Brett Lauderdale Reveals How Matt Cardona Informed Him About Return To WWE

Brett Lauderdale is elated for Matt Cardona.

2026 kicked off with a bang for Cardona, as he returned to WWE on a full-time basis. This followed up Cardona’s balls-to-the-wall indie run that kicked off back in 2021.

Speaking with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp for a new interview, Brett Lauderdale recalled getting a sense that something was brewing between Cardona and WWE.

“I talk to Matt pretty regularly. I don’t want to say I talk to him every day, but we definitely talk a couple of times a week. I started to get the hint just in the way he was talking to me that something was going on or something was about to happen. He was reluctant to commit to some dates that we had talked to and that’s something that he would never do unless there was something going on. So I had a feeling that I might be getting a call from him sometime soon to tell me that he wasn’t going to be making it to the next show. He did basically give me that call. It was actually in the form of a text message of him holding his GCW title belt while signing his WWE contract, which was so cool.”

Lauderdale went on to say that he’s very happy for Matt Cardona.

“Of course I’m so happy for him. I was happy for him. I am happy for him. He’s a really good guy. He was so passionate about GCW and giving and generous in ways both that people know about and ways that people don’t know about. I’m a huge Matt Cardona / Zack Ryder fan. Always be rooting for him and if the time comes that he ever does come back to the indies, of course, the door will always be open for Matt Cardona to return to GCW.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Lauderdale spoke about the future of Bloodsport. Check out his full comments by clicking here.

Fans can check out Fightful’s full interview with Brett Lauderdale in the video linked at the top of this article. After that, head over to our YouTube channel to catch a full review of all the action.