Matt Cardona wore his wife’s, Chelsea Green, WWE Tag Team Championship in a Japanese promotion, but it was a replica.
Matt Cardona may just be the smartest or the dumbest person alive. Over the weekend he wrestled for DDT Pro for the DDT Universal Championship. However, the big match was not even close to the biggest news to come from his appearance.
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Cardona has been on a mission to win all of the championships from the indies all over the world. So one more championship around his waist wasn’t surprising, but from what promotion it was from is the big news.
One Half Of One Half Of A Tag Champion
![DDT Pro Matt Cardona, Stephanie De Landre](https://i0.wp.com/theilluminerdi.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Matt-Cardona-womens-tag-p1.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1)
At the DDT Pro event Cardona came to the ring wearing one half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. The internet went abuzz at the sight of him wearing a WWE championship in a non-WWE promotion. Everyone thought it was possible that he was wearing the real championship because his wife, Green, is currently one half of the women’s tag champions along with Sonya Deville.
The world was extremely surprised to see Cardona wearing the championship because WWE is notorious for having extreme reservations with working with other promotions. Therefore it was thought to be extremely unlikely that WWE let him wear his wife’s championship in an outside promotion. It was also thought that this would have very dire consequences on Green’s WWE push and could even lead to her being released if her contract included clauses which forbid this.
![IMPACT Matt Cardona Chelsea Green](https://i0.wp.com/theilluminerdi.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Matt-Cardona-possible-WWE-return-p5.jpg?resize=640%2C426&ssl=1)
Matt Cardona even leaned into the drama saying since it is his wife’s championship it is half his and so he is one half of one half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team champions. However, we may have all been played by Cardona.
According to Green, via Twitter, the championship was a replica of his championship and showed her holding the real one in the post.
Twitter continues to lose brain cells 🫠 pic.twitter.com/YZMoKl1A44
— CHELSEA GREEN (@ImChelseaGreen) July 23, 2023
Matt Cardona: The King Of Getting Himself Over
Matt Cardona, who went by Zack Ryder in WWE, is very well versed in getting himself over without any help. In 2011 he was barely used by WWE so he decided to get himself over. He started a YouTube web series called Z! True Long Island Story. It was a behind-the-scenes series to help to promote his character. It became extremely successful, he started to sell out his merchandise and fans started chanting “We Want Ryder” during events. He eventually claimed he was the WWE Internet champion and used a cheap children’s championship before upgrading it.
Cardona using a replica to set the internet on fire was very smart. It got everyone talking about him and let fans know what he is doing now. Now that fans know he is wrestling on the indies more people will attend his shows and buy his merchandise.
Upcoming Repercussions?
![WWE Chelsea Green, Sonya Deville](https://i0.wp.com/theilluminerdi.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Matt-Cardona-womens-tag-p3.jpg?resize=640%2C359&ssl=1)
However, the current concern is if this will have any repercussions for Matt Cardona’s wife. How much Green knew about this plan gets called into question. If she was fully aware of the plan then it would make sense she could face some consequences. Even if the championship was the replica, which it most likely was, Cardona is still using WWE’s merchandise and its name for his own purposes and I don’t know if WWE is going to like that.
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This is wrestling and wrestlers have to do crazy things to get over. In years past this would have not been so unusual, but in 2023 this is unique. Triple H being a former wrestler and having done some unique things in his past like driving a jeep with DX to a WCW show makes me think he would respect this move. However, with Vince McMahon being a looming presence in WWE, his reaction may be less favorable.
![WWE Chelsea Green, Liv Morgan](https://i0.wp.com/theilluminerdi.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Matt-Cardona-womens-tag-p2.jpg?resize=640%2C359&ssl=1)
Only time will tell what effect this will have on Green’s push. This could also make WWE want to re-sign Cardona even more or maybe this will make them never want him back.
What did you think of Matt Cardona’s stunt? Did you think it was real like the rest of the internet? Will this skyrocket him to the top of the indies? Do you think this will make WWE want him back or will it kill any return? Let us know if this was smart and if you think it will have negative effects on Green over on Twitter.
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Sources: Chelsea Green Twitter, Wrestling Inc.