A lot has been happening within WWE over the past few weeks, which according to Matt Hardy, will only be good news for Tony Khan and AEW.

This past week has seen Vince McMahon return to WWE and be announced as Executive Chairman, replacing his daughter Stephanie in the role.

McMahon reportedly strong-armed his way back into WWE by threatening to withdraw support from all future TV rights negotiations and possible sales.

Benefit

Matt Hardy’s days with WWE are behind him, as he left in 2020, but he still keeps a close eye on the competition.

On the latest Extreme Life podcast, Hardy explained how chaos and unpredictability in WWE can only help AEW.

“Vince McMahon is back and he is the head. He is sitting as the head of the table of WWE currently. We also have Stephanie gone so there’s obviously been a big shake-up. There is a lot of cells, rumors, and innuendo going around, and if you ask me more than anything who benefits from all this? I would say AEW so I’m very happy to be at AEW currently right now. AEW has been producing great content.”

“Who benefits from all this? I would say AEW.”

Matt Hardy on the ongoing power plays in WWE.

Hardy summarised his view on the situation by putting it into context with an analogy from Game of Thrones.

“One thing I love about it is at WWE, they’re playing Games of Thrones It’s like in and out. Who can retain the power and who can backstab? Who can get someone else out or how can I get back in whatever it may be. Here, fortunately, it is just TK [Tony Khan] sitting on the Iron Throne.”

Skeletons in the Closet

There were years, decades even, when the idea of Vince McMahon retiring seemed impossible.

Once McMahon did resign due to allegations of misconduct with female employees, fans thought they’d never see him return.

On his podcast, Hardy discussed McMahon’s controversial comeback and suggested that there are more secrets that could be revealed.

“It was very controversial whenever Vince ended up leaving [in July 2022.] Some of the accusations against him. And I don’t know, considering how much pro wrestling has started to begin mirroring society which is a good thing that it has it’s no longer the wild west it is starting to try and mirror society and run a parallel to how society is. Be a little more moral. But like the Vince thing could end up being very controversial because there are a lot of skeletons in those closets.”

In all statements by WWE so far, there has been no reference to the allegations of misconduct or the millions of dollars McMahon paid in NDAs.

Fingerprints

Prior to McMahon’s return, the ex-CEO stated his attempted comeback was merely to oversee WWE’s sale to another company.

Many are skeptical (especially now that McMahon is Executive Chairman) with fans fearing he will usurp Triple H as Head of Creative.

Hardy said that while McMahon may have only returned for the sale as stated, it may be difficult for him to break old habits.

“I feel like even if Vince is being sincere about that, he won’t be able to control himself like that. If he is back, he is going to put his fingerprints on things. It’s just who he is. It’s absolutely who it is.”

“He won’t be able to control himself.”

Matt Hardy on Vince McMahon.

“There was someone, I would just say randomly, without mentioning names, who said, ‘Raw felt different on Monday. I’ve got a feeling Vince may have had his fingerprints on it.’ Which is interesting.”

McMahon’s roster has not gone down well with WWE’s roster, with some threatening to walk out of the promotion if the rumored deal with Saudi Arabia goes ahead.

Last Wednesday, Mercedes Monè made her much anticipated debut in NJPW at Wrestle Kingdom 17. She’s been the talk of the wrestling world and the conversation has turned to AEW.

Last month, AEW began hyping up a mystery opponent for Saraya for the January 11 episode of Dynamite. Social media began buzzing that none other than Monè would be her partner. The two have a history and it would make sense for “The Blueprint” to be her partner. Last week, Saraya told Toni Storm that she was her partner.

Matt Hardy on what Mercedes Monè would bring to AEW

On the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy said that Monè “really bet on herself. It’s hard for me not to appreciate that because I’m one of those guys too where I feel like — Vince knew that too — I don’t have to be in WWE. I’m not afraid to step out of Alexandria, a safe zone. I kind of compare Alexandria from the Walking Dead to WWE. If you stay inside and you have these walls, you’re going to have like, a nice life and it’s safe and it’s easy. You can make decent money and it’s good. But, you can go outside those walls and you can survive on your own, but you have to hustle. So, I have huge respect for anyone who is willing to leave WWE and go out and hustle on their own.”

“I think Mercedes is killing it and she’s doing a great job keeping herself relevant, keeping herself in conversations, being a huge talking point in wrestling business and showing up in New Japan and doing what she did. It was a big deal.”

When asked if he could see Monè in AEW, Hardy replied, “without a doubt.” “I could almost see her being a free agent for a while and just doing spots in AEW. I could definitely see that happening. And it wouldn’t surprise me if she ends up showing up this coming up Dynamite as the mystery partner. It wouldn’t surprise me at all. I don’t know, I don’t have that information. But, it wouldn’t surprise me.”

(Note: this episode was recorded prior to Saraya’s announcement of Toni Storm.)

On what Monè would bring to AEW, Hardy declares that “she is a big star. I mean, there’s no ifs, ands, or buts, about it. I mean, she really has put a ton of equity on her name and on her character and on her identity as a pro wrestler. And she’s been able to continue to hold that as she hasn’t been working with WWE. She’s kept herself in the headlines, which is great.”

“Her coming in to AEW would be a big deal. I feel in some ways, it would be very similar to almost like Cody situation in some ways. It’s like a huge jump; left WWE and came to AEW. It would have that feel.”

December 14 was the 14th anniversary of Jeff Hardy winning his first and only WWE Championship. In route to becoming champion, Hardy was rumored to win the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 24.

On the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, it focuses on the road to the WWE Championship for Jeff. On the March 3 episode of RAW, Jeff is a guest on Chris Jericho’s “Highlight Reel” when Jericho attacked him from behind. Shortly thereafter, Jeff dropped the Intercontinental Championship to Jericho. This was due to a failed drug test and 60-day suspension as it was his second violation.

