Cardona was hoping to secure the trademark but he backed off.
In January, Matt Cardona applied to trademark his WWE alias, ‘Zack Ryder’. He would go on to tweet that he tried to secure it but got denied.
While Cardona was on Jason Powell’s Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast, he shared that WWE fought him on it and he backed off. Cardona added that it’s their intellectual property and if he took them to court, WWE would win.
They did let it lapse (Cardona said about WWE’s hold on the ‘Zack Ryder’ trademark). I applied for it knowing there’s a chance they could fight it and they have so that’s it, I’m letting it go. It would’ve been cool to do a cinematic Matt Cardona versus Zack Ryder match. It’s not gonna happen. I’m not gonna fight — because at the end of the day, it’s their intellectual property. They would win if we ever went to court over it so I tried, they fought it so that’s it, I’m backing down.
Cardona further elaborated on why he applied for the trademark. He said it was primarily for merchandising purposes, specifically his ‘Major Bendies’ toy line. He once again mentioned the idea of doing a Matt Cardona versus Zack Ryder cinematic match.
‘Zack Ryder’ is dead in my opinion. It’s all Matt Cardona but I did want to have it (Zack Ryder name) just to do that Matt Cardona versus Zack Ryder cinematic match for it since I have my own toy company, Major Bendies. It would have been cool to make a Zack Ryder versus Matt Cardona two-pack, stuff like that. More so matches than participating in matches as Zack Ryder. It’s over, it’s dead, it was great. I’m grateful for that time but it’s done.
His significant other, Chelsea Green is back in WWE. She returned to the company as a part of the 2023 women’s Royal Rumble. Cardona thinks highly of Green’s quick elimination from the match because he feels that will be remembered more than Green showing up, hitting a few moves, lasting five or so minutes and then being eliminated.
I thought it was absolutely amazing because I knew everybody was gonna be talking about this (Chelsea Green’s Royal Rumble elimination) and then the fact she set a new record. In her first day back, she’s already setting records. I’m so proud of her. But this is great. What was gonna happen? She flies in there, does a couple moves, in there for five minutes then gets thrown out? No one’s gonna remember that. But this is memorable and a perfect way to re-debut.
This weekend, Matt is going to be challenging Tyrus for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship at the organization’s ‘Nuff Said’ pay-per-view.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit the Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
