It has been an up-and-down battle for the “Broken” gimmick over these past few months between Impact Wrestling and The Hardys. Matt and Jeff made the decision to leave Impact earlier this year, in favor of returning to WWE at WrestleMania 33 where they won the RAW Tag Team Championships in a Fatal Four Way Ladder Match. Although Matt has still been using some “Broken” mannerisms and chants, he hasn’t been able to fully utilize the gimmicks potential due to the ongoing legal battle of the character’s rights with Impact.
Both sides have made arguments as to why the rights to the character rightfully belong to them, and Impact Wrestling’s Jeff Jarrett was the latest to chime in during a recent interview with Wrestle:List:
“I always take the high road because there is legal squabbles or potential legal squabbles but I have said this to a couple of outlets, and I say this with very broad strokes – I am from Nashville so I am around music which is intellectual property and I have been in the business 30 years,” Jarrett said. “Intellectual property laws are very simple, there are two sides to it; there are publishers and the writers, then there are the performers as well.”
“Jeff Hardy has been one of my best friends for 20 years, you can look on my social media and their social media, and we take family vacations together but business is business,” Jarrett continued. “So when it relates to IP it’s real simple, there is a publisher who owns the property, there is a writer who gets credit and can monetize it, then there is the performers. There is no question that Broken Matt and Brother Nero’s performances were off the charts good. But when it comes to ownership to me it’s almost a silly squabble, it’s never been in question. Impact are the owners.”
You can read Jarrett’s full interview with Wrestle:List here.
