Mark Henry says he’s retired but he’s not ruling out a return to the ring either.
Whether or not Henry is officially done wrestling has been a topic of conversation the last few months. Rumors circulated earlier this year that he was retired but Henry seemed to half-heartidly deny those rumors. Henry clarified that he can’t see returning in the next year or two but something could happen down the line to bring him out of retirement.
He spoke to TMZ recently on the subject:
Mark Henry on Retirement
“If it was a perfect circumstance and something happened down the road, then yeah. Sometime this year and next year, you can put it out your mind.”
Mark Henry will be part of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2018.
33-year-old Baron Corbin spent 4 years in developmental trying to get to the main roster. According to him, he thought it wouldn’t take more than a year. In fact, Corbin thought wrestling would be a lot easier altogether.
Corbin spoke with Sky Sports recently about his WWE career, his transition from football, and several other topics.
Baron Corbin Interview with Sky Sports
“Honestly, I was a little bit arrogant because I came in and thought it was going to be easy and that I’d be on television in a year,” Corbin told reporters.
“Then you realize how many different things it takes to become a successful superstar, and it really is a rude awakening. I thought it would take a year, but it was three and a half years later that I got called up (to the main roster). It is not easy.”
Corbin has had an up-and-down career on the main roster so far. He’s won both the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and the Money in the Bank briefcase. Although he was unsuccessful trying to cash in the briefcase against Jinder Mahal.
“The cool thing is that people have come in from UFC or from the NFL thinking that it’s going to be easy,” Corbin continued. “It instantly demands respect from them and it’s really cool to be a part of seeing the realism of how much this can hurt set in.”
Aaron Solow, who is engaged to WWE Superstar, Bayley, publically voiced his frustration with WrestleCircus recently. On Friday night, Solow worked for the promotion in Austin, TX and the commentary team referred to him as “Mr. Bayley”.
The show was broadcast on WrestleCircus’ Twitch channel for subscribers. It also featured Pentagon, Fenix, Teddy Hart, Shane Strickland, Tessa Blanchard and Chelsea Green.
Solow is from the San Fransico area and was trained by Davey Richards. He’s been used as enhancement talent regularly on WWE programming, most recently in January in a tag-team loss to the Revival. He frequently teams with Ricky Starks, sometimes under the name “Extra Talented”.
Solow has wrestled several times for WrestleCircus in the past. He worked a set of AroLucha tapings recently and has also wrestled for Progress.
WWE’s Cathy Kelley was at the Kid’s Choice Awards recently. John Cena was hosting the event and Mike Tyson was also in attendance. Kelley caught up with Tyson to ask him about possibly returning to WWE someday and his thoughts on Ronda Rousey.
“I’m always willing to come back. I love the WWE, yes.” – Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson
“I think she’s going to do well”, Tyson said when asked how thinks Ronda Rousey will fare in WWE. Tyson knows what it is like to come in from another sport and be asked to perform at WrestleMania. He played a big role at WrestleMania 14 in the main event between Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin.
Tyson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
Kenny Omega recently made an appearance on the Busted Open radio show on SiriusXM. Bully Ray was serving as guest co-host and asked Omega how he managed to become so popular without the WWE media machine behind him.
“I think the digital age helped a lot,” Omega explained.
Kenny Omega: I’m Using My Life to Tell Stories in the Ring
Omega discussed the impact streaming services have had on wrestling. Omega believes advances in this technology has helped more fans discover different types of wrestling.
“Now with everything one-click away, they are able to see whatever they want. I think, I really don’t know, I, perhaps through word-of-mouth or whatever, somehow my matches became a topic of conversation outside of what happens in WWE. ”
Kenny Omega will team with Kota Ibushi to take on the Young Bucks this weekend. Strong Style Evolved takes place March 25th, 2018 from the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.
After missing a house show in Odessa, Texas last weekend, AJ Styles is back on WWE’s house show schedule this weekend.
