Matt Cardona Likes That His Intercontinental Title Reign Was Just One Day

Matt Cardona is actually happy that he was champion for only 24 hours.

For many years, wrestling fans considered Zack Ryder one of the most underappreciated people in WWE. Despite his organic up-swell in popularity, Ryder was treated poorly by WWE’s management.

That is, until WrestleMania 32 when, out of nowhere, he won the Intercontinental Championship in a multi-man ladder match for the title.

Ryder had his big celebratory WrestleMania moment, but his dreams were shattered the following night when he lost the belt to The Miz.

Having a one-night title reign would be a downer for most people, but Matt Cardona, the man behind the Zack Ryder gimmick, doesn’t think so in retrospect.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with WrestlingInc, Matt Cardona explained the logic behind that short title reign and why it actually fit the story perfectly.

“Do I wish I got another chance at it? Yes, I do. But I do not wish it would’ve been longer than one day. That is the story. That is the story of Zack Ryder, the guy who wasn’t even supposed to be in the match ends up winning the thing, shocking the world in this incredible WrestleMania moment. It’s only fitting he loses it as soon as he gets it.

If I would’ve held the title for a month, two months and lost it to Cesaro at Backlash, we wouldn’t be talking about it right now. Everyone’s always talking about it because it’s the one-day title reign. And to me, that’s the story of Zack Ryder, finally winning something, finally achieving something and then having it taken away.”