Matthew Brett Cardona (born May 14, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Zack Ryder from 2005 to 2020. Cardona debuted in professional wrestling in 2004, teaming with Curt Hawkins on the independent circuit. Both men were signed by WWE the following year, making their main roster debuts in 2007. After the team split in 2009, he made appearances on WWE's ECW brand until 2010, following which he was featured sparingly on television. In 2011, he launched a YouTube web series in which he proclaimed himself WWE's "Internet Champion"; this, along with his creative use of social media, helped him establish a substantial cult following. Over the course of his time with WWE, Cardona held the Intercontinental, United States, and Raw Tag Team Championships (the latter with Hawkins on two occasions). After being released by WWE in April 2020, Cardona has made appearances in major wrestling promotions including All Elite Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, and the National Wrestling Alliance, as well as the American independent circuit, most notably in Game Changer Wrestling (GCW). He has since won various championships including the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, Impact Digital Media Championship, and GCW World Championship. Early life Matthew Brett Cardona was born in Merrick, New York, on May 14, 1985. While in high school, he overcame a form of cancer that had started in his foot and spread to his lungs. He was forced to miss a year of school. Professional wrestling career New York Wrestling Connection (2004–2006) Cardona was trained by Mikey Whipwreck. He debuted with New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC) in 2004, using the name Brett Matthews. He began regularly teaming with Brian Myers and the duo of Myers and Matthews went on to defeat the NYWC Tag Team Champions Dickie Rodz and Mason Raige by disqualification, for which titles do not change hands. On the next event on June 4, they won a rematch decisively to become the NYWC Tag Team Champions. Later that month, they were attacked by The Dead Presidents (Lo Lincoln and Boog Washington) to set up a feud where they eventually lost their titles against them on August 27. On September 23, they were entered into a three-way match with then champions, but Team Tremendous (Dan Barry and Ken Scampi)