GCW champion Matt Cardona likely wishes he had worn a bandana over his face when he attempted to rob a New Jersey bank this weekend — but even that would not have saved him, since he was also carrying his newly won GCW World Championship over his shoulder. 

Cardona (formerly Zack Ryder of WWE) was arrested after being recognized by wrestling fans in closed-circuit security footage of a PNC bank he held up yesterday while making no effort to hide his identity. 

Cardona’s longtime friend Jon Moxley joked in one interview: “The guy never, ever has a championship over his shoulder —  but the one time he tries to rob a bank, he wears a championship belt,” laughed Moxley. “I love Matty, but he’s not too bright.”

The arrest comes just days after Cardona won the GCW title from Nick Gage in an upset victory that led hundreds of joyous fans to thrust their arms into the air, many inadvertently losing grip of their beverage containers. 

Sources close to Cardona said the so-called “robbery” was just a prank to play mind games with Gage, who himself robbed a bank with no disguise in 2010, and now he is an angry ex-con with snaggleteeth who spends his weekends slice himself and others with sharp objects for the amusement on bloodthirsty strangers (and who, during the week, teaches kindergarten at Camden Elementary School).