WWE Fired Beloved Superstar After Refusing 5-Year Deal

This popular WWE star was fired in 2020.

Matt Cardona (fka Zack Ryder) was originally in WWE from 2005 to 2020.

He gained popularity under his ring name Zack Ryder and held the Intercontinental and United States titles once each during his tenure with the Stamford-based promotion.

Cardona was then fired by WWE in 2020 as part of budget cuts that were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He then wrestled in the independent circuit under his real name and had a brief stint in TNA before eventually returning to WWE in January this year.

WWE Star Matt Cardona Talks About Getting Fired After Refusing A Five-Year Deal

Cardona was the latest guest on Cody Rhodes’ What Do You Wanna Talk About? Podcast.

When Rhodes asks him if he had a plan upon being released, Cardona admits he didn’t and clarified that he needed the company to fire him, as he was confused whether to continue with the company.

He explains that his character needed a rework, which couldn’t happen in the WWE environment, and his refusal to sign a five-year deal eventually sealed his fate.

Did not have a plan. So when I got released, it was the very beginning of the pandemic. There was nowhere else to really work. There were no independents to work. The world was shut down.

Also, the year prior, I don’t wanna say everyone in WWE, but everyone I knew got offered five-year new deals, and I didn’t take it. I didn’t know if I wanted to stay or go because my career had a lot of highs and lows, as everybody’s does.

So I wasn’t sure, and the anxiety of that whole year, like “Am I gonna stay? Am I gonna go?”

When I got fired, it was like they made the decision for me.

It’s like this instant weight off my shoulders, like I needed to get fired. I needed to go out there and find “who was Matt Cardona?”

The Zack Ryder guy, it was great. I’m so grateful for it. The “woo woo woo” was awesome. But it had to change, and it wasn’t gonna change in that WWE environment, so I had to get let go. (16:58 onwards)

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