In 2011, he launched a YouTube web series in which he proclaimed himself WWE's "Internet Champion"; this, along with his creative use of social media, helped him establish a substantial cult following.

Over the course of his time with WWE, Cardona held the Intercontinental, United States, and (Raw) Tag Team Championships (the latter with Hawkins on two occasions).

[10] Later that month, they were attacked by The Dead Presidents (Lo Lincoln and Boog Washington) to set up a feud where they eventually lost their titles against them on August 27.

[10] On September 23, they were entered into a three-way match with then champions, but Team Tremendous (Dan Barry and Ken Scampi) ended up with the championship.

On October 12, they won the DSW Tag Team Championship from The Untouchables (Deuce Shade and Dice Domino) and held them until the end of November, losing them to Urban Assault (Eric Pérez and Sonny Siaki).

So I just took my real personality, turned the volume way up, cut the hair, went to all the clubs on Long Island, like GLO, and fist pumped with all my broskies until I finally found who I really was, and portrayed it to the world, throwing up the 'LI' hand signal".

[57] On the July 27 episode of NXT, Ryder lost against Percy Watson, making him the first mentor of season 2 to lose to a rookie in a singles match.

[67] On the June 16 episode of Superstars in front of his hometown of Long Island his status as a face wrestler was confirmed when he defeated his former tag team partner Primo.

[70] Following his victory over Ziggler, Ryder received a match for the United States Championship the following week and again at Vengeance, but both unsuccessful due to interference from Jack Swagger.

[71][72] Ryder main evented Raw SuperShow for the first time on November 7, teaming with John Cena in a losing effort against The Miz and R-Truth.

[87] Ryder returned on the March 5 episode of Raw SuperShow, confronting Eve on her recent actions, but she managed to seduce him and the two shared a long backstage kiss afterwards.

[95] During the debut episode of Main Event on October 3, Ryder and Santino Marella were entered into a tournament to decide the number one contender to the tag team titles, where they defeated Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd to advance to the semi-finals.

[102] After weeks of the roster's emasculation at the hands of authority figure Triple H, Ryder and several other babyfaces finally saved Daniel Bryan from a beat-down by The Shield and Randy Orton on the September 16 Raw.

[114] Ryder, being accompanied by the cast of Entourage, answered Cena's United States Championship open challenge on the May 25 episode of Raw in his hometown and in the final WWE event held in the Nassau Coliseum, but failed to win after a countered 450 Splash.

[138] On the November 28 episode of SmackDown Live, the team was dissolved when, after a lost against The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan), Rawley attacked Ryder.

[146] For the first few months of 2019, Ryder was paired with Hawkins, and the two feuded with the WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson).

[150] On the June 10 episode of Raw, Ryder and Hawkins lost the titles back to The Revival in a tag-team triple threat match also involving The Usos.

[156] He made his debut on the July 29, 2020 episode of Dynamite, saving Cody from an attack by Alex Reynolds and John Silver of The Dark Order.

[188] On June 6, 2021, Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) held its Zombie Walk show at the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Following Nick Gage's match with Jimmy Lloyd for the GCW World Championship – which ended in a no contest – a hooded figure entered the ring.

[197] During Night 2 of the Crockett Cup, he retained the title by disqualification against Nick Aldis, in a match where Jeff Jarrett was the special guest referee.

[199] On November 12, at Hard Times 3, Cardona competed in a three-way match for the title, which was won by Tyrus when he pinned then-champion Murdoch.

[205] On September 3, Cardona (accompanied by Mister Saint Laurent) defeated Mance Warner in a No Holds Barred Kiss My Foot match.

On the April 11, 2024 episode of TNA Impact, he and Steph De Lander made a second appearance smashing Jordynne Grace through a table.

[212] Cardona would then challenge PCO to a Monster's Ball match for the TNA Digital Media and International Heavyweight Championships at Bound for Glory.

"[215] In 2022, Cardona had taken on a "belt collector" gimmick, traveling around to various independent promotions, winning their top championships, and holding them alongside his Impact Digital Media, NWA World's Heavyweight, and self-promoted Internet Championships, holding as many as seven titles representing five different promotions at one point in April 2022,[216][217] while at the end of September 2023, he held nine different belts.

The web series was a collection of short comments from Ryder, containing comedic allusions to wrestling and pop culture; it also featured cameos from his friends, family, as well as fellow WWE colleagues.

In this video, Ryder (without his traditional glasses and headband) expressed his frustration regarding his dramatic plunge to the bottom of the roster, proclaiming his desire to have "lightning strike twice" and work his way back up the cards.

On August 20, 2022, it was revealed on Sirius XM's Busted Open Radio that Matt Cardona had joined the cast of The Last Match: A Pro-Wrestling Rock Musical as the fictional wrestling heel, Alexander Swagger opposite Ramin Karimloo and Amber Ardolino.

[245] On September 26, 2022, Cardona joined the cast for two live performances of The Last Match in Jersey City, NJ at White Eagle Hall.