Matt Explains What Happened

Matt confirmed the rumor that his brother was scheduled to win the ladder match and they had decided to make him champion. Freddie Prinze, Jr. was part of creative at this time and had been tasked with making Jeff the WWE Champion.

“I know Freddie Prinze had been given this edict to get Jeff ready for the championship. This was around the time too that he had started to paint his face again. I think they started to lean into some stuff that was very Jeff Hardy-ish.”

“Jeff was in Mexico on an international tour and its at some point there he ended up taking something, some sort of pill or substance — I don’t know if it was for his back or whatever it was — but he ended up getting popped in a drug test. One of the things I remember from the story is that Michael Hayes called him at home and was like, ‘what is going on here? I can’t believe you did all this. Vince is going to call you in a few minutes, so be ready to answer the phone.’ Vince called and was like, ‘what the fuck have you done?’ I guess they taiked it through and Jeff said they spoke for a while and they seemed to be kosher. Jeff just apologized and regretted taking it.”

Matt Speaks on Jeff Hardy Plane Incident

Matt also discussed the “Nashville incident” where Jeff was removed from a plane by police. The brothers and Shane Helms had been celebrating someone’s birthday the night before and stayed up too late. The next day, Jeff managed to get either liquor or beer and was “buzzed.”

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Matt tried to get his brother to eat and Jeff smashed the sausage biscuit into the ground while laughing. Matt & Helms told him to “be cool.” Jeff talked to everyone that was boarding and someone with the airline realized he might be drunk. They asked him to leave and he said no, he’d just sleep on the flight. He was the escorted off the plane by police. This incident upset some of the locker room and Jeff lost some support.

Jeff eventually beat Edge and the WWE Champion Triple H at Armageddon, even though Triple H didn’t think Jeff was reliable enough to be champion. Matt says seeing his brother become WWE Champion was one of the highlights of his career.

Back in June, Jeff Hardy was arrested for DUI among other charges just days after Double or Nothing. Since then, his court dates have been pushed back several times. Hardy did enter alcohol rehabilitation.

In September, Matt Hardy said on his podcast that Jeff had been improving. “I feel like his mentality is that he knows he has to make changes and do what’s right and I feel like he’s at the point where he will this time around. I’m excited to have him back.” That quote gave some the impression that he was on his way back to AEW, but he still has legal issues to contend with.

Jeff Hardy is ‘In a Good Place’

During this week’s episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Matt did a Q&A episode where he provided an update on his brother.

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“He’s basically doing the same thing he’s been doing, he’s doing exactly what he needs to be doing to get where he needs to be in life. More or less, we just have to get these legal issues behind him before we can move forward. So, that’s kind of where we’re at with Jeff. We’re hoping that happens sooner rather than later.”

“He seems to be in a really good place. It’s very nice and refreshing to see. Hopefully, that continues and we get him back to where he belongs.”

Matt didn’t provide further information on when legal issues might be behind Jeff. There is still no timetable for his potential AEW return.

Matt Hardy believes Shelton Benjamin would’ve thrived as a singles star in today’s age.

Hardy recently discussed The Hardy Boyz feud with The World’s Greatest Tag Team on an episode of his podcast, “The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy.”

During the show, Hardy praised the ability of Benjamin, and speculated as to why he never took off as a singles competitor.

He noted that, had Benjamin came up in today’s day and age, he believes the former Tag Team Champion would have seen things turn out a lot different for himself.

“I don’t know. I think if you had Shelton Benjamin, a young Shelton Benjamin, come along today, it would change a lot,” Matt Hardy said.

“I think because back then it was still they were looking for larger-than-life personalities, people that really like bonded with the crowd, and I feel like they didn’t see that as much in Shelton as they would have liked to. They knew from an athletic perspective; he was just unbelievable.

“He was unreal, but I feel like in this day and age, if you have someone who’s an amazing athlete and produces these great quality matches day in and day out and does it every single time he hit the ring, then they get over in a different way because the fan base has kind of changed for their respective in-ring content as well.

“So I think if Shelton came along today, I think it would be changed. I think he would definitely be programmed a lot higher than it was back then.”

Benjamin entered professional wrestling as a very accomplished amateur wrestler, displaying a tremendous amount of athleticism and poise. Throughout his years in the business, he’s been highly decorated as a tag team competitor, winning the ROH World Tag Team Titles twice with Charlie Haas, as well as three runs with the WWE Tag Team Titles.

As a singles competitor, Benjamin secured the WWE Intercontinental Title three times, as well as one run with the United States Title. At 47-years-old, Benjamin still competes for WWE on Monday Night RAW.

Quotes via WrestleZone

Matt Hardy has big plans for his final-ever match, including facing a WWE Hall of Famer.

Hardy’s wrestling career began in 1992 and has seen Matt hold gold in WWE, TNA/Impact Wrestling, and Ring of Honor.

In April 2020, Hardy made his debut for All Elite Wrestling where he competes to this day.

Retirement

With 30 years in the wrestling business, Matt is fully aware that his days as an active competitor are coming to an end.

Speaking on his ‘Extreme Life’ podcast, Hardy revealed that he wants The Hardy Boyz’ final match to be against Edge & Christian.

“Our rivalry is just so iconic. I feel like that would be a pretty amazing way to end it, having one last match with those guys.”

Matt Hardy.

No Mercy 1999

The Hardys and Edge & Christian faced off countless times in WWE, but perhaps their best-known match took place at No Mercy 1999.

In the finals of the Terri Invitation Tournament (or T.I.T as Jerry Lawler reminded fans on commentary), the two teams faced off in the first tag-team ladder match in WWE history.

With their win, the Hardyz (then known as the New Brood) won $100,000 and the managerial services of Terri Runnels.

