Matt Cardona says leaving WWE was the turning point that allowed him to reinvent himself as a performer, but he does not believe every wrestler would experience the same success outside the company.
Speaking to Jeremy Jacobowitz, Cardona explained that departing WWE forced him into a “sink-or-swim environment” that ultimately defined his post-WWE career. “Leaving WWE is where I found myself, right? And it’s certainly a sink-or-swim environment,” Cardona said, according to the interview.
Cardona went on to suggest that while the experience worked in his favor, other wrestlers accustomed to WWE’s structure and resources would struggle if placed in a similar position outside the company, saying some would “fall on their face and flop” without that support system.
Since leaving WWE, Cardona has built a prominent independent and multi-promotion career, frequently citing his reinvention as a product of adapting to life outside WWE’s framework.
