WWE Superstar Returns After 5 Years On Smackdown (And It’s Long Overdue)

Tonight’s SmackDown featured two more matches in the Time Is Now tournament, which will decide who faces John Cena in his retirement match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. The first match of the night featured a battle between Jey Uso and The Miz, which Jey would walk away from as the winner. Then it was time for LA Knight to meet his mystery opponent for his match in the tournament, and it was a returning superstar who hadn’t been with WWE in 5 years. Unfortunately, he would end up being screwed by the end of the episode, but regardless of who won the match, his return is long overdue.

After Knight came out for his match, WWE finally revealed the mystery opponent, which turned out to be none other than Alwayz Ready himself, Matt Cardona. While many know him by his real name these days, during his time in WWE, Cardona went by Zack Ryder, and he has returned to WWE under that name once more.

Cardona got a great reception from the fans when his “woo woo woo” hit, and he would also impress in the ring, going toe to toe with Knight throughout the match. Unfortunately, he would ultimately find himself pinned by Knight, leaving his welcome return to WWE with an unwelcome loss, and that isn’t exactly ideal.

That said, one only has to look at his wife Chelsea Green’s return to WWE at the Royal Rumble to see how things can obviously change and take a huge turn over time. Green made her surprise return to WWE during the Royal Rumble, and then would quickly find herself eliminated shortly thereafter. It was a moment of comedy on a big stage, and it seemed like an immediate setback for Green in her next WWE run.

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Fast forwarding to now, all of that seems like forever ago, and Green has continued to be an MVP of every show she’s been a part of. No matter the segment or the result, Green made every appearance count and consistently delivered, and has now become one of the WWE Universe’s favorite superstars. Green now finds herself as a double Champion and on a major swing of momentum, and we could be looking at the same for Ryder.

While Ryder did suffer a loss to Knight, Knight is also one of the most perpetually over superstars in the entire company, and fans have been rallying behind Knight to get a major Title opportunity for almost a year at this point. Losing to someone like that isn’t a huge deal regarding perception, and it doesn’t hurt that Ryder had a strong showing against him throughout the entire match.

Ryder looked strong even in defeat, and he’s already shown that the fans are in his corner, even against someone like Knight. This bodes well for Ryder throughout this run, and it didn’t take long for fans to want some interactions with Green. WWE has been more open to pairing real-life couples together onscreen, and hopefully, that includes Green and Ryder as well.

WWE wasted no time in getting the word out on Ryder’s return either, as there’s already Zack Ryder merchandise up on WWE Shop. It looks like Ryder is sticking around for quite some time.

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