In their memoirs, ‘Exist 2 Inspire’ the Hardyz wrote that the four celebrated the match backstage with beers, the first time either Matt or Jeff drank alcohol.

The death-defying spots would cement both teams as ‘legitimate’ in the eyes of fans, with John Powell of SLAM! Wrestling writing at the time that the match overshadowed the Triple H Vs. Steve Austin WWF Title main event.

h/t – Sportskeeda

While the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy was focused on Jeff Hardy’s WWE return in 2006, the conversation turned to Chris Benoit.

Hardy reflected on how eerie it was that day. Benoit missed the pay-per-view. Hardy ended up filling in for Benoit on house shows earlier that weekend. “It was very strange because Chris was not one to be late. I’ve told you stories about how Chris and Eddie would stay by the gym. They would get a hotel near the closest Gold’s Gym so that they could work out first thing in the morning. They were very timely and very punctual, so Chris never missed shows, never missed shots, people always heard back from him. So, it was very strange the whole weekend. Very strange.”

“And I’ll never forget that day when they called a talent meeting to get everybody together. And keep in mind, we’ve been walking around all day long. There’s caskets in several different places for shots they’re going to do about Vince. There’s all these wreaths everywhere. There’s flowers everywhere, like it’s really like a funeral home. There’s so many weird, eerie vibes floating around that day as we’re doing the show that followed Vince’s explosion and the supposed “death” of the boss.”

Matt Hardy on How He Learned of Chris Benoit’s Death

“They had this talent meeting, they call everyone together. I’ll never forget I saw ‘Taker coming out slowly, walking out to where all the crowd was gathered around. I saw Michelle McCool like, crying. I remember turning to Ken Kennedy and going, ‘Chris is dead.’ I saw Undertaker and Michelle coming and Undertaker would’ve been given the heads up and Michelle’s just so upset, I thought ‘he’s gotta be dead.'”

“And then I remember them coming out and proceeding to tell us Chris had been found dead and his family had been found as well. We’re going to change the whole show that night and they’re going to go a different direction and remember Chris Benoit that night. It was a super eerie day and even having walking around all day seeing that funeral stuff, it was just a weird, creepy day. Corpus Christi, Texas. I’ll never forget it. I remember it like it was yesterday and how shocking it just was.”

Final Thoughts

Jon Alba clarified that they will never do an episode dedicated to Benoit. He will come up only in stories. Since it’s the only time they’ll talk about him out of respect for the victim’s families, he did ask a few more questions.

Vince McMahon and the top people in the office broke the news of Benoit’s death. “They told everyone about it and what their intention was for the show. I was asked to do a testimonial, but I said, ‘I’m okay’ and declined to do it because as the day was going on, as you know, more info started coming out and they weren’t really sure how his family died. There were some guys who were suspicious, it could be foul play. I was one of those guys who declined to speak just to be safe. I mean, very sad day, obviously.”

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“Extremely sad. Just remarkably eerie in every way possible because of what we were there to do that day, the Vince storyline; the explosion angle. And then to have that real life storyline set in on you like that. It was so crazy. So yeah, there were guys who did to testimonies and it is what it is. It was meant to celebrate Chris Benoit’s wrestling career and life and it’s just very unfortunate how it all ended with him. It’s inexplicable to even try to explain why that happened or how that happened or could have happened. At the end of the day, it’s just heartbreaking. It’s just sad.”

“It hit everyone hard. Everyone was just floored. It came out of left field, no one was expecting that. Chris Benoit’s gone the whole day and not only is Chris Benoit dead, his family has passed away as well. That’s mind-blowing. It strongly effected everyone, even worse when we found out what truly happened.”

Hardy gave his final thoughts on that time. “That was just a very tough day, very tough day at work. Learning that information about someone you worked with very closely hand in hand, you spent time with, that you went on car rides with, that you shared hotel rooms with, to learn that was heavy, man. It’s the first time I can ever say I’ve been in some criminal, traumatic event like that and known someone that close. It was a heartbreaking day all the way around.”

Every Thanksgiving weekend, WrestleCade is held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It brings together wrestlers and fans convention-style with a wrestling show to boot. A new match has been added to the card in a co-main event: Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Jarrett.

On last week’s episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy alluded to his relationship with Jarrett (Jarrett brought it up on his on podcast, My World, a few days prior because workers gonna work). It’s professional, but they don’t care for each other. On this week’s episode, Hardy opened up more about their relationship.

Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Jarrett Could be ‘Controversial’

Of their match this weekend, Hardy predicts that someone will get hurt. “I’ve got a feeling when it’s all said and done, either this match is going to turn out really bad and controversial — which people would probably like if that happened, especially if our wives are around. They’re both going to be there, which is scary in itself — or maybe there’s some way we come out of this with some new found respect. I don’t know what direction it’s going to go. The biggest thing I can say is this match is going to be a wild card. This incident happened seven years ago, but its been four or five years of not associating with each other at all.”

Alba asked Hardy if this could go from a match to a fight because of the underlying animosity. “It weighs heavy on my mind. I just honestly don’t know what’s going to happen when we get into that ring.”

History at WrestleCade

Hardy and Jarrett’s history at WrestleCade goes back to 2015. Hardy put the WrestleCade championship on the line and Double J had some help from EC3. A guitar shot split Hardy’s forehead open. Hardy talked about how it was supposed to be just a basic, straight up match. “It was really shocking that I ended up dropping the WrestleCade title to him. Maybe that could’ve been a case of him being a better politician than I was at that time.”

“The guitar shot ended up filleting my head, leaving me in the hospital late at night. Left my wife there as well. That was the real big issue that kind of drove a wedge between us. It really kickstarted the issues we have. That was the start of it. There wasn’t a lot of ‘I’m sorrys’ or apologies. We did business and he just fucked off. And then I ended up going to the hospital to get my head stitched up. WrestleCade helped out and took care of me a little bit.”

