John Cena breaks silence following shocking WWE return after 2,076 days

WWE Intercontinental Champion John Cena recently talked about a popular star's shocking return to the Stamford-based promotion's main roster after more than five years. The name in question is Zack Ryder (aka Matt Cardona).

The Triple H-led creative team is currently holding a Last Time Is Now Tournament to determine John Cena's final opponent at Saturday Night's Main Event on December 13. On the November 14, 2025, edition of SmackDown, Cena's former rival, Zack Ryder, made his shocking return after 2,076 days to face LA Knight in the said tournament. This was the first time Matt Cardona had wrestled on WWE's main roster since his outing against Bobby Lashley on the March 9, 2020, edition of RAW.

In the latest edition of WWE RAW Recap, John Cena sat down with Sam Roberts and Megan Morant. During the conversation, Roberts highlighted that Cena got Zack Ryder back on the company's main roster, which was a huge deal.

The Chain Gang Soldier said that he was glad to see Ryder return, as he was friends with the former United States Champion in real life.

"Yes. People are coming out of the woodwork for the tournament. Man. I was very, very glad to see Zack Ryder come back. Umm, Matt [Cardona] is a personal friend of mine. I can speak candidly like that, and I've seen his mind grow. You wanna talk about always being curious in a quest for growth. The Zack Ryder I knew from a long time ago has accrued so much sports entertainment wisdom," he said.

Cena added that Matt Cardona had changed a lot since the last time he was in WWE and was doing good for the wrestling business. The GOAT also praised Cardona's wife, Chelsea Green, saying that she always makes the best out of her opportunities.

"And it's amazing when we have interactions, he'll tell me about his journey and be like, 'This is what you were trying to talk about before, and I wasn't ready to understand it.' And I like rooting for people who are humble enough to admit when they're wrong and always wanna grow. And are doing things for the greater good of the business. Matt's certainly one of those guys. And man, his wife, Chelsea [Green], is certainly one of those folks who takes an opportunity and makes the absolute best out of it, and I was just really happy to see Zack Ryder back," he added.

Check out his interview below:

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Zack Ryder thanked John Cena for his comments on WWE RAW Recap

The real-life Matt Cardona took to X (fka Twitter) to thank John Cena for his abovementioned comments on WWE RAW Recap. The former United States Champion also thanked Sam Roberts for bringing up his name in the interview.

"Thank you @johncena… And thanks@notsam for bringing me up," he wrote.

It remains to be seen what the Triple H-led creative team has planned for Zack Ryder's future.

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Please credit WWE RAW Recap and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use quotes from the first half of this article.