Matt Cardona made his debut in AEW a couple of weeks ago. He had his in-ring debut during last week’s AEW Dynamite.
He spoke on the Busted Open podcast, where among other things, he talked about his AEW debut. Here is what he said:
“[The debut] was awesome,” Cardona admitted. “I was so nervous before, probably the most nervous I’ve ever been in my career. Because, you know, I’m going to this brand new environment, and, listen, like I say it all the time, I don’t care about proving doubters wrong. I want to prove my supporters right, and I want to make them proud and prove myself right as well.
“You can’t just love this business when things are great. You gotta love this business when things suck. When you hit rock bottom – and, trust me, I’ve been there many times. But when you have nights like [my debut], It’s so much sweeter if you’re really loving it, and you’re scratching, and clawing for it, and that’s why it was amazing.”
Cardona revealed his experience as a fan watching AEW. He said that the excitement of watching the product was what ultimately made him want to join the company after his 90-day no-compete clause expired.
“Well my 90 days was up, but listen, AEW is the best to be, right? Like, there’s no denying that,” Cardona remarked. “Of course, at the end of the day, I’m still a fan. So I was watching AEW on TV at home, and for years, how many times did we hear ‘the next thing’s coming! the next big thing is coming!’ and it never came, right? But then AEW comes and it over-delivers. And, of course, now that I can go somewhere, it was my number one spot.”
Cardona also talked about his experience in the AEW locker room.
“For me, I was nervous because I was walking in there the new kid in school, right? And all these people, whether I’ve seen them wrestle, whether I’ve seen them on social media, I knew everybody, but I didn’t really know them. You know what I’m saying?
“So it’s weird, kind of, introducing myself to these people who I know! Some people who I’ve watched wrestle for years. But everyone was very welcoming, very inviting, and they made me feel like, you know, I was there the whole time.”
