It was a Battle of Edge vs Edge-Head back in 2024.
On the March 30, 2024 edition of AEW Dynamite, Adam Copeland held an open challenge for his TNT Championship. The person who answered the challenge was none other than his former Edge-Head, Matt Cardona (FKA Zack Ryder). The matchup itself was a fun one for fans to witness but for Cardona, himself, it was the chance of a lifetime and an absolute dream match...even if it didn't result in a fulltime gig.
Cardona recently spoke with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp at the Squared Circle Expo, where he discussed the matchup with his former mentor and spoke about how much it meant to him.
"I guess AEW didn't love it because I never got job," Cardona said. "But seriously, it was my dream match and it was a great moment. I'm forever grateful for that match with Adam Copeland. I think just walking down that aisle—I'm getting goosebumps right now, you can't tell because I'm wearing this custom suit—but it was like, ‘Wow, it worked. Everything I've been doing, it's working, it worked.’ Validation, is that the right word? For it to be against Adam Copeland / Edge, it was just like a story that nobody wrote. It was real life. Edge versus Edgehead, a match I thought that would never happen. My dream match. It was happening and the people were behind me. It was cool.
Adam Copeland wasn't the only former WWE World Champion that Cardona faced in AEW/ROH. He also faced Chris Jericho for the Ring of Honor World Championship, and it was another match that Cardona holds close to his heart.
"Even like months later when I do the Jericho stuff, I was kind of nervous coming in as a babyface. I'm like, ‘Oh, my God, they're gonna hate me. Like, I'm not an AEW babyface. I don't do all those moves.’ But they love me. But even that whole run with Jericho was a bunch of fun," Cardona said.
Cardona also recently spoke his character evolution and how important that evolution is for him to stay fresh and relevant. Fans can read those comments here.
Cardona previously spoke about his matchup with Copeland, and fans can read those comments here.
