Matt Hardy appeared on the Inside The Ropes radio show this week and spoke about a number of topics, including the state of tag team wrestling in WWE:
“I would love to see the tag divisions be highlighted more. I think until the WWE or TNA find their next white hot star or angle that’ll get record ratings or even improve ratings, starting to sell out more arenas, thats what all the companies are looking for that top star. The top guy in the WWE right now is John Cena but until they find the next Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin, they’re going to be engulfed, obsessed with that. While they’re obsessed with finding the new face of the company, tag team wrestling is always going to be secondary or even further down,” said Hardy.
“We were lucky because Stone Cold, The Rock, DX were so hot, we were selling out arenas every night so they had time to say “OK lets invest some time into the tag division” I think until they have their top 2 or 3 stars and their top programs, breaking records and doing good pay per view numbers, tag teams will just be an afterthought. It’s sad and I hate it, but it’s just the state of the game.”
Hardy also weighed in on Ryback’s breakout year:
“I think they’ve done an amazing job establishing Ryback, getting people to connect with him. In terms of him having longer, more competitive matches which will eventually be a necessity if you’re going to be a player. If Ryback can do that and follow through and retain his character and that fanbase then that’s great. He’s definitely the breakout star of 2012 and they took a guy who for years hadn’t really done anything and made him a star and made people care about him so kudos to that and hopefully he can continue and grow as a performer,” said Hardy.
You can listen to the full interview below, where Matt also talks about Extreme Rising, the Divas division in 2012, Ring Of Honor, Luke Hawx and his plans for 2013:
