to post or why to post I just post and if you like it great and if you don't I don't give a shit I just post what I want you know I don't care what time I post it if I want to post something I just post it and the thing about social media It's this free tool to advertise yourself, right? How can you not take advantage? It's a fucking free tool. It's free advertisement.

On the flip side, it's free for everybody. So how are you going to stand out? That's what you got to figure on your own. I can't answer that for you. So it's for you, you're saying it's all social media stuff. It's nothing you could be doing with promos or in the ring or something like that for someone starting out.

And people ask me this all the time, like what can I do in ring? Like the, is it jiff or gif? What's the production? All right. Like I got so much heat for this. the creator of it says it's jiff. But if you say, oh, did you see that jiff the other day?

People go, what are you talking about? So I think we got to, I think we have to say gif. Yeah, so I think it's very important when people are having these independent matches, especially guys who aren't well known. Like, they got to do something in their match to get one of those gifs or gifs. Oh, like a giffable moment. Okay. I get it.

But at the same time, you need to be able to fucking do the basics. Because if you get all this attention for all these fucking gifts and then someone watches your match, and you're the shits, they'll see through that real fast. If your punches suck, you can do this cool flip, what's the big deal? You know, so you've got to be the total package somehow. Listen, if you're wrestling me, if you're wrestling, it's going to be a different style match than just wrestling some other guy in the Indies. But we'll still do some cool stuff at the end, but I like to tell the story.

I like to, you know, work the people, work the crowd. Some people, they just wrestle. It's like, they'll do the same match whether a crowd is reacting or not. You can't do that. What specifically did you learn from the, TV style of WWE wrestling that has helped you so much on the Indies. Blow the fuck down.

Seriously. Because like, you got to imagine, and this is what I tell guys too, you do, let's say you do a move and you're both selling it. It seems like you're selling for eternity, but in TV land, the commentators are telling the story. The cameras are going from one facial expression

to the other guy. You know, so relax a little bit. It doesn't have to be like, move, move, move, move, move, move, move. There's a time and a place to, uh, Listen, there's not a place to go balls to the walls, but you also got to let the people digest what they just saw. Yeah, I've heard people say, like, the advice that they've heard is like, when you think you're going slow, go 10 times slower. Right. And it's great.

Yeah, and it's this idea that, and I think it's this idea that it feels slow to you and the crowds is going, yeah, that just seems, I guess, normal. Right. And you just got to listen to the people. You know, it's funny because I just, this last match musical, I'm sure we'll touch on it. but like we had this choreograph match, right? But, and even I didn't anticipate this, that the people watching the show, I'd say maybe half of wrestling fans, half theater fans.

So like the script says, okay, I get in the ring, the other guy gets in the ring, ding, ding, ding, we lock up. But if the crowd is chanting, like, I suck. I got to respond to the people. I got to interact with the people. So it's this interactive show. So long story short, we did this move, this double down. And I'm telling the guy, I'm like, just lay here.

Just I know it's not in the script. just fucking lay here dead. And the crowd's at, this is awesome. This is, I'm like, see, just fucking lay here dead. They'll come. That's for a Broadway show. The United States Soccer Federation present the U.S. soccer podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Clemenberg.

And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Time's ticking. I think you can feel the intensity. All the guys are wanting to really take their claim. And they want to be on that World Cup roster. There's no doubt about it. Hosting a World Cup on the home soil comes with its pressures, but we're just really excited just as the people are.

The U.S. Soccer podcast, presented by Henko. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Where did this idea for a Broadway musical for pro wrestling come from? I don't know exactly, you know, because I came in pretty late. This guy, Jeremiah, he is the producer. He's the main man. He's the Vince McMahon of this project, right? And he contacted me about this or got someone to contact me.

about it. At first, I'm like, wrestling, musical, oh, no thanks, you know. But then I talked to Jeremiah and he was so convincing and so passionate. And I read the script. And listen, I didn't read the whole thing. I read like, I read the parts with my name in it. Yeah, exactly. I read part of it. I'm like, this is actually pretty cool. You know what? Like, and then all these real Broadway stars are attached. I'm like, well, if they're doing it, I'd be a fool to turn this down, right? So I agreed to do it. And then I read the whole script really. I'm in the whole goddamn thing. I'm like, shit, I got to remember all these lies.

