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Matt Cardona

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Zack Ryder
File:Zack Ryder on Raw in 2010.divix.jpg
Born (1985-05-14) May 14, 1985 (age 39)
Merrick, New York[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Brett Matthews[2][3]
Brett Major[3]
Zack Ryder[3]
Billed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Billed weight214 lb (97 kg)[4]
Billed fromLong Island, New York[4]
Trained byMikey Whipwreck[5]
DSW staff
Debut2004

Matthew Cardona (born May 14, 1985) better known by his ring name Zack Ryder, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) working on its Raw brand. Upon making his debut in the WWE, Ryder formed a tag team with Curt Hawkins where they would go on to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment (2006–present)

Main article: Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder

Developmental territories (2006–2007)

On February 24, 2006, Matthew Cardona signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.[1] He was given the ring name Brett Majors and teamed up with Brian Myers who was given the ring name Brian Majors, to form the tag team Rexx and Unstoppable. Together they won the Deep South Wrestling DSW Tag Team Championship on two occasions. They later won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once.[6]

The Major Brothers (2007)

The team was moved from the developmental league to the main roster, changing their last names from "Majors" to "Major". The team worked on WWE's ECW brand. The team won their first match but since then failed to win any matches in ECW, in either singles or tag team competition[7][8][9] They moved from ECW to SmackDown! on June 17, 2007, as the eighth pick in the 2007 Supplemental Draft.[10] On Smackdown the team had only slightly more success than on the ECW brand, defeating the team of Chavo Guerrero and Jamie Noble.[11] On November 9, 2007, they received a tag title match after winning a number one contender's battle royal, but could not defeat the champions, Montel Vontavious Porter and Matt Hardy.[12]

Hawkins and Ryder; La Familia (2007–2009)

At Armageddon, the duo dressed up like Edge and interfered in the World Heavyweight Championship match, replacing Edge at several points along the match to help him win the title and thus turning heel for the first time in their WWE career.[13] On December 21, 2007, the Major Brothers were revealed as an acquaintance to Edge and his lover, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero. The Major Brothers were repackaged and renamed, as Brett Major's name was changed to "Zack Ryder" and Brian Major to "Curt Hawkins".[14] They were now called Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, occassionally referred as "The Rated-R Entourage" by commentators Michael Cole and John "Bradshaw" Layfield. Occasionally teaming with their mentor Edge and/or their "La Familia" associate Chavo Guerrero on SmackDown on several occasions.

At The Great American Bash on July 20, 2008, Hawkins and Ryder won the WWE Tag Team Championship from John Morrison and The Miz in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus and Finlay and Hornswoggle after Hawkins pinned Jesse.[15][16] Their victory meant that they were the youngest tag team champions in WWE history.[17] At SummerSlam, La Familia seemed to have ended when a returning Undertaker sent Edge to Hell and then refused to forgive Vickie - prompting all the members to abandon Vickie, who would later align with Big Show. On the September 26, 2008 airing of SmackDown, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder lost the titles to Carlito and Primo Colón in their first televised title defense.[18]

On April 15, 2009, Ryder was drafted back to the ECW brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft, separating the team.[19]

ECW (2009–2010)

Ryder made his return to ECW on May 5, 2009 in a backstage segment with General Manager Tiffany. He now sported short hair, tanned skin, sunglasses, a headband, half-trunks/half-tights and frequent use of the catchphrases "Woo woo woo" and "You know it," displaying something of a cocky, arrogant Long Island guido character.[20][21] Ryder's first match since the draft was on May 7's Superstars in a losing effort against Finlay.[22] He gained his first victory as a member of the ECW roster on the May 19 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, defeating a local competitor.[21] On September 15, Ryder won a 10-man battle royal to become the number-one contender to the ECW Championship but lost to the champion, Christian, the following week.[23][24] On the November 3 edition of ECW, Ryder entered a love angle with Rosa Mendes who became his valet.[25] Ryder defeated Tommy Dreamer to end his ECW career on December 29, 2009.[26]

Raw and NXT (2010)

When the ECW brand came to an end in February 2010, Ryder along with Mendes moved to the Raw brand, making his debut on the February 25 edition of Superstars, defeating Primo. Ryder made his Raw debut on March 1, losing to Montel Vontavious Porter in a Money in the Bank qualifying match.[27] He participated in a 26-man battle royal in the dark match to open WrestleMania XXVI, lasting to the final two participants before being eliminated by Yoshi Tatsu. Mendes was drafted to SmackDown as part of the 2010 Supplemental Draft without Ryder, therefore ending their storyline relationship.[28] Soon after, Ryder began looking for a new valet and started inviting Alicia Fox and Gail Kim to ringside to watch his matches. During a match with Evan Bourne on the May 10 edition of Raw, Fox attempted to interfere on Ryder's behalf but was stopped by Kim, leading to Bourne winning the match.[29] This resulted in new partnerships between Ryder and Fox and Bourne and Kim. The two new pairings faced off in a mixed tag team match on the May 17 edition of Raw, which was won by Bourne and Kim.[30] On the May 27 edition of Superstars, Ryder defeated Bourne, ending their mini-feud. On the May 31 edition of Raw, Fox turned on Ryder, giving him a Scissors Kick in order to collect a "bounty" from the Raw guest host, Ashton Kutcher. On the June 7 special edition of Viewers Choice Raw, Ryder was selected by the WWE Universe to team up with The Miz, to take on John Morrison and R-Truth. The Miz and Ryder picked up the victory. On the June 14 edition of Raw, Ryder got his first chance at singles gold on Raw, when he was one of the four competitors in a Fatal 4-Way match for the United States Championship. After the match (which was won by The Miz), Ryder suffered a concussion and needed stitches after taking a bump. He then defeated Montel Vontavious Porter in a dark match at WWE Fatal 4 Way, in his home town of Long Island, New York.

