Former WWE Superstar Matt Cardona (formerly known as Zack Ryder) is the new Gamechanger Wrestling Champion following his win over defending champ Nick Gage in the main event of the GCW Homecoming pay-per-view.
In case you missed it, Cardona ambushed Gage at a GCW event last month following a war of words on social media. Cardona attacked Gage following the main event of GameChanger Wrestling's Zombie Walk event on Sunday, June 6. Gage had just defended his GCW Championship in a match against Jimmy Lloyd which ended in a no contest.
After the show, Cardona challenged Gage to a match at GCW Homecoming. Gage accepted, and the two men have been adding fuel to the fire of their rivalry ever since, with Gage even going so far as to gatecrash one of Cardona's live podcast tapings.
After a month of metaphorically getting under each other's skin, on Saturday night they finally had the opportunity to literally get under each other's skin when they battled for Gage's GCW Championship.
Cardona had the upper hand early on, but he didn't seem to know what he'd gotten himself into. At one point, he incapacitated outside the ring and asked the ref to start counting Gage out. Unfortunately for Cardona, there are no countouts in GCW, where practically every match is some form of hardcore match.
The tables turned and Gage went to work on Cardona with his typical mesmerizing savagery. He speared Carodna through a sheet of glass and sliced the former WWE Intercontinental Champion's head open with a light tube and his trusty pizza cutter.
Gage looked well on his way to victory when the dastardly 44OH stable interfered and attacked him. Former GCW Champion and Gage's longtime GCW nemesis Ricky Shane Page entered the ring, and actually started helping Gage. The two men fought side-by-side for a moment, but it was all ruse. RSP blindsided Gage and Cardona swooped in to steal a win and the GCW title.
After the bell, the irate GCW fans in attendance let Cardona know how they felt by pelting him with garbage until he fled to the back. Later, Cardona declared himself the new "face of GCW."
Cardona was released by WWE in April of 2020 as a result of budget cuts necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
As revealed on the latest edition of Dynamite, Nick Gage will make his in-ring AEW debut at AEW's Fight For The Fallen this coming Wednesday when he takes on Chris Jericho.