Matt Cardona (born May 14, 1985), better known by his ring name Zack Ryder, is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE and appearing on its Raw brand.
Cardona wrestled mostly with his tag team partner Brian Myers/Curt Hawkins on the independent circuit and initially in WWE, where they won the WWE Tag Team Championship. After the team split in 2009, Cardona was featured sparingly on WWE television. In 2011, Cardona used YouTube and Twitter to establish a niche fan following, which translated to a rise in status in WWE.
Cardona debuted with New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) in 2004, using the name Brett Matthews. By 2005 he began regularly teaming with Bryan Myers and the duo of Myers and Matthews went on to defeat the NYWC Tag Team Champions Dickie Rodz and Mason Raige by disqualification, for which titles do not change hands.[6] At the next event on June 4 they won a rematch decisively to become Tag Team Champions.[7] Later that month they were attacked by The Dead Presidents (Lo Lincoln and Boog Washington) to set up a feud where they eventually lost their titles against them in July.[6] on August 27.[7] On September 23 they were entered into a three way match with the champions but Team Tremendous (Dan Barry and Ken Scampi) ended up with the belts.[6] After continuing to win matches they re-earned a match against Team Tremendous and won the titles for the second time on January 25, 2006. They held the titles until they faced the B.S. Xpress (Tony Burma & Mike Spinelli), who defeated them for the gold on March 26.[7]
On February 24, 2006, Matthew Cardona signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.[3] In Deep South Wrestling in Georgia, he was renamed Brett Majors while Myers was renamed Bryan Majors. By October they won the DSW Tag Team Championship from The Untouchables (Dice Domino and Deuce Shade) and held them until the end of November, losing them to Urban Assault (Eric Pérez and Sonny Siaki). After the titles were vacated in the following year, they became two-time champions defeating the new team of Siaki and Afa, Jr (The Samoan Swat Team) and the Blue Bloods (William Regal and Dave Taylor).[8] Later in 2007 they moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, reigning from June 15 to 29.[9]
Zack Ryder (left) and Curt Hawkins in 2009.
The team was moved from the developmental league to the main roster in May 2007, changing their last names from Majors to Major. They worked on WWE's ECW brand, winning only their first match[10][11][12] until they were drafted to SmackDown! in June.[13] On November 9 they won a battle royal to receive a WWE Tag Team Championship match, but didn't win.[14]
Ryder (left) posing with Edge and Hawkins.
At Armageddon, the duo dressed up like Edge and interfered in the World Heavyweight Championship match, replacing Edge at several points along the match to help him win the title and thus turning heel for the first time in their WWE career.[15] On December 21, the Major Brothers were revealed as an acquaintance to Edge and his lover, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero. The Major Brothers were repackaged and renamed, with Cardona being renamed Zack Ryder.[16] Occasionally referred to as the Rated-R Entourage by commentators Michael Cole and John "Bradshaw" Layfield, the group allied with Guerrero's nephew, Chavo Guerrero and his enforcer Bam Neely as the group La Familia, which dominated SmackDown's storyline through 2008. Ryder and Hawkins interfered in Edge's match at WrestleMania XXIV against The Undertaker, but Undertaker eventually won the match.