“The fact that he split me open on this errant guitar shot, y’know it kind of ruins my night. Ruins my wife’s night as well. And there was very little remorse. There was no real sorrow over it. No apology. It’s like he didn’t give a shit. ‘I just split this guy’s head open. Fuck ’em. I hope I ended his career’ as he said on his podcast. And I almost felt like that was his mentality when that was going down.”

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This incident caused him to lose all respect for Jarrett. Hardy does wonder if it was “a receipt for not going to TNA” and going back to WWE.

The match will be live-streamed on Title Match Network this Saturday. Jon Alba, Kevin Gill, and Veda Scott will be on commentary.

Matt Hardy put over MJF as the future face of AEW.

While predicting who would win the AEW World Championship at Full Gear on the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy agreed with host Jon Alba that MJF will become AEW World Champion on Saturday night. “I feel like it’s MJF’s time. It’s very interesting because of where the pay-per-view is located. Not too far from his home base. He’s been doing some great work. He’s extremely talented young man and he’s a guy that’s going to be the future of AEW for a long time, I think so. Even as much as he jokes around, ‘my contract is coming up. They want me up North, brother. They want me at the ‘E’.’ I think he’s going to be the face of AEW for a long time.”

Matches Matt Hardy is looking forward to at Full Gear

Alba and Hardy discussed AEW focusing on a women’s storyline that doesn’t involve a championship. “It is nice to see them just highlight them because of their stardom and that’s why they’re going to have the match. Their promos the last couple of weeks have been really strong. They’ve really talked a lot of people into buying a ticket and wanting to see this match.

After singing, “Be The Elite, be, be, be the Elite”, Hardy said he wants to be in The Elite. “Maybe I’m the one that recovered them after they were DELETED!” Hardy joked that the headline will be that he wants to join The Elite. “Anything to not kill the cockroach (his career),” he joked.

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He’s “pumped” for The Elite vs. Death Triangle. “Whoever wins that match –I’m going to say this, right here, right now though — Death Triangle and The Elite, myself and Private Party, Hardy Party, we are focusing on these six man tags right now; these Trios matches. We want to come looking for those titles. I’m going to go ahead and say that right now. Whoever wins that match, we want to come looking for those titles.” A few weeks ago, Hardy said that the Hardy Party could be looking for Trios titles after they reunited.

Hardy believes The Elite vs. Death Triangle will steal the show.

This Sunday will mark 17 years since the untimely death of the legendary Eddie Guerrero. On the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy shares stories and memories about his time with Guerrero as well as his death.

Guerrero died at age 38 on November 13, 2005. He had a heart attack while brushing his teeth in his hotel room. His nephew, Chavo Guerrero, Jr., discovered him barely alive. Upon arrival of an ambulance, Eddie was pronounced dead.

Hardy Shares One of His Last Conversations with Eddie Guerrero

When he arrived at the arena, Hardy said people were upset and someone was crying. He asked someone what was going on and that’s how we learned of his friend’s death. “Obviously, extremely shocking.”

“Obviously, it’s heartbreaking and shocking. It’s like you don’t even want to believe it’s real when you hear something like that, especially someone you worked with so much, spend so much time with them, and you have these bonds with them.”

“I just remember the tribute show if it’s going to be the last thing we’re going to be able to give Eddie, let’s give it our all and make this special and make it important just like he’d want it to be. It just didn’t seem real. It just didn’t seem real that he was gone. He was a beloved figure in the locker room.”

“I remember on the day of the show, we just tried to make it a celebration of his life and career. We tried to honor him in the best way that we possibly could. (…) It’s very unfortunate. We left us way too soon.”

Hardy said one of the last conversations he remembers having with Guerrero was after he won the WWE Championship. He said it would’ve been a while before he died because they had a lot of small talk. Hardy told him that he was so happy that he won the title and got to be a main event guy.

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“I just remember him saying, ‘Oh, thank you so much, Matt. You and your brother are such sweethearts. It was such a pleasure to work with you guys and share a locker room with you guys. Thank you so much. I appreciate you saying that.”

Hardy wrestled Carlito on the SmackDown tribute show for Guerrero. He countered Carlito into a Twist of Fate for the win, a tribute to his friend who is remembered for his counters.

Over the last couple of weeks, during AEW programming there have been vignettes of The Elite being erased from programming. On this week’s episode of Dynamite, a hand was shown deleting files of The Elite and replacing them with files of Death Triangle. Questions started coming in asking if Matt Hardy was the one deleting the files. He did have a “Delete The Elite” shirt after all.

In the latest episode of “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy”, he and host Jon Alba were discussing the imminent return of The Elite. Hardy stated, “I’m very happy they’re back. I will say this right here, right now: those guys didn’t do anything wrong in that situation. I think they were the victims. I’m telling you from a first person perspective. I was there. I witnessed it all. I love all three of those guys. I’ve known Matt and Nick forever. I’ve just gotten to know Kenny while working with AEW. I am very happy they are returning to TV and they are back. They’re back in the mix. They deserve to be in the mix.”

Hardy provided this clarification in response to media coverage of his quotes about the events that transpired at All Out:

Matt Hardy believes The Elite are the “heart and soul of the AEW”

Hardy also said that he was excited for Colt Cabana’s return this past Wednesday. “Colt Cabana had been away from AEW for a very long time. It is what it is. You know, I don’t really have to sit here and go into things. We’re in a position where he can be back on AEW TV and I’m glad to have him back.”

With the investigation being over, Hardy said, “I’m glad their names have been cleared and they’re coming back to TV. And I’m very happy to see Colt Cabana who I think is a great human being and also a great performer. I’m very happy to see him back on AEW programming.”