On the season one finale of WWE NXT on June 1, Ryder was announced as the mentor of Titus O'Neil for the second season. They debuted in a losing effort against John Morrison and Eli Cottonwood. The week after that they showed a clip of Zack and Titus making up which could mean a possible face turn for Ryder

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c "Zack Ryder at Online World of Wrestling". Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  2. ^ a b "New York Wrestling Connection Title Histories". Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder profile" (in German). Cagematch.de. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  4. ^ a b "Zack Ryder's WWE Profile". Retrieved 2010-05-20.
  5. ^ WWE Magazine Special - 25 Years of Interviews, September/October 2008, page 49, 2008
  6. ^ a b Gerweck, Steve (2007-06-15). "OVW Six Flags Super Summer Sizzler Series #3 Results". Archived from the original on 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  7. ^ Bryan Robinson (2007-06-05). "Chairman falling deeper and deeper into the abyss". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  8. ^ Bryan Robinson (2007-05-08). "Spirit of ECW Splashed". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  9. ^ Robinson, Bryan (2007-05-22). "Experiencing painful revenge". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  10. ^ "SmackDown drafts up". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  11. ^ "Officially on". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  12. ^ "Finding the way". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  13. ^ Dee, Louie (2007-12-17). "A Major revelation". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  14. ^ Dee, Louie (2009-08-12). "Three for All". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-21.
  15. ^ a b "History Of The WWE Tag Team Championship - Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder". WWE. 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
  16. ^ Passero, Mitch (2008-07-20). "Out of the shadows, into the golden light". WWE. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
  17. ^ "Hawkins and Ryder: WWE's youngest Tag Team Champions". WWE. 2008-08-07. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  18. ^ Martin, Adam (2008-09-22). "Friday Night Smackdown Tapings - Columbus (Last show on CW)". WrestleView.com. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
  19. ^ "2009 WWE Supplemental Draft results". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2009-04-15. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  20. ^ Bishop, Matt (2009-05-06). "ECW: Bourne, Kidd steal show". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  21. ^ a b Bishop, Matt (2009-05-20). "ECW: Hart Trilogy keeps Finlay guessing". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  22. ^ Mackinder, Matt (2009-05-07). "WWE Superstars: Jericho tops Morrison". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  23. ^ Medalis, Kara A. (2009-09-15). "No. 1 contender... You know it!". WWE.com. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
  24. ^ Medalis, Kara A. (2009-09-22). "Another knock on Christian's door". WWE.com. Retrieved 2009-09-22.
  25. ^ Medalis, Kara A. (November 3, 2009). "Wish granted". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved November 20, 2009.
  26. ^ Medalis, Kara A. (December 29, 2009). "An Original goodbye". World Wrestling Entertainment. {{cite web}}: Text "accessdateMay 13, 2010" ignored (help)
  27. ^ Adkins, Greg (March 1, 2010). "A long, strange trip to Wrestlemania". Retrieved March 2, 2010.
  28. ^ "WWE: TV Shows > Raw > 2010 Supplemental Draft Results". April 27, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2010.
  29. ^ Adkins, Greg (May 10, 2010). "Angered management". Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  30. ^ Adkins, Greg (May 17, 2010). "Without limits". Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  31. ^ "Friday Night SmackDown (February 8, 2008)". WWE Friday Night SmackDown!. 2008-02-08. The CW. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  32. ^ Vermillion, James (2009-06-18). "Packed to the brim". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  33. ^ Bishop, Matt (2009-09-29). "ECW: Tiffany out, Regal in". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
  34. ^ Caldwell, James (2009-07-28). "CALDWELL'S ECW TV REPORT 7/28: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Christian vs. Ryder". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  35. ^ "ECW on Sci Fi results - June 2, 2009". Wrestling News Arena. 2009-06-02.
  36. ^ "CALDWELL'S ECW TV REPORT 1/12: Complete coverage of ECW Homecoming battle royal finale". PWTorch. 2010-01-12.
  37. ^ "The ECW *7/14) Extreme Examination". Online World of Wrestling. 2009-07-16.
  38. ^ "ECW REPORT: SHEAMUS AND SHELTON TO FEUD?; ZEKE AND VLAD GET BIG VICTORY; ECW TITLE MATCH ANNOUNCED FOR BREAKING POINT (BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT IF YOU READ THE SITE)". PWInsider. 2009-09-08.
  39. ^ "SmackDown! Results 07-04-08: Fatal '4th of July' Way Edition". Lords of Pain. 2008-07-06.
  40. ^ "ECW on Sci Fi Results - 5/19/09". WrestleView. 2009-05-20.
  41. ^ "WWE Smackdown results 8/8/08". Lords of Pain. 2008-08-06.
  42. ^ WWE Music Volume 8 CD "WWE the Music Volume 8". WWE. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  43. ^ "Radio (Legal Title)". BMI. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
  44. ^ Tanabe, Hisaharu. "Deep South Wrestling Tag Team Title". Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  45. ^ "NYWC Tag Team Title history". New York Wresting Connection. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
  46. ^ Clark, Ryan (2008-09-18). "The Complete 'PWI 500' List For 2008". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. WrestlingInc.com. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
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