It’s certainly been an interesting week as Zack Ryder and Dolph Ziggler both returned to WWE to compete in The Last Time Is Now Tournament. Ryder was released from WWE back in 2020 and went on to reinvent himself working the independent scene under his real name Matt Cardona.
Over the last few years Matt Cardona has indicated that he wouldn’t be bringing the Zack Ryder character back, but ultimately he ended up resurrecting Zack for his WWE return. Some fans have criticized him for putting the Zack Ryder gear on once again and Cardona addressed the criticism on the Notsam Wrestling podcast.
“I’ve seen the comments on social media, ‘I thought Zack Ryder was dead?’ Listen, anybody who is commenting like that or posting like that, it doesn’t bother me because they’re not a real fan. If anyone who is a fan of Zack Ryder, Matt Cardona, whatever you want to call me, they got it; they were happy for me; they were happy for the moment. Anybody who’s b****ing and moaning and complaining, it doesn’t matter because they’re not a fan.”
While Zack Ryder’s return got a lot of attention on social media it’s been reported that as of right now his appearance on Friday Night SmackDown was considered a one off.