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Hardy saw the Young Bucks the day before recording his podcast. He says he told them that they “are the heart and soul of the AEW. I feel like The Elite — Matt and Nick and Kenny — in many ways the identity of AEW. You know, without those guys, you don’t have AEW as it is right now. It would be very, very different. Tony Khan may have started wrestling in some capacity. AEW, All Elite Wrestling, those guys are the identity of AEW. So it’s very important to have them back.”

“Full Gear” is just a couple weeks away, so it seems that The Elite will return then if they don’t came back sooner.

The action didn’t end when this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite went off the air.

Last night’s episode aired from the Chesapeake Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, and saw Tony Khan’s promotion continue on the road to Full Gear.

The show is most notable for the debut of WWE Hall of Famer ‘Double J’ Jeff Jarrett, who has signed as the promotion’s Director of Business Development.

Joe and Wardlow

In the main event of the show, ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe put his title on the line against Brian Cage.

In an unsurprisingly physical match, Joe got the win via submission, but he was attacked by the Gates of Agony and other members of The Embassy.

The show ended with TNT Champion Wardlow running the group off, before being attacked by Powerhouse Hobbs, who ended AEW Dynamite by raising the title in the air.

According to several fan reports, Powerhouse Hobbs went backstage while the referee checked on Wardlow after the show.

Samoa Joe got back into the ring and shook hands with Wardlow, and the two champions raised hands before leaving.

Matt Hardy

After Wardlow and Joe left, Tony Khan came out and introduced Matt Hardy, but the pair were interrupted by Stokely Hathaway and The Firm.

Hathaway told Khan to go to the bank because he owns the contracts for Private Party and Matt, who he called “Matthew Hardy.”

Ethan Page told Hardy that he isn’t going to help him, and touted himself as a future AEW World Champion.

 While Page and W. Morrisey’s backs were turned, Hardy hit Hathaway with a Twist Of Fate to send the crowd home happy.

Matt Hardy recently celebrated 30 years in the pro wrestling business. While enjoying a career resurgence with his “Broken Matt” character that led him back to WWE briefly, he joined AEW.

He debuted during the “No Fans Era” with the Damascus character. It was one that struggled without live fans. Hardy’s heel character from IMPACT, “Big Money Matt”, came to AEW. He charged a “wee fee” for his services with Private Party, Butcher, Blade, and Bunny. His clients formed Hardy Family Offices (HFO) before merging with Andrade El Idolo to become AHFO. Private Party eventually turned on him.

For a few months, Jeff Hardy joined him in AEW. The pair teamed up for tag and trios matches. Their biggest match was the “Modern Dream Match” against the Young Bucks at Double or Nothing. Unfortunately, Jeff was arrested for a DUI a few weeks later.

Recently, Hardy has made amends with Private Party. There is the possibility that Hardy Party will make a run at Trios gold. Isiah Kassidy lost his match last week and per the stipulation, LFI now owns the contracts of the Hardy Party.

Matt Hardy discusses retirement

In the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, he did a Q&A episode. He was asked when he retires, which company does he want to retire with.

“I don’t know. Honestly, I can see myself retiring with AEW. I love being here. I love the family feel that it has. And I just love the lack of horseshit and bullshit, it’s pretty much straight-forward. And Tony is really good at working with people and remembering they’re human beings, especially families, and allowing them to take time off and address issues there may be. He’s great with that and works around people’s schedules and whatnot. I love AEW. I’m very cool spending the rest of my career at AEW.”

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“With that being said, I love WWE as well. I think it’s a big positive at HHH has taken over and has been in charge. I would imagine that it’s going to continue to change as it evolves over the next few years with him at the helm.”

He goes on to say that Michael “P.S.” Hayes has to be the one to induct the Hardy Boyz into the WWE Hall of Fame when the time comes.

Episode 41 of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy has the tag team legend reflecting on his 30 year career.

Hardy names various wrestlers who he thinks are the best he’s worked with in his career. He lists wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, and Edge & Christian.

He shared who thinks are the best “with the newer style of wrestling.” “Three guys that I have to give shoutouts to because they truly do have great minds for what they do and they’re very polarizing, but Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks. I’ve loved my experiences with them as well. It’s funny, you know, people sleep on the Young Bucks, but they really do know their shit. I mean, they can work an old school-style match if they needed to. They’re very well-versed in everything. They are extremely smart in how they put together their shit. They’re great.”

Matt Hardy would like to work with these AEW wrestlers

When asked who we wants to work with in AEW that he hasn’t worked with yet, Hardy immediately replied, “Kenny Omega”. For younger talent, he wants to work with MJF. He revealed that it was discussed at one point during the Pandemic Era.

• Matt Hardy Reacts to Bray Wyatt’s Return to WWE

Although they worked together some in WWE, the current AEW World Champion, Jon Moxley, is someone who would love to work with now and have a “one-on-one match with.”

After getting to work with “All Ego” Ethan Page a little bit, Hardy can see the similarities that host Jon Alba pointed out, such as his “wrestling acumen”.

Bray Wyatt made his triumphant return to WWE last Saturday at Extreme Rules. Matt Hardy reacted to his friend’s return on the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy.

Hardy and Wyatt were paired together during Hardy’s last WWE run when he was “Woken Matt”. They were rivals that had a feud culminating in “The Ultimate Deletion”. They eventually became a tag team, “The Deleters of Worlds”, and became RAW Tag Team Champions.

After the White Rabbit’s reveal, Hardy tweeted:

Many fans have had concerns about how Wyatt will be handled upon his return to the ring. On RAW, his return was aired again. A new vignette of Bray in his current mask was also shown between Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle’s matches (his return followed their match at Extreme Rules). Fans took to Twitter to voice their displeasure that Wyatt himself was not on RAW.

