Matt Cardona isn’t pretending Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes’ comments about his WWE future rolled off his back. More than a year later, he’s admitting they genuinely got under his skin—even if he knows they weren’t meant to.
While speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Cardona was asked about Owens and Rhodes joking on Cody Rhodes’ podcast that he spent his independent wrestling run talking about wanting to return to WWE. Cardona didn’t sugarcoat his first reaction.
“Oh boy. Honestly, I was pissed!”
According to Cardona, the issue wasn’t that Owens and Rhodes were making jokes. It was the picture they painted.
“Because they made it seem that all I would say is I want to be back in WWE. Blah blah.”
Cardona said that simply wasn’t reality. He explained that the topic only came up because interviewers repeatedly asked him about returning to WWE, not because it was all he ever wanted to talk about.
“I’d only talk about it when I’d be doing things like this, and you ask me a question. So it bothered me, but I’m over it now.”
Despite his frustration, Cardona was quick to make one thing clear: he never believed either Owens or Rhodes were taking a personal shot at him: “Yes, it wasn’t malicious.”
There was, however, one part of the situation that still didn’t sit right with him. Because the discussion happened before he re-signed with WWE, Cardona felt fans only got to hear one side of the story while he had no opportunity to explain his own.
“I just did not appreciate that I didn’t get a chance to come on and tell my version until I got re-signed.”
Owens’ comments originally came during an episode of What Do You Wanna Talk About? in 2025, where he joked that Cardona couldn’t call himself the “King of the Indies” while also talking about wanting to return to WWE all the time. More than a year later, Cardona says the moment definitely struck a nerve—but it’s one he’s long since moved past.
What do you think of Matt Cardona’s response to Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes’ comments? Let us know in the comments below.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