We're talking to an actor that was talking about reading a script. They would get a PDF sent. And they would go into like Control F where you would find a word within the script. They would type in their character's name and just see how many times it showed up. And if it didn't show up a lot, they're like, I'm not reading this. It's not big enough part for me. Really? Wow.

Wow. But yeah, I'm in this, it's like a two-hour show. I'm in it the whole time. I'm singing. I'm wrestling. There's dialogue. I didn't think it was going to be easy, but I didn't anticipate how hard it would be. Very, very challenging.

The amount of different things you have done in the last two and a half years since, you know, the shackles breaking free and you being able to do your own thing is seriously mind-blowing. It's been a lot of fun, man. I mean, just the fact that we're making our own toys. You know, I grew up a huge wrestling career fan. We started the major wrestling career podcast. And now, like, I'm looking at my, I got this Chelsea Green right here, but we got a back I'm done here.

We got a Dan housing. Like we made a Rick Flair. We made the Rick Flair figure for his last match. So we started the company late last year and we already made 40 figures like, like release, not just like I'm going to make this figure one day or not just the artwork. Like in people's hands, 40 figures in a calendar year. And I'm very, very proud of that. Who's the person you want to make a figure of and it just hasn't happened yet?

Oh, man. Well, that's the thing. Because like the WW Legends deals are certain guys that you can't, you know, you can't touch those guys. Flair doesn't have that deal? Well, Flair, I don't know if he has it. He didn't have it when we made the figure. But, you know, we just got, I'm not going to reveal anything right here, but we just got worried for a couple

guys who let their Legends deal run out. I got a pitch worked up. I'm going to drop this week because I want him in the line, maybe. I just, I love that you were the type of person that if you see something, if you see something that's possible, you go, all right, well, how can I figure

that out? You got to try, right? And I truly believe that's how you learn. is by failing. Listen, I don't want to fail. Of course, I want everything to be a home run. It's just not realistic. But I have to try because if I'm not trying, who's going to try for me?

You know, I got to push myself. I got to be the self-chosen one, you know? Well, I get asked all the time about like, oh, how do you start a podcast or YouTube channel or whatever it happens to be? And I'm like, well, you start. Like, you actually have to do it. You have to hit record. And so many people want to do these great things.

and then just think of a million reasons why they can't do it instead of looking at the one reason why it might work. Yeah, especially with the podcast. It's not easy because, you know, sure, you do it for what, 45 minutes, an hour, two hours, whatever, but then you got to promote it. You got to make the clips from social media. You got to make the separate social media accounts to promote this podcast. So it's not just talking on a microphone for an hour, you know. Well, that's what people think it is. And if you don't love like every aspect of it, which is like booking the guests, researching the guest, doing the interview, producing it, editing, promoting.

If you don't love every aspect of it, you probably stop right now. Yeah, and it's crazy that our podcast has spawned into, like I said, the wrestling figures we do live podcast, live wrestling shows. It's really taken over my life, but it doesn't feel like work, right? Because at the end of the day, what am I doing? I'm talking about wrestling figures or I'm making wrestling figures, like the things that I loved as a kid. So sometimes I got to step back, like, hey, like it seems like low work right now.

but it's not really work. You're doing what you love. I feel like there's a big differentiation between pro wrestling fans and WWE fans. Do you, like, and I think that like one's like a very hardcore fan base that like follows everything.

Do you think there's still a lot of WWE fans who still haven't figured out what Matt Cardone is doing now? 100%. 100%. And listen, when I was a kid, I was the WWE kid. I was the, I mean, obviously I watched like WCW,

ECW, but I didn't. And it was different than, but I didn't follow the end. and stuff like that. I was strictly WWF, right? So I totally get it. And there's people like, hey,

I meet them at conventions. We just said like, wrestle K. Like, oh, you still wrestle? Like, yeah, fucking busier than ever, making more money than ever,

pal. You know, but like, I don't blame them, you know? Not everyone is obsessed with this business like, like I am.

Or, you know, not everyone has to be this diehard fan. I don't fault them for that. Yeah, I think there's a lot of levels to that. And like, to be able to watch

three hours of Raw every week and two hours of NXT and then two hours of Smackdown and then if you want to watch Dynamite and NWA and Impact as a lot of hours. This is the best time to be a wrestling fan. I think it's the best time to be a wrestler. There is so much opportunity out there.

