Matt Cardona Explains Why He Has Respect For Nick Gage

Matt Cardona entered a different world at GCW Homecoming when he faced Nick Gage in a deathmatch.

Cardona came out of the match bloodied, cut up, and busted open, and while he’s no fan of deathmatches, he earned plenty of respect for the fucking king of the deathmatch.

“The deathmatch style is not for me, it’s not my style at all,” Cardona said on Busted Open Radio. “I’m not a fan of it, at all, but I respect that there are people who like it and who am I to say what’s right and wrong in wrestling? I’ve always had some sort of respect for Nick. The guy almost died and wanted to keep going in one of his deathmatches. After being in the ring with him and seeing the punishment he takes, not only the punishment but just the love that the fans have for him and he has back. My entrance was wild because the people wanted to kill me. His entrance was wild because the people loved him and wanted to touch him. It was something I had never experienced before. You would have thought they were trying to kill him, but they just wanted to bring their chief to the ring. It was nuts. I respect the hell out of him. He’s one tough SOB. It just wasn’t his night.”

Cardona was able to survive Gage at GCW Homecoming, winning the GCW World Title and eliciting a reaction from the crowd that hasn’t been seen since the days of the New World Order.

Elsewhere during the interview, Cardona spoke about the crowd reaction to his GCW World Title victory. You can find his full comments by clicking here.

Gage is set to face Chris Jericho on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite. Fightful will have live coverage of AEW Dynamite beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.