SmackDown got a bit of a refresh last week as some notable names appeared on the show. Randy Orton returned during the opening segment, and later in the night Matt Cardona returned to WWE when he faced off against Kit Wilson in a singles match. It was confirmed during the match that Cardona has signed with WWE and is now part of the SmackDown roster.
Matt Cardona was released from WWE back in 2020 and he rebranded himself as the King of the Indies over the last five years. Originally Cardona was being advertised for an ACW event in Poughkeepsie, New York on January 3rd. However, Cardona announced that he was no longer able to compete at the event, and that he had to vacate the ACW World Championship.
Matt Cardona just announced he is no longer able to compete at ACW tonight and has relinquished the ACW World Championship.
A new champion will be crowned tonight. pic.twitter.com/tC8Fa3ZZyn
— (@WrestlingCovers) January 3, 2026
Richard Holliday ended up winning the ACW World Championship at the event and it was later confirmed that he will defend the belt against Mike Santana and Killer Kross at the upcoming ACW event on March 14th.
Richard Holliday is the new ACW World Champion and will defend it against @Santana_Proud and @realKILLERkross in a Triple Threat match on March 14th. @this_is_acw https://t.co/fNcwVQFpO7 pic.twitter.com/8GH1Czugjt
— (@WrestlingCovers) January 4, 2026
As of this writing Matt Cardona’s next WWE appearance has not been confirmed, but given the buzz surrounding his return it’s probably safe to say we’ll be seeing a lot more of him on SmackDown in the weeks to come.
Stay tuned for updates.