Former Zack Ryder made his Impact Wrestling debut from tonight’s Hard-to-Kill pay-per-view.
In a game not announced in advance, Matt Cardona faced Ace Austin on Hard to Kill. Cardona wins with disqualification when Madman Fulton intervenes to save Austin. Cardona fights Fulton and stands tall after hitting Radio Silence.
Cardona tweeted after making his Impact debut: “I needed tonight. Thank you @ScottDAmore for the opportunity. Thank you @IMPACTWRESTLING. Thank you to all my fans! I’m #AlwayzReady … I’m #HardToKill … and I’m NOT DONE with @The_Ace_Austin & @FultonWorld ! “
Austin, who won the Impact Super Gen Cup in Genesis earlier this month, took part in the tournament at the PPV tonight and cut a promotion and claimed to be at the Manik vs. Rohit Raju vs. Scott D’Amore said he would rather give Austin another game, proposing Cardona as his opponent.
Cardona was released by WWE in April last year. He had a brief stint in AEW after his release from WWE, including with Dustin Rhodes, QT Marshall & Scorpio Sky in an eight-man game against The Dark Order at All Out in September.
Cardona presents the Major Wrestling Figure podcast with his friend and former tag team partner Brian Myers (formerly known as Curt Hawkins in WWE). Myers recently signed a contract with Impact Wrestling. After being released by WWE in April, he returned to Impact in July. Myers defeated Josh Alexander on the pre-show of Hard to Kill tonight.