During Triple H’s segment on the WWE Night of Champions 2025 post-show in Riyadh, the crowd broke into chants for Matt Cardona. The chants weren’t acknowledged on-air, as the audience had been vocal throughout the broadcast, also chanting things like “OTC,” “We love Mami,” and “WrestleMania.”
Cardona, formerly known as Zack Ryder in WWE, has been making waves on WWE programming recently — despite not being on the roster. John Cena name-dropped him during his explosive “Pipebomb” promo on the June 20 episode of SmackDown, alongside Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro) and Nic Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler). Kevin Owens also praised Cardona during a guest appearance on Cody Rhodes’ podcast, calling him his favorite wrestler on the independent scene right now.
Since his 2020 WWE release, Cardona has reinvented himself as a top star in the independent wrestling world, while also competing in promotions like TNA and the NWA.
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