And with the power of the internet, we're talking about like these independent shows, you know, you're doing a show in New Jersey. It's on Fight TV or something that everyone's watching it. You know what I'm saying? or, you know, these gifts or jiffs around the internet. So, like, you just got to, you know, as a wrestler,

you got to get out there as much as you can. And there's so much opportunity. Like, you could wrestle so many different times and so many different places. Like, for people who aren't booked, if you're an independent wrestler not booked, like, you're not trying because there's so much going on. You might not get paid, what you want to get paid.

But if you want to get work, there's work out there. Yeah, and especially if you're willing to drive. Sure. And there's a lot that aren't, to do that. Right. A lot of people, you know, they feel entitled or they, you know, they only want the big bookings. Listen, some of my favorite bookings are the ones where I'm like, what the fuck? Where am I? You know, but they end up having a lot of fun and you can't judge a book by its cover. What do you think is possible for you in Impact Wrestling? Has this been pretty cool seeing you do some

stuff there? Yeah, you know, like Impact has been so much fun. Impact gave me kind of like the first, bigger opportunity once I got released from WWE and it definitely helped me you know get my confidence back getting to do the stuff with Chelsea Green or with Brian Myers with the major players has been a lot of fun but I'm not sure what's next for me in impact you know I I think it's great

I think that the roster is awesome I think the actual show if people watch it it's an awesome show where things make sense and the storylines you know they actually have a beginning middle and end I just think A lot of people have they've given up on impact and they don't want to give it another chance. And it's a shame because it's a great, great product.

I just think it's unfortunate that it's not an easy show to find. It's another problem. It's fucking impossible to find it. Like, I'm on the goddamn show. I can't watch me. You know? Yeah, like we all know like where and when we can see Raw on Monday nights. We all know when and where we can see dynamite on Wednesday night.

It's just like I know impacts on, but I don't know where to find access TV. Right. I mean, I live in Orlando and I don't have it. Yeah. I want to ask you about your friend Cody Rhodes and like wrestling with the torn peck. When you saw that, what was your reaction to it? Oh, man. First of all, he had to do that match. Was it like the smartest for his health? Maybe not. But it's such a iconic moment, you know, and it really showed that he had these balls and the passion for pro wrestling. I think he gained a lot of people's respect if he didn't have it already. Great, great night for him and he needed that.

And I think, I think Cody is, you know, it was a blessing in disguise he got injured because now he gets two big comebacks in one calendar year. That's true. It's crazy when he took off that coat that people thought it was makeup. I'm like, clearly, you've never seen a torn pack before. He was showing me pictures like, wow, you know, when it got torn. and then the blood just kept filling up in there. So we got worse and worse and worse. How did he do it?

That's a good question. I don't know if he's ever said it publicly, so I'm not going to be the one to spill the boots. Okay. Every time I lay down on the flat bench press now, I'm like, oh, I do not want that type of thing to happen. Like, I imagine that something like that.

Yeah. Listen, injuries suck, whether it be, you know, one that keeps you out for a long time or even like a month or so. Like, nobody wants to get injured. There is no good time to get injured, especially, you know,

coding's doing great things, you know, coming back at WrestleMania, that awesome program with Seth. But, you know, like I said, now he gets two big comebacks in one year. Yeah, it's going to be incredible to see what is possible when he comes back. I hope he gets another tattoo on his neck,

on the other side. He should balance it out. Yeah, he should get me, I think. That would be a brilliant tattoo. I think he should. You don't have any tattoos, right? I do like on my leg. Oh, that's right.

But it's something crazy, yeah. Bring it on your neck. Why not? I should maybe. Maybe I'll do my always ready skull on my neck. Oh, brilliant. With everything that you're talking about that you have going on in your world, what, what's a day look like?

Where does your main focus go? Man. So like typically like, so today woke up, went to the gym. I had this interview. I had an interview before you. I do this thing called whatnot. It's like this live auction thing. I do that on Monday.

So on Tuesdays, I ship all that out. So like every day I'm doing something. There's never a day where I wake him like, I have nothing to do today. But I don't want that lifestyle, you know. I always want to be doing something. I always want to be bettering myself, whether it be, you know, my physical fitness or bettering my career or my company. I just want to keep getting better and better.