At The Great American Bash on July 20 Curt Hawkins (the former Bryan Major) and Ryder won the WWE Tag Team Championship from John Morrison and The Miz in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus and Finlay and Hornswoggle after Hawkins pinned Jesse.[17][18] Their victory meant that they were the youngest team to hold the championships.[19] By SummerSlam, La Familia had begun to fracture and Ryder, with Hawkins, went back to appearing on their own. On the September 26 airing of SmackDown, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder lost the titles to The Colóns (Carlito and Primo Colón) in their first televised title defense.[20] On April 15, 2009 Ryder was drafted back to the ECW brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft, separating the team.[21]
Ryder made his return to ECW on May 5, 2009 in a backstage segment with General Manager Tiffany. He now sported short hair, tanned skin, sunglasses, a headband, half-trunks/half-tights, displaying something of an arrogant Long Island guido character and more frequent uses of catchphrases "woo woo woo" and "you know it", that he had used sparingly in the tag team.[22][23] He lost to Finlay on his first singles match, on May 7's Superstars[24] and would not gain victory until the May 19 episode of ECW on Sci Fi over a local competitor.[23] On September 15, Ryder won a 10-man battle royal to earn contendership to the ECW Championship[25] but lost to the champion, Christian, the following week.[26] On the November 3 episode of ECW, Ryder entered a love angle with Rosa Mendes who became his valet.[27] He also feuded with Tommy Dreamer, culminating in a match on December 29 where Ryder won to force Dreamer to leave the company.[28]
Ryder with his signature LI pose
When the ECW brand came to an end in February 2010, Ryder and Mendes moved to the Raw brand, making his debut on the February 25 episode of Superstars, defeating Primo. Ryder made his Raw debut on March 1, losing to Montel Vontavious Porter in a Money in the Bank qualifying match.[29] He participated in an untelevised 26-man battle royal at WrestleMania XXVI, being the last person eliminated by the winning Yoshi Tatsu. Mendes was drafted to SmackDown as part of the 2010 Supplemental Draft without Ryder,[30] so Ryder sought a new valet, trying to impress Alicia Fox and Gail Kim while they watched his matches at ringside. During a match with Evan Bourne on the May 10 episode of Raw, Fox attempted to interfere on Ryder's behalf but was stopped by Kim, leading to Bourne winning the match.[31] The two new pairings faced off in a mixed tag team match on the May 17 episode of Raw, which Ryder and Fox lost.[32] Ryder had a return win over Bourne on May 27's Superstars.[33] The next week on Raw, Fox attacked Ryder with an axe kick after Raw guest host Ashton Kutcher put a bounty on Ryder's head.[34] During the June 7 Viewer's Choice episode of Raw, Ryder was voted to team with the Miz, defeating John Morrison and R-Truth.[35] The next week, Ryder had a title shot in a Fatal Four Way match for the WWE United States Championship but lost.[36] Months later, in August, he was given a WWE Championship match against Sheamus that lasted 11 seconds, which was the second-shortest WWE Championship match in WWE history, in an attempt by Sheamus to circumvent the company's 30 day championship defence policy.[37]
During this time, Ryder became a mentor on the second season of WWE NXT to Titus O'Neil. They debuted in a losing effort against John Morrison and Eli Cottonwood;[38] O'Neil was the first rookie eliminated from the second season, on June 29.[39] On the July 27 episode of NXT, Ryder lost against Percy Watson, making him the first mentor of season 2 to lose to a rookie in a singles match.[40] For the remainder of the year and well into 2011, Ryder mostly became used on the non-branded Superstars show, occasionally teaming with Primo. Ryder won a 2010 Slammy Award for Most Annoying Catchphrase in December.[41]
As a result of being underutilised on television, Ryder became dissatisfied with his place in WWE and he started a YouTube web series[42] called Z! True Long Island Story in February 2011[43] to promote his character.[44] The web series soon earned Ryder a dedicated fan following: his T-shirts sold out despite[44] and by June, "we want Ryder" chants were started by the audiences of Raw and the Capitol Punishment pay-per-view without Ryder appearing on the show.[45][46]
The web show's popularity led to Ryder having a rise in status, making more appearances on television. Between April and June, Ryder appeared during Raw more often, often in backstage segments with John Cena.[47][48] On June 6 Ryder had his first match on Raw in 2011, losing to Kofi Kingston.[49] On the June 16 episode of Superstars in front of his hometown of Long Island his status as a babyface wrestler was confirmed when he defeated his former tag team partner Primo.[50] On the July 29 episode of Smackdown, Ryder was appointed as the assistant to Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long, allowing him to make TV appearances on both Raw and SmackDown.[51]
