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Matt Cardona reveals how his WWE dream match with Adam Copeland happened in AEW

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Matty Breisch | Last updated 4/2/24

When Matt Cardona emerged from the heel tunnel in the opening segment of AEW Collision for a Cope Open challenge against his mentor, Adam Copeland, it famously garnered “holy s**t” chants before the former Edgehead made his way into the ring.

Suddenly, a match that seemed impossible for the better part of 20 years was happening in a London, Ontario ring, and the white-hot crowd only got louder as they witnessed the duo go to war for the better part of 14 minutes without so much as a commercial break to slow down the momentum. Did Cardona win? No, but in the end, Cardona got something better than the TNT Championship, he was able to work a match against the man who helped him have a career in WWE, and the two men looked like they enjoyed themselves immensely, even if the segment was eventually overshadowed by the first hint of a feud between Copeland and Malakai Black for the television title.

Discussing how the match shook out in an extensive opening segment on his Major Wrestling Figure Podcast with Brian Myers and “Smart” Mark Sterling, Cardona revealed how the segment came together and how excited he was to book his dream match on such incredibly short notice.

“I made my Collision debut this Saturday. I had to switch some things around. Originally, I was supposed to wrestle Ultimo Dragon on Saturday. Instead, I defended my Squared Circle Expo Title against Ziggler, aka Nemeth, on Friday. Lost the [title], Squared Circle Expo Screwjob. I said, ‘That’s it. I’m out of here. I’m taking a flight to Detroit to get a rental car to drive to London, Ontario,’ and that’s exactly what I did,” Matt Cardona explained on the Major Wrestling Figure Podcast via Fightful.

“I heard there was a Cope Open. Adam Copeland, a mentor of mine. I’m a former Edgehead. I heard he had an open challenge, a Cope Open, defending that TNT Championship. I said, you know want? I’m Alwayz ready. I was leaving the Squared Circle Expo anyway because of the Screwjob. I said, ‘I think if I get on a flight from Indianapolis to Detroit, rent a car, even though nationals can’t drop it off in Canada, I’ll just like and say I’m dropping off in Detroit still, I’ll cross the border, drive to London, Ontario, sneak into the building, and then put a black tarp over my body and walk to Gorilla. I think that’s what I’m gonna do.’ That’s exactly what I did.

“I got to have my dream match, my literal dream match, against Adam Copeland. Edge versus Edgehead, Rated-R Superstar versus Self-Made Superstar. Holy s**t, it was a wild 24 hours, but one of my career highlights. It’s crazy, it just happened like that, and it’s already up there on that list.”

Pretty incredible stuff, right? Well wait, it gets even better, as Cardona had plenty more to say on the matter, as after WWE shot down reuniting the Edgeheads in the past, he got to prove that he was right all along.

Wrestling fans still remember Matt Cardona, the Edgehead.

Continuing his conversation with Bryan Myers and “Smart” Mark Sterling, Matt Cardona ran through the actual logistics of his day trip back to AEW, revealing that, while the affair was stressful, he wouldn’t have traded the match for the world, as he was able to definitively prove to WWE and all of the doubters that fans still remember the Edgeheads and are compelled by the story.

“It was a very stressful day, very stressful… not much time to prepare for having your f**king dream match. I got to the building at 5:30, show starts at 8, and we’re first. So it’s like, oh boy [laughs], not much time to prepare. No [I didn’t know we were first.] I didn’t know anything. Luckily, the match went how it went, and the response from the crowd, the pop, and the ‘Holy s**t on the entrance,’ at one point, I had to catch myself from smiling because I’m the bad guy. But all I won’t thinking was one, like in WWE, when we had pitched to be back with him, the people who said no one would remember, it was kind of like, ‘F**k you, motherf**kers.’ Also, it was like everything I’ve done these past four years, people f**king know what I’m doing,” Matt Cardona noted.

“H*ll of a house, h*ll of a reaction, hell of a moment for me, and all the people who reached out, the Major Marks, I really appreciate it. Thank you. It was a career highlight, for sure. Check one off that bucket list, and hopefully now with this Forbidden Door, we can see maybe Brian Myers take that Cope Open.”

Should AEW double-down on the Edgeheads and bring in Myers for a match against Copeland in the Cope Open? Well, considering Copeland is now feuding with the House of Black, it’s worth wondering how many Cope Opens will be on the proverbial books between now and AEW Dynasty. Still, if Copeland keeps it going, why not bring in Myers, especially if Cardona gets to stand in his corner?