It's just amazing to have you sit here and talk about your company, like growing and getting as big as it is. It's just exciting because this was never a possibility when you were with WWE. No, so, you know, it's funny because the, the major rest of her podcast, we actually went to WWE and asked them if we could do whatever it was going to be called,

the Zach and Kurt wrestling figure show. This was probably 2017, 2018, and at the time, there was no interest in podcasts. There was no interest in collectibles. So we're like, well,

you know what, fuck it. We're just going to do it ourselves under our real names. Because I learned through the Zetral Long Island story, if you create something using WWIP, they own it. So I'm like,

well, I'm not going to fall for that again. So we were doing it as Matt and Brian. And we weren't hiding it. You know, we were still doing it. We were, you know, but no one ever said anything. And, you know, then when we got released, it was like, all right, let's go full steam ahead because couldn't wrestle.

It was the pandemic. There weren't, I mean, maybe there were some indie shows going on, but I certainly didn't want to do those. I didn't want my big comeback to wrestling being in front of like 20 people social distance. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So we went balls to the walls of the podcasts and really grew it. What was, like, so many people that want to have a podcast,

so many people that want to grow with a podcast that do have, what was the key that made your podcast grow exponentially? Consistency, like you pick a time or a day, and it, it comes out every Friday morning. Yeah. No, if, ands, or butts. There's no week off. There's no best of bullshit, which I guess is better than nothing.

But we have been going since summer, August, 2018 or 19? No, 18. I love that you have no track of time. August 2018, every single Friday, no breaks. We have a Patriots. We have a bonus podcast on there with a YouTube channel. We're just creating as much content as possible and stuff that we want to watch or listen to. Like, for instance, every Christmas morning, we do like a history of episode that drops on YouTube and audio form.

So this year we're doing the history of the WCW original San Francisco Toy Maker figures, the rubber figures. So it's like we just go through the whole line. So Christmas morning, it's like you can pretend you're a kid again and learn all about these figures. We've done the LJN figures, the Hasbro's, the wrestling buddies, the bend them. So we're just trying to create stuff that other people like us with love. I think the biggest thing about being an entrepreneur is being resourceful. So when you find out like, oh, we should be on Patreon, who's the resource for that?

Who do you reach out to to go? We've got to figure this out. Yes, you always, we find people who have done it before us. You know, so like Colt Cabana was the one who told us about getting ads for our podcast. Like, how do you get ads for a podcast? Okay, Colt, how do you do that? I forget who was on Patreon before us because now, you know, everyone's on Patreon. Now, we've grown it to, listen, I say crumbs made crumb cake, right?

There's not one piece of the podcast. I still stand by that needs to be a shirt. Yeah, there's not one piece of the podcast. Like, all these guys are making a lot of money. But if you add up, whether it be the Patreon or the live podcast or the podcast or the pro wrestling teas or our major bendies or whatever at the end of the year's like holy shit how do we make that much and where did it go when we look at all the figures behind you right now which one is the most valuable that's on display that we can currently see nothing back here is

that valuable this is all kind of like um whether it be like the the the major rest of podcast bendies or the the major pod microbrose none of this is like valuable uh like sentimentally I guess. Okay. Which one means the most to you then? It means the most to me. Let's see here. I would say this one right.

I'm going to get them. Okay. It's a Super 7. It's called Super 7. So this company reached out to Brian and I and Gals and Anderson, like the week we got released from WWE. It said, we want to make you guys. And it really kicked us in the ass because, okay, we just got fired. We can't wrestle for 90 days, but now we got to come up with fucking, how are we going to look for our indie run?

Because they need to start making these toys now. Yeah. So, you know, when you get a Mattel figure or an AEW figure, it comes out and there could be some inaccuracies, but you don't get to choose with this. I was on every step of the way. All this, this knee pad logo, it should be white. You have it as silver or this button is the wrong color. Like we were so anal, but I wanted these to be the most accurate wrestling figures of all its eyes. And they are, whether or not you think they're the best, that's your opinion.

But there's no debate. They're the most accurate. Every little detail, the zippers, the splatter paint of my gear, everything. The chest there I made sure, listen, I legit wrote an email. This figure's cool, but it needs to be more tanned and more jacked. You're to switch up the torso mold. It was great. You don't have that luxury if you're in WWE and Mattel's making new figure.

Yeah, when I was talking about people being resourceful and reaching out, who have been the wrestlers that reached out to you going, dude, what you're doing is unbelievable. I want to do something like that too. A lot of people reached out once they got fired from Debbie to be like, hey, where do I go? Or do you have any bookers, you know, promoters, like contact info?

