Chelsea Green Reveals Her Reaction To Matt Cardona’s WWE Return

WWE fans were shocked when Matt Cardona made his way back to WWE. He also dropped the Zack Ryder gimmick all together, which made his road a full circle journey. His wife, Chelsea Green, was there for him the entire way.

Chelsea Green recently spoke about Matt Cardona’s return to WWE and explained why the moment carried weight for both of them. During a TMZ Inside the Ring interview, Green walked through the emotions, concerns, and behind-the-scenes support that shaped Cardona’s comeback after five years away.

“So, I think I got all my nerves out of the way when he debuted at the John Cena’s last match tournament. So, it wasn’t as much nervousness as it was then in Albany, but it was a different feeling because we’ve now waited for this moment for five years. And I know how hard I worked to get back here—he worked even harder to get back here. He worked twice as long on the indies this time around and, you know, he really reinvented himself.”

Chelsea Green said part of the challenge was how WWE would present Matt Cardona to an audience that may still associate him with his former persona. She explained that many fans never followed his independent run or saw how much his style and role changed during that time.

“That was also kind of like where a little bit of the nerves came into play. How are we going to go from like transitioning him out of Zack Ryder and into Matt Cardona and still paying respects to who he was and the fact that some fans will—they’ll only remember Zack Ryder. They won’t have known his indie run. They won’t have known that he trended worldwide for a death match against Nick Gage. They won’t know that he’s now the indie god or that, you know, he’s a completely different person—that he never was a baby or a heel in WWE and now spent the past five years as a heel.”

Chelsea Green continued by pointing out that Matt Cardona’s independent work reshaped how he operates as a performer. Green said WWE fans may not immediately recognize that growth without proper context.

“They won’t have known that he trended worldwide for a death match against Nick Gage. They won’t know that he’s now the indie god or that, you know, he’s a completely different person—that he never was a baby or a heel in WWE and now spent the past five years as a heel.”

Then Chelsea Green shared details about John Cena and the role he played behind the scenes. She said Cena supported Cardona’s goal of returning to WWE and helped open the door through his retirement storyline.

“John [Cena] tells us that to our faces, like when we go and have our little date nights with John and Shay, like he’s very open and honest and just like very, very kind to us. I mean, he’s been very supportive throughout, especially after Matt left WWE and was on the indies—he was very supportive of his journey to try to get back to WWE because that was always Matt’s goal. So it’s been fun to kind of go on those date nights and track the progression toward this goal, and then for John to help facilitate that as well. You know, obviously Matt did all the hard work, but I really think that John helping him get into that tournament was what made WWE see like, ‘Oh wow, that is a superstar that we need.’ He, you know, he’s an indie star, but he is at his core a WWE superstar.”

WWE fans last saw Matt Cardona as he appeared during the Last Time Is Now Tournament. He didn’t win the tournament, as he competed as Zack Ryder, but now he is back under his real name.

Matt Cardona made a lot of noise on the indies after he was released from WWE. Now he is on the SmackDown brand, and able to travel with Chelsea Green, instead of hitting a different city from WWE on a weekly basis.

Cardona’s return during the January 2026 episode of WWE SmackDown marked the end of a long road back. Green’s comments show that the moment was shaped as much by years of work outside WWE as it was by support from inside it. It seems that he also has support from John Cena, even though the Greatest of All Time retired.

What’s your take on Matt Cardona’s return to WWE? Do you think that Triple H made the right call bringing him back? Let us know what you think in the comments section!

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