Update on Matt Cardona AEW future following shock appearance

In what was an electric opening to AEW Collision from London, Ontario, The Rated R Superstar provided us all with the latest Cope Open, only this time with his newly won TNT Championship on the line.
Much to the surprise of the fans within Budweiser Gardens, the man who would accept Copeland’s challenge was yet another ghost from his WWE past, as the Indy God Matt Cardona stepped up to the plate.
Early in Cardona’s run as Zack Ryder in WWE, served as a protege to Copeland in WWE in 2007-2008 as one half of the ‘Edgeheads’ alongside Curt Hawkins – presenting a nice blast from the past for the two men.
Not only was it significant for this reason, but it was also Cardona’s first appearance in the company since all the way back in 2020, where he competed in a pair of matches alongside Cody Rhodes.

Naturally, the question of fans’ minds will be in regards to Cardona’s future in AEW following this surprise appearance, and now we thankfully have some answers courtesy of a new report from Fightful Select.
According to the report, Cardona has not signed with AEW despite his Collision appearance, with the 38-year-old remaining a free agent as of now.
The deal for Cardona to face-off with Copeland reportedly came about this week following a change to an existing booking Cardona had for March 30.

Cardona was originally scheduled to defend his Squared Circle Expo Championship against fellow WWE alum Ultimo Dragon on the same night as Collision, however, this was changed and Cardona instead dropped the championship to Nic Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler) at an event in Indianapolis, IN on Friday, March 29 instead.
This paved the way Cardona to fly to Canada to make the Collision booking, where he would ultimately fall short to his former mentor in a competitive bout.
JJA Sport Studio will provide further updates on Cardona’s status as/when they become available.