“First and foremost, I’m so happy for him. He loves wrestling, but it’s one of those things, towards the end, he was burned out in many ways. He was very frustrated with a lot of Vince’s decisions, I think. And to see him back and doing what he does best and doing it passionately, I love it. I thought the re-introduction was so amazing. I love how you have all these characters from the Firefly Funhouse and now they’re real. They’re showing up in different parts of the arena. It was done in such a cinematic way, such a theatrical way. I love the presentation, I love the reaction it got. And the fact that he came out with the lantern –a nice callback to old school Bray– and blew it out. I loved that. And the concept behind the ‘Wyatt 6’; six individuals that are kind of like all within his mind and they’re all somehow real now. I like the possibilities behind this.”

WWE has to follow through with Bray Wyatt

Hardy shares in the concern about how Wyatt will be handled. “They have to capitalize. Once again, it was Philadelphia and Philadelphia fans they won’t come for you unless you give them some shit that they want and that they like. They’re very passionate about how they react to things and their reaction was off the charts. So, that really speaks volumes about much wrestling fans in general care about Bray and his return. So yeah, I think they have to capitalize on it and make the most of it and they have to really be smart with how they progress forward.”

“He’s such a unique character too. There’s so many idiosyncrasies with everything he does. So you really have to–the devil’s in the details. You really have to pay attention to the details. Bray’s good at that. Hopefully with Triple H behind the helm now, he’s going to stay on top of it too.”

• Former WWE Star Teases Return On SmackDown To Align With Bray Wyatt

On the QR codes and viral marketing, Hardy said he loves “that type of stuff where fans have to work a little bit and where they figure it out, they get a payoff.” He thinks today’s fans are smarter and appreciate stuff like that.

In the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy discusses his relationship with Private Party. He says that he looks at Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen as “my disciples, as my students” while look to him as a mentor.

“I’m really happy to give back to them. We really share a bond and connection on a personal level as well.” The three recently reunited this week on AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam after weeks of teases on Being the Elite. Hardy was glad the reunion happened in New York since the tag team is from there.

“The fact that the crowd reacted to it was amazing because it wasn’t an angle that was pushed hard on TV. We had done bits and pieces to make it work and it really got over big and everyone was so happy with it. I know the AEW office thought it was a great piece of business and was super happy about it. I’m very excited to see what the future hold for the three of us now.”

Could Hardy Party challenge for AEW Trios gold?

Hardy is someone that has been popular with wrestling fans for three decades and it’s not always easy to boo him. Private Party started off as babyfaces, but turned heel when Hardy brought the “Big Money Matt” character to AEW. Although it was hard for fans to boo them, Hardy believes that turning Private Party heel “made them better workers.”

With Hardy Party reuniting, could a Trios run be in their future? Hardy hopes so. “I would love to do a run with Private Party as a Trios team and fight and challenge for the Trios Title. That would be fun.”

Hardy has never held Trios gold, so this would be a first for him. “That would be a cool notch to add to my belt, actually to be Trios champion.”

• Chris Jericho: I Was the Only Big Star When AEW Began

If you use any quotes from the article, please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

Two weeks after the attacks on Sept. 11, a then 12-year-old Jacob Grondy was on his way to the airport – and he was scared.

Not only was this his first flight, but he was dealing with what many in the country were feeling – fear of flying due to the recent attacks. But a surreptitious introduction with a few pro wrestling passengers – thanks to the just-released Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 issue – assuaged his fears.

Grondy’s flight out of the Raleigh, N.C. airport was shared by the Hardy Boys, Amy Dumas – who wrestled for the WWF at the time as Lita – and Shane Helms on board. They were four of the hottest acts in the WWF at the time and were heroes to a 12-year-old Grondy, especially after they turned what could have been a traumatic experience into one of his favorite childhood memories.

“I was honestly trying to act tough,” Grondy said. “But as we were getting closer to the airport, I was visibly scared. I wasn’t talking at all, which was extremely rare (for me) as a kid.”

On the way to the airport, his dad gave him a copy of the PWI 500 issue to read and keep his mind off the recent attacks. Growing up in North Carolina, Grondy said he was immersed in pro wrestling. As a kid he watched WCW and the WWF religiously and was excited when ECW made its TNN television debut. He’s continued to be a fan well into adulthood. He hosts a podcast called Curtain Jerkin’ on Spotify.

The issue provided a bit of a distraction, but it was who he saw in the airport that relieved his fears.

“I don’t remember anything other than getting to the terminal, sitting down and looking up – and there was Jeff Hardy,” Grondy said. “He was dressed exactly how you would see him on TV. I leapt up in excitement. My dad had a pen on him and gave it to me so I could ask to get my PWI signed.”

Jeff walked Grondy over to his brother Matt Hardy to get his autograph. Matt then said they should get him Lita’s as well. As he walked back to his dad, his dad was smiling with relief, that he wasn’t as scared as he had been when he got to the airport. As he sat back down, he was approached by Shane Helms – who had just joined the WWF after the WCW sale and was beginning his Hurricane Helms gimmick. He said Helms asked to sign the issue, then asked if he could read it on the plane.

“As I let him read it, that’s when I realized that no terrorist was going to take down this plane, Team Extreme wasn’t going to let that happen,” Grondy said.

Grondy shared this story with Jeff at a meet-and-greet a year ago.

“He thought it was pretty cool.”

Grondy and his dad were flying to the United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis. It was the final race of the Formula 1 season, and was the first international sporting event to take place after the Sept. 11 attacks.

“(I) couldn’t tell you who won the race we went to, but every year the PWI 500 comes out I look back at that moment fondly. It was definitely a childhood highlight.”

Fans will soon get the chance to see a ‘new’ Jeff Hardy following the former World Champion’s lengthy absence from AEW.