On the September 19 episode of Raw, Ryder won a non-title match against United States Champion Dolph Ziggler with the help of guest star Hugh Jackman who punched Ziggler mid-match.[52] Following his victory over Ziggler, Ryder received a match for the United States Championship the following week and again at Vengeance but both unsuccessful due to interference from Jack Swagger.[53][54] Ryder main-evented Raw for the first time on November 7, teaming with John Cena in a losing effort against The Miz and R-Truth.[55] Ryder was then placed in a match with Cena where the victor would earn a championship opportunity; Ryder was defeated, but Cena surrendered his WWE Championship match for Ryder to have a second chance and then interfered in a No Disqualification match to help Ryder beat World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry.[56] This won Ryder a match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs where he defeated Dolph Ziggler to win the WWE United States Championship, his first singles title in any wrestling promotion.[57] Shortly after, Ryder left his position as assistant to the Smackdown General Manager due to his championship commitments.[58]
Going into 2012, Ryder started trying to woo Eve as part of a romantic storyline.[59] As Cena's friend, Ryder also became a target of Kane, who was feuding with Cena at the time and attacked Ryder on several occasions. On the January 16 episode of Raw, Ryder lost his United States Championship to Jack Swagger due to a rib injury he suffered at the hands of Kane.[60] Ryder's injuries mounted after he was chokeslammed through the Raw stage[61] and Tombstoned at the Royal Rumble.[62] On the February 13 episode of Raw, a wheelchair-bound Ryder saw Eve kiss Cena, after Cena saved her from a kidnapping by Kane. After a confrontation with Cena, Kane wheeled Ryder off the stage, injuring him even further.[63]
While Ryder was out injured, Eve sparked a villainous turn for her character when she revealed that she had never liked Ryder and had disingenuously used him for fame and publicity.[64] Ryder returned on the March 5 episode of Raw, confronting Eve on her recent actions, but she managed to seduce him.[65] Ryder then joined Theodore Long's team for a match to determine the General Manager of Raw and SmackDown at WrestleMania XXVIII. During the match, Eve distracted Ryder, costing him and Team Teddy the match, and she added further insult to injury by giving Ryder a low blow after the match.[66] After wrestling sporadically, Ryder returned to pay-per-views in the pre-show match of the Over the Limit, where he was defeated by Kane.[67]
Ryder started a YouTube web series called Z! True Long Island Story in February 2011, which has amassed over 12 million views to date. The web series is a collection of short comments from Ryder, containing comedic allusions to wrestling and pop culture; it also features cameos from his friends and family, as well as fellow WWE colleagues.[68] In April 2011, Ryder proclaimed himself WWE Internet Champion[69] complete with a children's replica belt covered in stickers, as it was unsanctioned by WWE.[70] In July 2011, Ryder would appear to defend his Internet Championship at a non-televised show in Australia against Primo,[71] but later commented that it was a non-title match, and that he would never defend his Internet Championship.[72] Ryder soon replaced the toy belt with a $1,500 custom-made belt by Wildcat Championship Belts in July 2011.[73] On episode 50 of Z! True Long Island Story, Ryder announced the show will be part of WWE's YouTube funded channel.[74]
Ryder's online popularity also translated to social media. He has over 600,000 followers on Twitter,[75] over 200,000 Facebook "likes",[76] and over 120,000 YouTube subscribers.[77] This led him to be featured in Sports Illustrated's list of the 100 most influential social media users in sports.[78]
Ryder counters a charging
Miz with a double high knee.
- With Curt Hawkins
- Double team finishing moves
- Double team signature moves
- Nicknames
- "The Long Island Loudmouth"[4]
- "Long Island Iced-Z"[4]
- "The Ultimate Broski"[4]
- "The Internet Sensation"[4]
- New York Wrestling Connection
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| Persondata |
| Name |
Cardona, Matthew |
| Alternative names |
Ryder, Zack |
| Short description |
Professional wrestler |
| Date of birth |
1985-05-14 |
| Place of birth |
Merrick, New York |
| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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