And I have no problem sharing the wealth. You know, I think everyone should succeed. Or for instance, like the whatnot that we do. I've been trying to tell all these wrestlers, hey, you should sound to whatnot. You know, like, I'm making a pretty damn good living on just whatnot. You know, and that's for me selling stuff online every week, which, yeah, it's a lot of work, but is it really work?

I'm talking an hour every single day, selling products the next day, I'm shipping it out. Is it work? Yeah, sure. But like, it's just another avenue of the major rest of our podcast, another place for us to create more fans and get more listeners. So I love that to help people out. You know, I don't want to keep anything to myself. It's just been so inspiring, seeing what you've grown and what you've done.

and the best part about it is you're doing it the way that you want to do it. Yeah, and I'm still learning and growing. Listen, I see all your stuff, all your social media stuff. You do a great job on it. I don't know if you're doing it on your own or someone else to do it, but guess what? It's getting done. And that's all that matters, right? So, like, we have a team of people who help us out too.

And hopefully, like, one day we're all rich together, right? But we're not there yet. We're not there yet. But it takes a lot of work to make this run because, like I said earlier with the internet, there's so much competition, so much competition. so much content to consume, what are you going to do to stand out? And we're trying our best to figure that out. Yeah, I had to like figure it out with using other people.

Like I was trying to do every aspect of it on my own. And then when I realized, I'm not the best editor. I'm not even very good at making graphics. If I can get someone who's a 10 out of 10 at editing, 10 at a 10 at graphics, 10 at and all this other stuff, then I can focus on what I truly am passionate about, which is this. Exactly. So this has been so good to catch up with you. And like, congrats on everything.

I have no idea how you're going to top this year, but somehow you're going to do it in 2023. Yeah, I mean, I got to figure it out to, listen, I don't have, of course I have goals, right? But I don't have like a master plan. Like when I got released from WWE, I didn't say, okay, well, I got released in like April, I think. It wasn't like, all right, well, in June or July,

I'm going to do this death match thing. No, it just happened. That's what there's always ready things about, like just being ready and having your eyes open for all these opportunities he's bigger, small, and capitalizing on them and making them the best possible. So, yeah, I don't know what's in store for 2023, but I'm ready to kick its ass. I'll tell you that, because this has to just keep getting better and better. I mean, I put too much work into this and too much time, whether it be the podcast or wrestling.

Like, I'm just ready to take it to the next level. I don't know if there's, I don't know if there's anybody better at taking an opportunity and like completely like if it was like a wet wash towel, you know, bringing like every piece of opportunity out of that. You're the best at that. Well, like I said, you got to, you know, because if I don't do it, who's going to do it for me? Nobody.

So I end every conversation talking about gratitude because it's such a big part of my life. And I wake up every day. I say out loud three things that I'm grateful for. So what are three things in your life that you're grateful for, Matt? I do something very similar. I mean, we might have talked about this last time. Yeah, I think so. Let's see.

One, Chelsea Green, for sure. I'll shout her out. My wife, we've been together for, fuck, I don't even know the exact time. We met 2017 to do the math on that. Time flies, huh? Yeah, she's just great. Definitely grateful to have her in my life wake up next to her.

Also grateful that I've been doing what I loved since I was 18 years old. Didn't really have a real job my whole life. I'm very, you know, very fortunate. it. You know, I realize if I want to wake up, not setting alarm, I could do that. It would fuck up my whole day because I would have a lot of shit to do. But I could tomorrow morning, if I want to say, you know what, fuck it. I want to sleep in. I have the luxury that I'm able to do that. Like I said, it would fuck everything up for the rest of the day.

But I'm fortunate that I've been able to do that. And I've been living my dream for since I was 18. I'm 37 years old. So it's a long time of doing what I love. Now, has it all been, you know, listen, it's been highs and lows. That's well documented, right? But I cherish both the highs and the lows. And I think the lows have made me who I am today.

And the lows make me appreciate the highs even more, make them that much sweeter if that makes sense. Another thing I'm grateful for definitely the major rest of our podcast and all its fans, you know, because when we got released from WWE and we literally could not make any money, we couldn't wrestle anywhere, we couldn't do anything. Like the podcast fans, they help those grow this, this little podcast into a business and kept us alive. And now it's the most fun being like, I'm literally, when I'm done with this, I have to have like this business call about this new toy line we're starting. It's like it's ridiculous.

