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Hailing from Long Island, New York and weighing in at 224 lbs., the one and only Matt Cardona (Zack Ryder in WWE) has had a wild career as a professional wrestler. From being part of the “Rated-R Superstar” Edge’s (Adam Copeland) La Familia faction to winning the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania, his highlights are endless. 

Born on May 14, 1985, in Merrick, New York, Matt Cardona grew up as a fan of professional wrestling. He would begin collecting figures of wrestlers at an early stage in his life, an interest he would keep once he got older.

After training with his mentor Mickey Shipwreck, Cardona would debut on the independent stage at the New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) promotion in 2004 under the name Brett Matthews. He would begin teaming up with fellow wrestler Brian Myers for the rest of his stint in NYWC. After holding the promotion’s tag team championships a couple of times, they would eventually leave for greener pastures.

On April 21, 2005, Cardona would debut in the WWE, losing a match against Matt Morgan on Smackdown. After Brian Myers joined the company as well, the two were packaged together in some developmental divisions. This was the case until they were brought to the main roster in May 2007. They would do some work on the Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) brand until they were drafted to Smackdown! in June. The duo would begin helping Edge as his heel acquaintances after December 21, being repackaged as Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins (Myers) respectively. 

Ryder and Hawkins would come to be known as the Edgeheads due to their affiliation with Edge. After winning the WWE Tag Team Championships from The Miz and John Morrison, the pair would eventually split away from Edge. Ryder and Hawkins would then lose the titles to Carlito and Primo Colon on the Sept. 26 edition of Smackdown!. On April 15, 2009, Ryder would be drafted back to ECW. This draft split the duo of Ryder and Hawkins as they would subsequently begin competing in singles competition. 

Now that he was on his own, Ryder needed a better gimmick. He began dressing obnoxiously and speaking out more, using catchphrases that would become infamous like “woo woo woo” and “you know it”. He would bounce around on the ECW brand until it was discontinued, then sent to the Monday Night RAW brand. 

Ryder would once again float around in obscurity, getting championship opportunities but losing every single one of them. Ryder would become upset with his place in the company. He began posting on the YouTube platform in February 2011, creating an episodic series called Z! True Long Island Story to self promote his gimmick. This idea worked so well that his merchandise began selling out quickly. His name would begin being chanted by the crowds of RAW and on pay-per-views despite him never being on either. He even created a fake title called the Internet Championship that he then actually defended on house shows. The heads of WWE noticed this and began showing Ryder on television more, even giving him segments with John Cena! Things were indeed looking up for the Long Island Iced Z. 

Ryder would begin a rivalry with Dolph Ziggler in September 2011 for the United States Championship. This rivalry saw interventions from many people, including film star Hugh Jackman. This rivalry would continue until Ryder got the chance to face Ziggler one final time at the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view later that same year. Ryder won this bout, winning his first singles championship on Dec. 18, 2011.

The year 2012 began to see the downfall of Ryder. He would lose his United States Championship and return to jobber (a person whose job is to lose) status shortly after. He would lose consistently for the next few years, only really winning once every blue moon. This was until April 2016, when he would substitute for Neville in the Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match at WrestleMania 32.

In this match, Ryder put on what just may be the greatest performance of his entire career in WWE up to that point. He won the Intercontinental Championship and held it high above the rafters. As his father joined him in the ring, Ryder cried. Winning this title was a lifelong goal that he wanted to achieve ever since he first fell in love with professional wrestling as a child. 

Unfortunately, this career highlight wouldn’t last long as he would subsequently lose the title to The Miz the following night on RAW. This was the final nail in the coffin for Zack Ryder. After this, he would never again achieve a highlight of this magnitude. He would temporarily team with Curt Hawkins again for the next few years, even winning the RAW Tag Team Championships together. 

Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins would be released from their WWE contracts on April 15, 2020, due to budget cuts. This ended the Cinderella story of Zack Ryder once and for all. Or so we thought. . .

After being released, Ryder would join the blossoming All Elite Wrestling (AEW) promotion under his real name, Matt Cardona and save the “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes from his attackers on July 29, 2020. Cardona remained in AEW for a few months before leaving in September of the same year.

At this point, any other wrestler would have been lost in the waves, a story that’s happened too many times before. This, however, was not the case for Matthew Brett Cardona. Cardona did what all great entertainers do and took a chance on himself. He began wrestling on the independent stage, building a new character from the ashes of Zack Ryder. 

Cardona competed in promotions like Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), Major League Wrestling (MLW), National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and DDT Pro-Wrestling, occasionally competing in extreme matches where he and his opponents would do their best to put on bloody performances for all to see. This would see the growth of Cardona’s character work and overall work in general. He even brought back the Internet Championship to some promotions. His attitude was different and his presence in the Internet Wrestling Community (ICW) grew exponentially. So much so that he began referring to himself as the “Indy God”. The problem was, he wasn’t wrong at all. 

Cardona brought more eyes to the independent scene, not only helping his image but also elevating other stars that would have been less relevant without him. Cardona also performed on the Ring of Honor (ROH) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotions as well. He made a bigger name for himself on the indie circuit than he ever could have in WWE due to him having more creative freedom outside of a monopoly like that. 

Following a brief stint in the 2025 TNA/NXT invasion storyline, Cardona recently made a surprise return to the WWE as Zack Ryder in the “Last Time Is Now” tournament currently occurring across all mainstream WWE brands to decide who will face John Cena in his final match ever. Ryder would face LA Knight on the Nov. 14, 2025 edition of Smackdown!. Although he lost this match, the door remains open for a possible full-time return.

Matt Cardona’s impact on the world of professional wrestling is one that cannot be understated. His use of the rapidly growing internet to jumpstart his fame would spark a revolution across pro wrestling companies. If not for him, wrestling promotions today would likely not be using social media to promote their events as well as they do. His work on the independent scene saw the growth of stars and brought many more eyes on once unknown promotions. His recent surprise returns to WWE have sparked speculation among fans that the Broski will make a permanent return to WWE in the near future. Perhaps even as soon as the Royal Rumble event. If there’s one thing every wrestling fan can agree on, it’s that whether he goes by Zack Ryder or Matt Cardona, the Long Island Iced Z will always be a major player in the world of pro wrestling. Woo Woo Woo, You Know It!!

RECOMMENDED WORKS: vs Dolph Ziggler (RAW, Sep. 19, 2011) | vs Dolph Ziggler (TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, 2011) | Seven-Man Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match (WrestleMania 32) | vs Adam Copeland (AEW: Collision, 3/30/24)