Styles suffered an undisclosed injury at the Madison Square Garden house show recently (or an angle was filmed on the show to cover for an already existing injury). Triple H commented on the possibility of Styles missing WrestleMania as a result.
“Right now he says he’s feeling a lot better and will be ready to go. Obviously, we’ll get him doctors to make sure that he is ready to go and get a medical clearance if that’s possible. He’s working very hard at it, so we’re hoping for the best.”
WWE House Show Schedule This Weekend
It’s a busy house show weekend as the company builds toward WrestleMania. Tonight, Styles will be at the “World of Wheels” Boston” convention at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in Boston, Mass signing autographs. Styles and the rest of the Smackdown tour will be in Trenton, New Jersey on Saturday followed by Fairfax, VA on Sunday.
The Raw crew will be in Toronto tonight and Kitchener tomorrow. NXT also has house shows in Lakeland and Tampa on Friday and Saturday respectively.
Ric Flair has opened a business for people who want to style and profile just like him. Flair has recently launched his own line of custom suits.
The “Ric Flair” collection features fabrics and styles picked by the Nature Boy himself.
“I’ve always been custom made from head to toe,” Flair told TMZ. “Now anyone can have a chance to style and profile like me.”
the Ric Flair Collection
Flair turned 69-years-old recently but is showing no signs of slowing down. He was at a horse race yesterday to support a racing horse he was gifted for his birthday. Flair will also participate in an upcoming movie titled, “Uncle Steamroller and Champion Rabbit”. He had this to say regarding the upcoming film:
“I really like this wonderfully written script and find it to be very entertaining,” he said. “The edgy sense of humor is great, but the story also has a good heart.”
Impact Wrestling presents a taped show tonight from the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida. The company is gearing towards their next PPV on April 22nd, 2018 as well as their head-to-head show with Lucha Underground on April 6th, 2018. Impact will be heading to California this weekend as well where they will be partnering with Big Time Wrestling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOlGzRTWy4o
Matches and Segments Confirmed for Tonight’s Impact
Trevor Lee vs Fallah Bahh
Knockouts Championship
Allie (c) vs Sienna
Rohit Raju (Desi Hit Squad) vs Matt Sydal w/Josh Matthews
Matthews was revealed as Sydal’s “Spiritual Advisor” last week.
Monsters Ball Match
Abyss w/James Mitchell vs Kongo Kong w/Jimmy Jacobs
This Tuesday on Smackdown, Daniel Bryan fired Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn. Last week, Shane McMahon had booked Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to face each other at WrestleMania.
There are just 17 days and two episodes of Smackdown left until WrestleMania. Both Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon will need to recover from their storyline injuries quickly in order to book another WrestleMania match or segment involving this storyline.
Daniel Bryan’s contract with WWE expires on a rather interesting date. While there have been several rumored dates his contract is up, Bryan himself confirmed the exact date recently.
Bryan was interviewed by Al Arabiya English recently. He was asked when his contract with WWE expires and confirmed the date as September 1st, 2018. The date also happens to be when Bullet Club’s “All-In” event is scheduled for Chicago.
Daniel Bryan’s WWE Contract
During the interview, Bryan was asked about rumors regarding the expiration date of his contract.
“No, no. I had somebody say that to me on my Twitter. They said, does your contract expire on September 23rd? And I was like, how do people even know that?” Bryan said.
“My contract actually runs out September 1st, which is actually the day of the All-In show, but it’s funny because that doesn’t compute. I was in the Bahrain ComicCon the last two days, and we did Q&As, and at each one, somebody asked me about that. They said, ‘are you going to be at All In’? I’m not. I don’t know what to tell you. But yeah, my contract is up September 1st.”
On the latest episode of his Dinner with the King podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler revealed that he and Jim Ross are headed to Saudi Arabia next month and will be doing commentary for the upcoming Greatest Royal Rumble WWE Network special.
Lawler teased that he might even get involved as a participant in the match, although that’s highly unlikely due to his past health issues.
