Matt Cardona has spoken out after his WWE return led to the cancellation of several independent wrestling bookings.
Cardona officially returned to WWE last Friday on WWE SmackDown, where it was announced that he had signed with the WWE SmackDown roster. Shortly after, he began canceling his previously scheduled independent dates, many of which were booked through the summer.
Speaking on NotSamWrestling, Cardona addressed the situation directly and reflected on his five-year run on the independent scene, calling it the best period of his career so far. “There’s been a couple of haters online, I totally understand that. I was booked until the summer. If I took every indie date that I agreed to, I wouldn’t be able to be in WWE. It’s as simple as that.” [H/T: f4wonline]
Cardona stressed that the volume of bookings made it impossible to do both. “It’s not like I had one or two. Like, I’m literally booked every weekend until the summer.”
Despite online criticism, Cardona made it clear that there has been no bad blood with independent promoters. “Any promoter who gave me a deposit, they’ve already been taken care of. Everybody understood.”
During his time away from WWE, Cardona reinvented himself as the “Indie God” and a “Belt Collector,” holding numerous championships across the independent promotions. Following his WWE return, he was still an active champion in multiple promotions, including reigns such as the ACW World Championship, WSW World Heavyweight Championship, and more, all of which he has relinquished.
Even Juggalo Championship Wrestling backed Cardona’s decision, with Vince Russo, who is part of the promotion, praised his WWE opportunity, while Orange Crush Wrestling confirmed his Superpower Slam exit.
Read More: Matt Cardona Worked Hard To Get To WWE, He Worked Even Harder To Return
