Matt Cardona filed for trademark rights to his former WWE ring name, Zack Ryder, last month. He later tweeted that he attempted to obtain it but was turned down.
After reinventing himself by working for various promotions such as GCW, NWW, and Impact Wrestling, the former WWE star found success.
Cardona revealed on Jason Powell’s Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast that even though the trademark did lapse, WWE fought him on the trademark, so he backed down because if he took them to court, WWE would have won because it’s their intellectual property.
“They did let it lapse (Cardona said about WWE’s hold on the ‘Zack Ryder’ trademark). I applied for it knowing there’s a chance they could fight it and they have so that’s it, I’m letting it go. It would’ve been cool to do a cinematic Matt Cardona versus Zack Ryder match. It’s not gonna happen. I’m not gonna fight — because at the end of the day, it’s their intellectual property. They would win if we ever went to court over it so I tried, they fought it so that’s it, I’m backing down.”
Cardona explained that he registered the trademark in order to sell merchandise and stage a Matt Cardona versus Zack Ryder cinematic match.
He stated that, in his opinion, Zack Ryder is no longer alive, but the cinematic match would’ve been cool, and he is grateful for the time he had.
You can listen to the complete interview below:
Listen to “02/08 Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast With Jason Powell (Episode 244): Matt Cardona on the NWA Nuff Said PPV and much more” on Spreaker.
(H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcription)