He joked, “Well, that would be a surprise, but one of the things that makes it appear more possible than before is, hey, we just saw Daniel Bryan get medically cleared.”
The Greatest Royal Rumble
The Greatest Royal Rumble takes place on April 27th from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The show will feature the first-ever 50-Man Royal Rumble and 7 title matches.
In addition to airing on the WWE Network, the event will broadcast live nationwide throughout Saudi Arabia.
It is notable that neither of the women’s championships will be defended and it is likely no matches featuring female performers takes place.
Reaction to this Monday’s “Ultimate Deletion” has had wide-ranging impacts. Clips of the match have been pulling in great numbers on social media and have even garnered some mainstream publicity.
TMZ reporters recently caught up with Hardy who appears to be riding high at the moment. He mentioned that his Woken Universe was never supposed to make it to WWE but now that it has, he will DELETE Vince McMahon if he did not enjoy the Ultimate Deletion.
Matt Hardy “I Will Delete Vince McMahon If He Didn’t Like My Ultimate Deletion”
Mick Foley also appeared via split-screen during the interview and gave his feedback on the Ultimate Deletion. Foley said he spent some time thinking about how Vince McMahon likely felt about the match.
Matt Hardy responded to “the Dude who Loves” and mentioned he hasn’t yet spoken to Vince McMahon about the segment but says his Woken Warriors loved it.
Lucha Underground and Impact Wrestling will be going head-to-head at WrestleCon over WrestleMania weekend in New Orleans. Earlier today, Impact Wrestling announced the main event for the show as Austin Aries & Fenix vs Alberto El Patron & Pentagon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ry8l_Xq6iQ
Lucha Underground vs Impact Wrestling Lineup (April 6th, 2018)
Impact World Tag Team Championships
LAX (c) vs. Killshot & the Mack
I Quit Match
Eddie Edwards vs. Jeremiah Crane (Sami Callihan’s LU character)
Andrew Everett, DJZ, & Dezmond Xavier vs. King Cuerno, Aerostar, & Drago
Austin Aries & Fenix vs. Alberto El Patron & Pentagon
Both Impact Wrestling and Lucha Underground announced changes to their wrestler contracts recently. Lucha Underground has relaxed the exclusivity clauses in their deals, allowing talent to work elsewhere from Lucha Underground. This had previously been an issue for the company when Ricochet voiced his frustration with his contract publicly.
Impact Wrestling has come under new management with NJPW color commentator, Don Callis, playing a key role. Callis announced the company would be allowing talent to keep ownership of all gimmicks created on their programming moving forward.
Tonight’s episode of NXT is a taped show from Full Sail University. It is the first show back in Full Sail since the set of tapings held at Center Stage in Atlanta.
3 matches and 1 segment have been confirmed for tonight’s show.
NXT Confirmed Matches
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Roderick Strong & ?? vs Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
Roderick Strong and a mystery opponent will take on Lorcan and Burch. Strong’s team is replacing Moustache Mountain who was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an injury to Tyler Bate.
Kassius Ohno vs Adam Cole
Both guys could use a win here.
Cole just challenged Pete Dunne unsuccessfully and Ohno just dropped a match to the Velveteen Dream at Takeover: Philadelphia.
Tommaso Ciampa Segment
For two weeks in a row, Ciampa has appeared in front of a live NXT crowd and said nothing as the fans cheered for Johnny Gargano.
Ciampa is expected to make an appearance tonight and we’ll just have to wait and see if he does the same thing again.
Ember Moon vs. Aliyah (non-title)
Ember Moon will have Shayna Baszler in the back of her mind during this match. Moon will defend her title against the Queen of Spades at Takeover: New Orleans.
As for Aliyah, the 23-year-old from Toronto finds herself in the biggest match of her career tonight. It will be her 11th singles match on NXT television dating back to April 2nd, 2016. She is 1-10 in those matches. Her only victory was over Billy Kay on September 15th, 2016.