It's a lot of work. But like I said, it's not work because it's what I love. So that's just three things that I'm grateful for. But I agree. I think it's very important to start your day off and put yourself in that right mindset. I do something very similar. I also list some goals. I'll put it out there.

One goal that I've been saying for a long time is to win that WWE championship. That's not a lie. I'd be lying to you right now. Listen, when I got released, the goal was not to get back to WWE. It wasn't like, oh, what can I do to make them notice me? What can I do to get back to WWE? You can't think like that. I certainly can't.

But I would be lying if I said, I never want to wrestle a master square garden again. or I never want to have a WrestleMania match. Of course I do, because WWE is number one. So I'm not saying, you know, there's this plan to go back as soon as possible, but before I hang up the boots, I'd love to go back at least one time for sure.

I love that. And I love the idea of like focusing on the things that you do have in your life. That's why gratitude is such an important thing because it's so easy every day to focus on the things that you don't have and get like stuck in that negative mindset. but like focusing on the things that you do have, I think we'll create more of that stuff.

Yeah, and I firmly believe that I am not a naturally positive person. It's almost like I forced myself to be. You have fooled us all then. Sure, but you know what? It does, I think it does work, you know, that if you, you know, the gratitude, the positivity, it's really, it's really healthy for you and it will change a lot of things like in your life. After my YouTube show, whatever happened to it happen, right?

I got to take it over. Yeah. You know, push off the stage of the wheelchair, saw my career, all my hard work, get flush of the toilet. It is what it is, right? There was definitely, I think I invented the passive-aggressive tweet.

I think I invented the negative tweet, the backstage bitter tweet. I think I invented that, you know? But guess what? It wasn't, it wasn't changing my position at work. Certainly wasn't making me happier at home. So once I realized,

hey, there are only a certain number of things I can control while I'm in WWA. We might have talked to this last time, but I said to myself, I can control my physique. No one's going to say you can't work out or you can't eat right, right? I can control my gear. No one's going to say your gear can't look like a superstar, right? And I can control my attitude. No one can say you can't be in a good mood.

You can't have a smile on your face. So once I start focusing on the things I could control, I mean, is it a coincidence that a year or two later I won the Intercollad title at WrestleMania? I don't know, but it happened. And that's, I believe it's from changing my mindset and changing, you know, going from someone who was bitching and moaning or poor me to fuck it. Like, I'm going to control what I control. And I'm going to be always ready for any and all opportunity. And when I get that opportunity, I'm going to knock out of the fucking park.

I appreciate you making the time today. I know you had to schedule going to the bathroom and everything like that. So you're probably not going to go to. I did shit before this. I got a good. So glad to hear that. I wasn't joking about the pre-workout. I take it.

And then I'm like, 10 minutes later, I'm like, well, that was a terrible way. Always ready pre-workout coming very, very soon. Very, I don't know if it's going to be late December or early, 2023, but I'll make sure I send you a little model. I might have a slight addiction to pre-workout. So please send it my way. Are you going to have your whole line? No, just the pre-workout.

Oh, just the please. Send some my way. You never know. As of now, it's just going to be pre-workout. Pump up the beta alolene as high as you can make it. Yeah, we'll see what happens. Give me the tingles. Oh, I definitely want the tingles, baby.

Hi, Stim. All right, my friend. Thank you so much, and congratulations on everything you've got going on. Hey, you too, man. I see you got a figure coming out soon. So it's not a major bend to you want with the competitor, but that's okay. Well, you know, there's always room for that, you know? That's true, man.

All right, well, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. I just love his energy. He oozes excitement, and it'll be so interesting to see what Matt does. So big thank you to him for joining us for this conversation. Big thank you, of course, to you for being with us as well. And please take a screenshot and let us know that you're listening. Let us know it stands out the most from this episode and tag us.

So we can share it out as well. Matt is very active on social media. So pretty good chance if you take a screenshot and tag Matt that he'll either share this on Instagram or Twitter or maybe both. So tag him at the Matt Cardona. tag me at Chris Famfleet and I'll leave you with the words of John D. Rockefeller who said, The secret of success is to do the common thing

uncommonly well. Be great, be grateful. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today.

No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take it manjave, but get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform.

You've been warned.