Matt Cardona

Matt Cardona, long known as Zack Ryder, is one of pro wrestling's great self-made stories. When WWE wouldn't push him, he built his own audience through YouTube and sheer hustle, effectively pioneering the influencer playbook years before it was standard. That entrepreneurial grit is what I find genuinely admirable. After leaving WWE he reinvented himself on the independent scene, became a beloved figure among hardcore fans, and turned his obsessive love of action figures into part of his brand. The 6-foot-2 New Yorker embodies the idea that talent plus relentless self-promotion can outlast any company's plans. I respect the resilience.

Name (English)

Matt Cardona

Name (Japanese)

ザック・ライダー

Reading

ざっく・らいだー

Born

May 14, 1985 (age 41)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Taurus / Ox

Origin

Merrick, New York, United States

Height

188 cm

Occupation

professional wrestler / YouTuber / actor / television producer

High school

Sanford H. Calhoun High School

University

Nassau Community College

• Official sitehttp://www.zack-ryder.com
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/zryder85/
• Xhttps://x.com/ZackRyder
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt%20Cardona
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B6%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%83%BB%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A4%E3%83%80%E3%83%BC
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q139880

Tags

• New York
• professional wrestler
• YouTuber
• actor

Last updated

2026-06-16

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.