WWE announced their doctors have cleared Daniel Bryan to return to in-ring competition for the first time in two years. Reaction to the news has reverberated around the pro-wrestling world.
“A wonderful day for all of us who are close to Brian.” – John Cena
John Cena is the latest to comment on Bryan’s return. He spoke to TMZ Reporters recently.
John Cena on Daniel Bryan Return
“From a fan’s perspective, I think it’s wonderful because they all want to see him and know what he’s capable of” – John Cena
Daniel Bryan and John Cena are essentially brothers-in-law, as Cena will soon marry Nikki Bella and Bryan is married to Brie Bella. Cena speaks of him as a family member.
“From a family perspective, I’ve had a chance to talk with Brian (Danielson) at great length about his passion for wrestling. It is what he was born to do and I know deep down how feels about it.”
Last night on 205 Live, the second semi-final match in the cruiserweight championship tournament took place. Drew Gulak and Mustafa Ali squared off in last 205 Live’s main event from the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, TX.
205 Live Results
Hideo Itami (w/ Akira Tozawa) vs Lince Dorado (w/ Lucha House Party) – no contest
Itami and Gran Metalik got at each other on the outside and a brawl started between the Lucha House Party (Dorado, Kalisto, Metalik) and Itami & Akira Tozawa.
TJP defeated Kenneth Johnson
This was a squash match for TJP.
A selfie video featuring TJP stating his case for a title shot was shown as well.
Mustafa Ali defeated Drew Gulak
With the win, Mustafa Ali will face Cedric Alexander at WrestleMania for the cruiserweight championship.
Some fans who follow Monday Night Raw by watching the 90-minute version shown on Hulu are upset today. The Ultimate Deletion match was not featured in the Hulu version of the show this week.
Fans took to Twitter to ask Hulu why the main event of Raw didn’t make the cut for their edition. According to Hulu, they have no say in which parts of the show are edited out.
Upset fans are getting similar responses from Hulu on Twitter:
We're sorry to hear about any disappointment! We receive the 90-minute special directly from the provider—no edits are made on our end. We'll share your feedback!
Sorry for the disappointment, Shannon! We have the rights to stream a pre-formatted 90-minute special of Raw, and no edits are done on our end. We'll share your feedback with our team.
For the most part, fans tend to be in favor of the shorter versions of Raw which air on Hulu but missing the Ultimate Deletion have left some feeling dissapointed today.
Hulu first entered into a partnership with WWE in 2012.
Tonight’s episodes of Smackdown, Mixed-Match Challenge and 205 Live will emanate from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Matches and Segments for Smackdown Live!
No matches have been announced ahead of time for Smackdown tonight. Many of the segments for tonight’s show will build towards WrestleMania, however.
Daniel Bryan Returns: Will Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens Face Repercussions?
Last week, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn attacked Shane McMahon to close the show. McMahon’s WrestleMania announcement had been to book a match between Owens and Zayn for WrestleMania.
This week, Daniel Bryan returns to Smackdown for the first time since before Fastlane. It will be interesting to see what Bryan has to say about Shane’s leave of absence and the match booked between Owens and Zayn for WrestleMania.
Will Jinder Mahal Get a Shot at the United States Championship?
Randy Orton is the new United States champion after defeating Bobby Roode at Fastlane. Roode attempted to announce he is cashing in his rematch clause at WrestleMania but he was interrupted by Jinder Mahal.
Mahal has defeated both Randy Orton and Bobby Roode in successive weeks and claims he is the uncrowned United States champion. Some order should be brought to this situation tonight.
Smackdown Women’s Division Response to Asuka
The Smackdown women’s division is in a state of flux at the moment.
Asuka has just shown up to challenge Charlotte Flair and Carmella is still ominously holding onto the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Carmella defeated Namoi last week on Smackdown and on Fastlane her and Natalya defeated Becky Lynch and Naomi. Ms Money in the Bank could be on the verge of a hot streak.
Other members of the division, such as the Riott Squad, may have something to say regarding the upcoming Women’s WrestleMania Battle Royal.
