How Former WWE Wrestler Matt Cardona Broke The Internet Again
Robert King
Published Mar 27, 2026
From Z True Long Island Story to a Death Match Legend, Matt Cardona once again has the internet wrestling world buzzing.
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The Zack Ryder Era of Matt Cardona
Matt Cardona has had a fascinating career. In 2011, he became a darling of the industry via his YouTube channel, and became the first wrestler to truly break the internet and use that to his advantage. This was the action of a man truly grabbing that fabled brass ring and Matt Cardona become a template for many superstars in wrestling using social media to get themselves over.
During this time he was on fire, he suddenly had merchandise, storylines, he won the US championship. The WWE Universe even chanted his name at The Rock during The Rock’s big return to WWE.
Then WWE unceremoniously dropped the whole thing.
He lost all momentum, they made him look silly in a storyline with John Cena and Eve Torres and his WWE career never really recovered. During April 2020, Matt Cardona was released from his WWE contract, for many this could be a sad moment but Cardona saw the bright side of the news and was ultimately relieved to be released.
Matt Cardona Outside of WWE
After his release, Cardona quickly found work in other promotions, he had a quick spell in AEW and still wrestles regularly in Impact Wrestling. Though it wouldn’t be until he crossed paths with Nick Gage and GCW when Matt Cardona would truly break the internet again.
It could be said that this all started with Z True Long Island Story, in that series Matt Cardona created a character for himself, the Long Island Iced Z, and 10 years later, Cardona was still portraying a version of the same “Broski” type character that originated in 2011.
Matt Cardona Joins GCW
That changed when he stepped foot in GCW.
How does a character that originated as an internet darling truly evolve? Well, you either die a hero, or you live long enough to be a villain.
Matt Cardona became an Internet Troll.
On June 6th at GCW’s Zombie Walk, a man with his face covered ran down and attacked the Death Match Legend, Nick Gage. This masked man moved like Jon Moxley, he hit Jon Moxley’s finisher and the fans in the building were ravenous with anticipation of seeing Moxley. The AEW star had attacked Nick Gage at a GCW event before, and so it was only logical that the former WWE and AEW Champion would be here again. Needless to say, the fans were far from thrilled when the man was revealed to be Matt Cardona of all people.
GCW is an extreme promotion with deathmatches, ultraviolence, it is about as far away from WWE as you can get, and Nick Gage is its champion. GCW fans can accept Jon Moxley attacking their guy, he is a death match icon himself he even has a history with Nick Gage.
But Matt Cardona? The WWE guy who collects action figures?
Immediately, “F*** You Ryder!” chants rang out through the building.
Cardona and Gage had gone back and forth on Twitter, but Cardona actually showing up in GCW seemed so alien that most believed it would never happen. But it did, and Matt Cardona challenged Nick Gage for the GCW Championship at GCW’s Homecoming pay-per-view.
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This was a brutal deathmatch, as most Nick Gage matches turn out to be. The atmosphere in the building was intense as the GCW faithful’s distain for the “WWE” guy was electric, much like when John Cena walked into ECW One Night Stand 2006. Though the reaction was never more passionate than when Cardona actually did the impossible. Matt Cardona actually won the GCW Championship.
The footage of Matt Cardona being showered with debris, just like Hulk Hogan when he joined the NWO, will become an iconic image in Matt Cardona’s career. Most wrestling heels dream of a reaction like that but very few actually achieve it. Many considered it to be the worst of pro wrestling, with the fans visibly throwing heavy objects and sharp beer cans at Cardona’s head, with a clear intention to hurt the man. Matt Cardona, however, bathed in the atmosphere. This was his chance to finally show the wrestling world that he was more than just a mundane, mid-card, WWE Guy. That is exactly what he did as he stood in the ring, holding the GCW title high while dodging debris thrown at him.
In that moment, Matt Cardona’s transformation from internet darling to internet troll was complete.
Cardona has said he is considering renaming the GCW Championship to the GCW Universal Championship, a clear troll on the much-maligned WWE Universal Championship. He has tweeted a picture of him eating a Domino’s pizza after the recent AEW controversy with Nick Gage.
The trolling from Matt Cardona has only just begun, and the next stage of his career is looking to be as exciting as it ever has before.
