Matt Cardona Talks WWE Return; Rumors on Lashley-Omos, WrestleMania's Future Schedule

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Cardona Open to WWE Return

Matt Cardona is running roughshod over the independent wrestling scene, holding titles in multiple companies, but the former Zack Ryder isn't against returning to WWE one day.

During an appearance on Cultaholic Wrestling's Straight to Hell (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Cardona confirmed that he would listen to an offer from WWE and may have interest in going back to his longtime pro wrestling home at some point:

"If Vince McMahon called me, or Bruce Prichard or John Laurinaitis called me, of course I would pick up, of course I would have a conversation. Why wouldn't I? I'd be lying right now if I said I never want to wrestle at Madison Square Garden or I never want to wrestle at WrestleMania again. Anybody who says that is f--king lying, quite frankly.

"But I'm not doing what I'm doing now hoping to get back. I don't do what I do thinking, 'Oh man, what do I have to do to get back to WWE?' or 'What do I have to do to get AEW to look at me?' No, I'm doing me. If those opportunities present itself, great, but the state of pro wrestling is it's on fire right now. You don't need to be in those two companies … I'm trying to prove you don't need it."

Cardona's primary home base is Impact Wrestling, where he is the reigning digital media champion, but that is far from all he is doing in the wrestling world.

The 36-year-old veteran is most notably the NWA worlds heavyweight champion, and he is also a titleholder in Absolute Intense Wrestling and New York Wrestling Connection.

Additionally, Cardona has a sizable role in Game Changer Wrestling and previously held the GCW World Championship.

Cardona spent almost his entire wrestling career with WWE from 2005 until his release in 2020.

He had some memorable moments, including winning a ladder match at WrestleMania 32 to win the Intercontinental Championship, plus holding the United States Championship once and the tag team titles twice.

Cardona was never presented as a top guy in WWE, though, much to the chagrin of his rather sizable fanbase.

His success on the independents may be changing the perception the company has of him, much like Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal previously, as they left WWE only to return and become WWE champion.

There is no guarantee Cardona will follow that same path, but his comments suggest he is at least open to the possibility of exploring it.

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WWE Reportedly Planning Lashley vs. Omos for WrestleMania

WWE reportedly has a big plan in place for Omos at WrestleMania 38 in the form of a high-profile singles match.

According to Fightful Select (h/t WrestlingInc's Marc Middleton), WWE has a match between Omos and Bobby Lashley on the books for WrestleMania.

Lashley has not competed in a match since Elimination Chamber last month, although he didn't actually see any action in that contest, as WWE ran an injury angle to have him drop the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar.

While Lashley was in his pod during the Elimination Chamber match, Seth Rollins powerbombed Austin Theory through the pod. Lashley hit his head, and the announcers said he was out of the match due to concussion protocol.

Although that was only an angle and not a legitimate injury, Lashley reportedly has been dealing with a shoulder ailment.

Kazeem Famuyide of The Ringer Wrestling Show (h/t Bhupen Dange of Ringside News) said after Elimination Chamber that Lashley had a shoulder injury requiring surgery that would keep him out four months.

That would have meant Lashley would miss WrestleMania, but if he did not undergo shoulder surgery, then he could conceivably still be available for WrestleMania.

Omos has been winning weekly squash matches on Raw recently, and after beating Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez in a handicap match on Monday, he claimed he would dominate anyone who steps to him, even at WrestleMania.

Lashley vs. Omos would be a true clash of titans, and if Lashley can beat Omos at WrestleMania, it would mark Omos' first singles loss by pin or submission in WWE.

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WWE Likely to Make 2-Day WrestleMania Permanent

WWE reportedly has no plans to change the two-day WrestleMania format it has used for the past three years.

According to Dave Meltzer on the Sunday Night's Main Event podcast (h/t Mukherjee), people within WWE gave the impression that WrestleMania will continue to be a two-night affair moving forward.

The first 35 WrestleMania events were all one-day shows, but WWE went in a different direction for WrestleMania 36, which was held at the WWE Performance Center with no fans in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

WWE tried it again last year with fans, and since it seemed to be well received, WWE kept the two-night WrestleMania in place for WrestleMania 38 in Arlington, Texas, as well.

Meltzer noted that while the two-night format didn't yield immediate sellouts for WrestleMania 38, it isn't necessarily a big concern for WWE since AT&T Stadium is a huge venue that is difficult to sell out regardless.

It was also pointed out by Meltzer that people within WWE felt that a seven-hour WrestleMania over the course of one day was more exhausting than spreading it out over two days.

WrestleMania 35 was perhaps the final straw for the one-night format. While it was a good show with many memorable moments, the main event between Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair arguably didn't get the reactions it deserved since the fans were burnt out from such a long show.

That issue didn't seem to exist last year, and by keeping the two-night system in place, WWE can get as many wrestlers on the card as possible and help ensure the live crowd is invested in every match.