The Bludgeon Brothers Put the Tag-Team Division on Notice
Since Fastlane, the Bludgeon Brothers have put the whole tag-team division on notice but specifically the Usos and the New Day.
Last week, only Big E and Jimmy Uso were cleared to compete from their teams. We’ll see if any other members of the New Day or Usos are available to fend off the Bludgeon Brothers this week.
AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura
Nakamura saved Styles from a beatdown by Rusev and Aiden English last week. The two babyface WrestleMania opponents might find themselves watching each other’s backs until April 8th.
There are also rumors AJ Styles is dealing with an injury suffered at a house show over the weekend. PW Insider is reporting WWE plans to evaluate Styles at today’s show.
WWE Mixed Match Challenge
Tonight on the Mixed Match Challenge, one team will have a chance to qualify for the tournament finals.
Asuka’s streak isn’t technically on the line in this tournament as she has lost a tag-team match in WWE before. Asuka and Sonya Deville lost to Nia Jax and Lana on an NXT house show in 2016. Other than that, Asuka is 70-1 in WWE tag-team matches.
Miz & Asuka vs Alexa Bliss & Braun Strowman
205 Live
The final semi-final match in the cruiserweight championship tournament takes place tonight. Drew Gulak will face Mustafa Ali with a spot at WrestleMania on the line. Cedric Alexander defeated Roderick Strong last week to become the first competitor to qualify for the finals.
Hardy would come out victorious in the match and pushed Bray Wyatt into the Lake of Reincarnation. Now Bray Wyatt has been deleted and the Woken Matt Hardy story moves into a new chapter.
We break down reactions to the Ultimate Deletion match below:
I *LOVED* the #UltimateDeletion. It watched like an ultra-cinematic video game final boss fight. Almost like it was produced by Hideo Kojima. It far exceeded my expectations. Tremendous work @MATTHARDYBRAND @WWEBrayWyatt
Nick Jackson revealed plans for his own Final Deletion style match with the Hardyz:
The plan was to have a final deletion match with the Hardy’s last year but obviously plans changed. Glad they’re allowing Matt and Jeff to show how creative they are.
Last night on Raw, Jeff Hardy made a surprise appearance near the end of the Ultimate Deletion match. It is the first time Jeff has been shown on Raw since injuring his shoulder in September. Jeff suffered a torn labrum and a torn rotator cuff.
He was recently cleared to return to action and posted this photo with the physio clinic which helped him rehabilitate his shoulder.
There has been some concern amongst fans that Jeff Hardy’s recent DUI charge will impact how WWE uses him moving forward. Jeff is due in court on the charges on April 16th, 2018. According to a report from PW Insider, Jeff caused $5000 in damages to the guardrail he hit and another $8000 in damages to his own vehicle. He also blew 3x over the legal limit on a breathalyzer after the accident.
While there was some concern that Jeff would not appear in the Ultimate Deletion match last night, he was there at the end.
It is possible WWE simply ignores Jeff’s latest DUI charge. That is how the company has handled the recent DUI charge of Jey Uso, who was similarly charged with the offense in January.
WWE released the following statement following Jey Uso’s arrest:
“Joshua Fatu is responsible for his own personal actions. We are investigating the matter and awaiting information from local law enforcement officials.”
WWE released a nearly identical statement for Jeff Hardy:
“Jeff Hardy is responsible for his own personal actions. We are investigating the matter and awaiting information from local law enforcement officials.”
WWE took no action in regards to Jey Uso. There is nothing to say that won’t also be the case with Jeff Hardy. It’s also possible WWE takes Hardy’s past substance-abuse issues into consideration though. There is no evidence thus far to say that is how they are handling the situation, however.
Episodes of WCW Thunder have been added to the WWE Network today. Thunder was a secondary show the company introduced on January 8th, 1998. It ran until March 2001.