Hardy hasn’t competed for AEW since Double or Nothing 2022 in May, where he and Matt defeated the Young Bucks. Back in June, he was arrested in Florida and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

This marks Jeff’s third DUI arrest in 10 years, after having faced arrests in both WWE and TNA/Impact Wrestling. Hardy has since been suspended without pay from AEW, and will not be allowed to return until he shows he has changed.

The New Jeff Hardy

Jeff has entered alcohol rehabilitation, and is said to be making great improvements, according to his brother Matt Hardy.

On the latest edition of “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, Hardy said that Jeff’s return to AEW isn’t too far away.

“We’re getting close to the point where we meet the new Jeff and we figure out his future and what he ends up doing. I’m pretty excited.”

Matt Hardy on his brother Jeff.

Matt added that his brother realizes that this is a make-or-break moment for his career.

“I feel like his mentality is that he knows he has to make changes and do what’s right and I feel like he’s at the point where he will this time around. I’m excited to have him back.”

Last Chance

While Tony Khan has said he supports Jeff and wants him to get better, the AEW President has said this is his last chance he’ll get in the promotion.

Hardy has pleaded not guilty to all charges related to his June 2022 arrest, and if convicted of the DUI charge, faces up to five years in prison.

H/T WrestleTalk

In 2005, WWE embarked on one of their most real feuds ever, pitting Matt Hardy against Edge.

While Hardy was out with an injury, Matt’s real-life girlfriend Lita had started a relationship with Edge, a real-life good friend of Hardy.

When Hardy made the affair public, WWE subsequently fired him, citing ‘unprofessional behavior’ on his behalf.

Summerslam

Weeks later, and after over 15,000 signatures on a petition, WWE rehired Hardy, and made his real-life issues with Edge and Lita into a feud.

At Summerslam 2005, the pair were scheduled to face off, with some unique advice from Vince McMahon.

On the latest episode of his ‘Extreme Life’ podcast, Matt recalled the unique way the then-WWE Chairman tried to motivate him (via Fightful.)

“This might sound crazy, but when two animals — the primal instincts kick in and survival kicks in, and it’s their basic primal instincts, and we all have them, even as human beings,” McMahon said, according to Hardy.

“If you see someone weaker than you, you see someone that’s crippled or in a wheelchair, deep down your primal instinct, you want to destroy them, you want to eat them, you want to eat them alive! […] You want to take the person who’s weaker than you, that is below you in the food chain, and you want to f***ing EAT THEM! Do you understand?! That’s what I want to see out of this match.”

“You see someone that’s crippled or in a wheelchair, deep down your primal instinct, you want to destroy them.”

Vince McMahon motivating Matt Hardy before Summerslam 2005.

Rather than the scrappy brawl McMahon was hoping for, the match went under five minutes long and ended via referee stoppage.

When Hardy was busted open on the ring post, he was unable to defend himself and the referee called for the bell, giving Edge the win.

After Summerslam

Despite the underwhelming Summerslam bout, Matt and Edge would continue feuding, with Hardy getting his win back in a Steel Cage match at Unforgiven.

At WWE Homecoming in October, marking Raw’s return to the USA Network, Edge defeated Matt in a Loser Leaves Town Ladder match for Edge’s Money in the Bank contract, and Hardy was moved to SmackDown.

Matt Hardy discussed Triple H becoming the new head of WWE creative on the latest edition of his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast.

The Broken One began by discussing how plugged in The Game is to pro-wrestling in 2022, comparing him to his current boss, AEW President Tony Khan.

“Triple H is much more tuned in to 2022 pro wrestling, much like Tony Khan is. So I think now you have two guys who really have their fingers on the pulse of pro wrestling. So I think that’s going to benefit everyone.”

Hardy does mention how Vince McMahon seemed to have an antiquated view of the industry as he got older, adding that he isn’t trashing the retired former chairman, but Triple H provides a much fresher look for the future.

“it is a positive thing and another huge positive to Triple H running WWE now, Vince, it is what it is, but his views and his mindset about pro wrestling, were a little bit antiquated, and that’s no slant on him, I’m not trash talking him. It’s just because he’s an older guy.”

Furthermore, Hardy calls Triple H taking over WWE creative a game-changer for the industry, one that will benefit talent, who he knows already has a better relationship with Hunter than they did with Vince.

“This deal with Triple H taking over WWE is a game-changer. I mean, on top of that, it also opens up the door for so many people to go back. There are so many more people that have a better relationship with Triple H than Vince, Triple H, I have already spoken to people that are there, Triple H has already been so much more accessible from the people I’ve talked to there with the current experience. So it’s great.”

Triple H’s run as head of creative is only a few weeks old but fans have already noticed improvements over the weekly television product. We will have to wait and see what long-term affects it has on WWE.

(Quotes via Fightful)

Matt Hardy has shot down recent reports suggesting that he’s dealing with an injury.

Recently there have been a plague of injuries going on within All Elite Wrestling (AEW); with stars such as Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Anthony Bowens, Darius Martin, and more currently being banged up.

Earlier this week, a report from Lucha Libre Online suggested that Matt Hardy was the latest AEW star to be dealing with an injury. This was following his appearance at AAA’s TripleMania XXX: Tijuana show.

However, Hardy took to Twitter to shoot this report down, saying he’s “all good” and was even backstage at AEW Dynamite this week and is good to go.

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m all good, ladies & gentlemen. I was at #AEWDynamite tonight & am good to go. Also, I loved & enjoyed my #TripleMania30 match for @luchalibreaaa. Thanks, TJ!”

Hardy had teamed with Johnny “Hardy” (aka Johnny Elite or John Morrison) to take on Dragon Lee and Dralistico. Initially, Matt was to team with his brother, Jeff Hardy, however, he was unable to compete after his DUI arrest earlier in the week.

During the match, Johnny ended up turning on Hardy, allowing Lee and Dralistico to get the win. However, Hardy, Dralistico, and Lee all teamed up to take out Johnny and end the show.

