Matt Cardona Details How Appearance On 3/30 AEW Collision Came Together, Calls It A Career Highlight

Matt Cardona discusses his appearance on AEW Collision.

Matt Cardona discusses his appearance on AEW Collision.

Matt Cardona made his surprise return to AEW on the March 30 episode of AEW Collision, as he accepted Adam Copeland’s open challenge for the TNT Championship. Copeland beat Cardona to retain the tile.

Speaking on The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast, Matt Cardona discussed how his appearance came together.

“I made my Collision debut this Saturday. I had to switch some things around. Originally, I was supposed to wrestle Ultimo Dragon on Saturday. Instead, I defended my Squared Circle Expo Title against Ziggler, aka Nemeth, on Friday. Lost the [title], Squared Circle Expo Screwjob. I said, ‘That’s it. I’m out of here. I’m taking a flight to Detroit to get a rental car to drive to London, Ontario,’ and that’s exactly what I did,” Cardona said.

Cardona was then asked to describe how the appearance came about. He noted that he heard about the Cope Open, and he was “Alwayz Ready”, as always. Cardona detailed how he flew to Detroit, rented a car, and drove to London, Ontario.

“I heard there was a Cope Open. Adam Copeland, a mentor of mine. I’m a former Edgehead. I heard he had an open challenge, a Cope Open, defending that TNT Championship. I said, you know want? I’m Alwayz ready. I was leaving the Squared Circle Expo anyway because of the Screwjob. I said, ‘I think if I get on a flight from Indianapolis to Detroit, rent a car, even though nationals can’t drop it off in Canada, I’ll just like and say I’m dropping off in Detroit still, I’ll cross the border, drive to London, Ontario, sneak into the building, and then put a black tarp over my body and walk to Gorilla. I think that’s what I’m gonna do.’ That’s exactly what I did,” Cardona says.

Cardona later emphasized that facing Copeland was a carer highlight, and it was a wild 24 hours from start to finish.

“I got to have my dream match, my literal dream match, against Adam Copeland. Edge versus Edgehead, Rated-R Superstar versus Self-Made Superstar. Holy shit, it was a wild 24 hours, but one of my careee highlights. It’s crazy, it just happened like that, and it’s already up there on that list,” Cardona said.

When asked, Cardona noted that he stared planning for the appearance on Wednesday night, and he did not tell many people ahead of time. He went on to reiterate that it was stressful, and he did not have a lot of time to prepare, but the response from the crowd meant a lot to him.

“It was a very stressful day, very stressful…not much time to prepare for having your fucking dream match. I got to the building at 5:30, show starts at 8, and we’re first. So it’s like oh boy [laughs], not much time to prepare. No [I didn’t know we were first.] I didn’t know anything. Luckily, the match went how it went, and the response from the crowd, the pop, and the ‘Holy shit on the entrance,’ at one point, I had to catch myself from smiling because I’m the bad guy. But all I won’t thinking was one, like in WWE, when we had pitched to be back with him, the people who said no one would remember, it was kind of like, ‘Fuck you, motherfuckers.’ Also, it was like everything I’ve done these past four years, people fucking know what I’m doing,” he said.

Cardona made it clear that he loved the match and having the opportunity to face Copeland. He stated that it was an incredible moment and called it a career highlighted. Cardona also quipped that fellow former Edgehead Brian Myers could accept the Cope Open at some point.

“Hell of a house, hell of a reaction, hell of a moment for me, and all the people who reached out, the Major Marks, I really appreciate it. Thank you. It was a career highlight, for sure. Check one off that bucket list, and hopefully now with this Forbidden Door, we can see maybe Brian Myers take that Cope Open,” Cardona said.

Fightful Select previously reported about how Cardona’s AEW Collision appearance came together.

Check out Cardona’s initial post-match comments following AEW Collision here.

Click here to see what Cardona had to say about wrestling Adam Copeland.

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