After two years on the air, attendance for WCW Thunder tapings fell so low the company began filming the show immediately after Nitro on Monday evenings. This system would continue for the next 15 months until the company was purchased by WWE.
According to a report from WWE Network News, 72 episodes of Thunder have been added to the library, which is a handful off from the total number of shows aired. As with other shows the Network has added, it may take several weeks for further episodes to be rolled out.
Former student of the Fabulous Moolah, Joyce Grable, has come to the defence of her former teacher, stating she does not believe the allegations against Moolah are true.
Moolah helped train Joyce in the early 1970s, and helped her get booked all over the country. Gable would go on to win the NWA Women’s United States championship and was elected to the NWA Hall of Fame in 2012.
She retired in 1991 at the age of 39 after having back surgery.
“If (Moolah) was gonna pimp somebody out, I’d have been number one on the list.” – Judy Grable.
Grable filmed the following YouTube channel to address the Fabulous Moolah allegations:
Joyce Grable Disputes Fabulous Moolah Allegations
“I never experienced [pimping],” Grable said. “As far as I was concerned, she never sent me nobody. And hey, I had a good body back then, I was kinda pretty, long blonde hair, especially when I was in Puerto Rico, Mexico… if she was gonna pimp somebody out, I’d have been number one on the list.”
The current NXT champion, Andrade “Cien” Almas, revealed to a Spanish-language media outlet, Milenio.com, that not long ago, he wanted out of his WWE contract.
“When I came to WWE I thought about going back because of the lack of opportunities and criticism but I talked to Alberto Del Rio and he told me to stand up for my chance and I kept fighting for what I wanted.”
Almas’ comments are consistent with statements Del Rio made last September:
“I talked to my good friend Manny [Andrade Almas] and poor guy, he wants to come back. Unfortunately, when you go into that company you have to abide by their rules. That’s just how it is,” Del Rios said.
Alberto Del Rio and WWE
Alberto Del Rio currently spends his time wrestling in Mexico and for Impact Wrestling. There have been rumors of contract discussions between Del Rios and WWE, however.
Two weeks ago, it was reported Del Rios was at WWE headquarters to shoot footage for a Rey Mysterio project. It was also reported he met with Vince McMahon, who has always been a fan of his.
WWE has recently announced the upcoming mega-event from Saudi Arabia will now feature 7 championship matches in addition to the 50-person Royal Rumble match. Today’s press release from WWE states the following titles will all be defended at the event: “WWE Championship, Universal Championship, Intercontinental Championship, United States Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship, SmackDown Tag Team Championship and Cruiserweight Championship.”
The Greatest Royal Rumble takes place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on April 27th, 2018.
The event is part of a 10-year agreement WWE has signed with the Saudi General Sports Authority. The country’s new relationship with WWE is a part of their 10-year social and economic reform project, Saudi Vision 2030.
Greatest Royal Rumble to Air on WWE Network
Last week, Roman Reigns appeared on the Jim & Sam podcast and mentioned the Greatest Royal Rumble will air on the WWE Network.
WWE released the following statement earlier today:
“RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA and STAMFORD, Conn. — Following an agreement between His Excellency Turki Al Sheikh and WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia invites the world to the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Friday, April 27, at 7 p.m. AST to celebrate the Greatest Royal Rumble event in WWE history. Tickets will be available Saturday, March 31, and this historic event will feature seven championship matches, including the WWE Championship, Universal Championship, Intercontinental Championship, United States Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship, SmackDown Tag Team Championship and Cruiserweight Championship.”
Matt Hardy’s rivalry with Bray Wyatt will culminate tonight in the Ultimate Deletion. The content of this match has been the topic of legal conversations between Hardy and his ex-employer over the last year. With legal hurdles cleared, it’s time for Matt Hardy’s Woken Universe to truly debut in WWE.
While we’ve seen Matt Hardy perform as the character on WWE programming, we’ve yet to see an Ultimate Deletion style match. For all the talk there has been regarding how the gimmick has been presented in WWE so far, the real test will be how well regarded the segment tonight is.