After the match, the report going around suggested that Matt was dealing with swelling in his knee. There was no indication on when the injury occurred, however, it should be noted that Dralistico did land on Hardy’s knees during a moonsault at the end of the match.

With that being said, Matt claims to be ready to go when called upon. He hasn’t been on AEW TV in two weeks.

One AEW star didn’t leave Mexico unscathed following a match during AAA’s TripleMania event this past weekend.

If there’s one thing major promotions can agree on, it’s that injuries are bad news. We’ve seen WWE hit hard with the Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton injuries. Reigning AEW World Champion CM Punk recently underwent surgery and he’ll be out for a little while.

Some injuries are more severe than others and in the case of one AEW veteran, the hope is that he hasn’t sustained anything serious.

Matt Hardy Suffers Swelling

Matt Hardy recently teamed with John Hennigan to take on Dragon Lee and Dralistico at the TripleMania event in Mexico. Fightful reports that Matt was banged up as a result of the match and suffered some significant swelling in his knee.

At this time, there is no word on the severity of the injury. Obviously, AEW officials are hoping that Hardy was simply dinged up a bit and the issue won’t have any long-term effects.

Matt was expected to challenge for the AEW World Tag Team Titles during the Road Rager episode of AEW Dynamite. That plan went awry as his brother Jeff was pulled from the match due to his recent DUI arrest.

Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline had reported that even if Jeff’s DUI incident never happened, AEW had plans of pulling him from the match as he had a brain scan scheduled.

When you think of wrestling’s biggest ever stars, two names likely to come to mind are The Rock and Hogan.

The Rock has transcended wrestling to become a leading man in Hollywood, while Hogan, for good or bad, is still known around the world.

Almost every wrestler wants to reach the same kind of heights as the “Brahma Bull or “The Hulkster,” but there’s one name who could have the potential to be the next breakout star.

The next Rock and Hogan

Hardy has seen plenty of big names come and go throughout his decades in the wrestling industry and right now, he’s particularly high on AEW’s Wardlow.

Speaking to Drinks With Johnny, Hardy praised the young powerhouse in a discussion about whether any wrestlers today could have the mainstream appeal as Rock or Hogan.

“I feel like Wardlow’s is a guy that might have that possibility here in AEW. I think he’s very special, he’s a good-looking dude, chicks love him, he’s super athletic and talented. You have a guy like that and hopefully, that does elevate the view of a company and kind of their status where they can grow and become more mainstream or whatever.”

Wardlow has been on the rise in AEW with his biggest win so far coming at last month’s Double or Nothing, where he handily defeated MJF.

What’s next for Wardlow?

On this week’s AEW Dynamite, Wardlow made it clear that he has his eyes on the TNT Championship.

Despite being in AEW for over two years now, Wardlow has yet to hold any gold as he has spent most of his career as MJF’s bodyguard.

Today marks Scorpio Sky’s 53rd day during this second reign (91 days overall) and with the MJF story finished, Wardlow could indeed be next in line for a shot at the gold.

Jeff Hardy has been arrested for driving under the influence yet again, marking his third DUI arrest in under a decade.

Hardy’s problems with substances have seen him face suspensions in WWE, Impact Wrestling and now AEW, in a sad repeated pattern of behavior from the former World Champion.

Matt’s Comments

On this week’s “Extreme Life” podcast, Matt said he is doing all he can to support his younger brother after his latest run-in with the law.

Speaking about what he believes started Jeff’s problems, Matt said a traumatic childhood event had a profound effect on “The Charismatic Enigma.” (via WrestlingNews)

“I feel like some of Jeff’s issues probably come from our mother dying when he was so, so young. That was always an issue that he carried with him deeply. I know 100%, the biggest thing that drives me to stay healthy and not have an addiction issue at all, because I’m sure I have an addictive personality, but the thing that keeps me running and stronger than anything else is my family, my children, specifically.”

Ruby Moore Hardy died in 1986 of brain cancer when Matt was just 12 years old and his brother Jeff was nine.

What’s next for Jeff Hardy?

This week, AEW President Tony Khan suspended Jeff without pay, stating that he will only be able to return if he can prove his sobriety.

That is a huge setback for Jeff, but things could get much worse for the popular albeit problematic star.

If convicted of a DUI, his third in ten years, Jeff could face up to five years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines.

AEW has been left reeling from Jeff Hardy’s recent arrest, as the popular wrestler has been charged with three felonies, including driving under the influence.

Prior to his arrest, Jeff and Matt were scheduled to face AEW World Tag Team Champions Jurrasic Express and the Young Bucks in a triple-threat Tag Team Title Ladder match.

The match went ahead without the Hardys, and while the Bucks won, becoming the first two-time AEW World Tag Team Champions, the company had much different plans at first.

The Plan

According to Bryan Alverez, the original plan for the match was for Matt and Jeff to win the AEW World Tag Team Titles, which would have marked their first reign in the company.

However, those plans changed following Jeff’s performance at May’s Double or Nothing Pay Per View, as it was deemed that the former WWE World Champion looked too bad in the ring.

There were at one point, plans for the Hardys to be attacked before the match began, but neither Jeff nor his older brother was used at all for the match.

Jeff’s arrest as expected played a massive role in the decision to change plans, and it’s reported that his openly telling the officers that he was going to undergo a brain scan was also an issue.

What’s next for Jeff?

Jeff Hardy has been suspended from AEW without pay, according to a statement given by Tony Khan over Twitter.

This marks Hardy’s third DUI arrest within a decade which could lead to a hefty jail sentence for “The Charismatic Enigma.”

In the state of Florida, where Hardy was arrested, a third DUI in under ten years can lead to a maximum five-year prison sentence.

Jeff could also face up to $5,000 in fines, and a minimum 10-year driver’s license revocation.