It’s been less than 2 years since Matt was broken. He was starting to crumble before then, however. In light of tonight’s Ultimate Deletion, this article looks back on how Matt Hardy transformed his gimmick.
Matt Hardy at 40
When Matt Hardy arrived in TNA Wrestling in 2014, he was months away from turning 40 and had been wrestling professionally for 20 years. The company he’d signed with had fired him 3 years earlier following his arrest for driving under the influence.
TNA had fallen far since Hardy had been there previously. In 2011, Hardy joined names like Rob Van Dam and Sting as Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan gained some level of authority behind the scenes. While that period in TNA history didn’t exactly end well, at the time it seemed like the company was on the verge of becoming bigger than they were.
There was nothing in the atmosphere of 2014 which suggested Matt Hardy was on the verge of the most significant part of his career. In fact, just the opposite was the case.
In 2014, Matt and Jeff reunited the Hardys in TNA and won the tag-team championships. They were forced to give them up that summer after Jeff was involved in an ATV accident. This led Matt to go into single’s competition and eventually win the TNA World Championship. Some bizarre booking led to him losing the title without actually losing a match, however. He’d spend the rest of the year trying to win the championship back off Drew Galloway but failing.
As high up the card as Matt was at this time, TNA was struggling to find itself during this period. As it would turn out, what Matt Hardy would do the following year would begin to re-define the company, for a little while, at least.
Matt Hardy is Broken in 2016
In early 2016, Hardy turned heel after his wife, Reby Sky, helped him defeat EC3 to win the TNA World Championship. His brother Jeff didn’t approve of his heel-ish actions and the brothers turned into rivals for the first time since 2009.
On the March 15th edition of Impact Wrestling, Drew Galloway won a fatal 4-way match which also featured Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, and EC3 to win the TNA World Championship. From that moment on Matt set his sights on getting revenge on his brother. This led to an I-Quit match between the two on April 19th, 2016. The match would be ruled a no-contest after both men were too injured to continue.
The next time we saw Matt Hardy, he was speaking in a peculiar accent and was preoccupied with making his brother, whom he referred to as “Brother Nero”, obsolete.
Jeff defeated Matt in a Full Metal Mayhem match at Slammiversary that June. He defeated him again on Impact in a steel cage match. Finally, Matt challenged Jeff to a final match which would take place on the Hardy Family Compound. The match would be called “the Final Deletion” and would air on July 5th, 2016.
Reaction to the Final Deletion
The Final Deletion confirmed Matt Hardy was going all-in on this character. While the unique gimmick had its detractors, the reaction was generally positive.
The Final Deletion carried certain elements of Lucha Underground’s sci-fi universe but with a more comedic take. The viewer is asked to suspend disbelief to a larger degree, also similar to science fiction or fantasy movies. Characters are able to have supernatural abilities and are able to travel through time.
Matt’s never given a firm reason as to why, when, and where he decided to go in such a bizarre direction with his character. He’s never stated how confident he was either. This is mainly because he gives interviews in character for the most part. What we know is that Matt Hardy chose to re-invent himself after 40, when he’d been a pro over 20 years, and when many felt his best days were behind him. The result has been the most significant thing he’s ever done in his career.
The Road To Ultimate Deletion
Matt and Jeff Hardy made a triumphant returns to WWE less than a year ago at WrestleMania 33. The legendary team had reverted to the Hardy Boyz personas the WWE Universe was accustomed to from their previous run, but we’d soon get glimpses that Matt’s broken side was alive and well.
As the months passed and the Hardy’s legal battle with Impact Wrestling parents company Anthem Sports & Entertainment came to a close, it was only a matter of time before the dam broke and “Woken” Matt was unleashed. Jeff Hardy’s shoulder injury and subsequent surgery back in September paved the road for Matt to forge his own path.
As we embark on the road to the Hardy compound and the Ultimate Deletion, the true question is how much creative freedom Matt will have to execute his broken brilliance.
