The WWE grind can often be the cause of stress and anxiety for stars. Jeff Hardy, who was recently released from the promotion, is feeling ‘super stressless’ since leaving the company according to Matt Hardy.
The AEW star talked about his brother on The Extreme Life With Matt Hardy podcast. He claimed that the wrestling veteran has been super positive since leaving WWE:
“One thing I can say for Jeff is that he has been super positive and super stressless since he’s been gone from the WWE. We have about 10 bookings as the Hardy Boyz lined up all together. Some autograph signings, some matches.”
Matt Hardy also recently teased an ‘extreme’ change to his AEW character. It would be interesting to see if The Hardy Boyz end up reuniting in Tony Khan’s promotion.
The WWE release of Jeff Hardy has been a hot topic of discussion for fans recently. There has been a lot of speculation on where Hardy will go next. Now his brother Matt Hardy is teasing a change to his character in All Elite Wrestling, saying that maybe it’s time for him to return to his extreme roots.
This Friday’s episode of Rampage saw Isiah Kassidy unsuccessfully challenge Sammy Guevara for the TNT title. The Private Party had also lost a match against The Jurassic Express for the tag team titles last month.
Matt posted a video on twitter after Rampage. He first expressed his disappointment over these recent losses of the members of his faction. He then said that maybe it’s time to put the focus back on himself. Hardy claimed that maybe it’s time adapt his old motto back and he teased an ‘extreme’ change to his character at the end of the video:
‘Maybe It’s Time For Matt Hardy To Make An Extreme Change’
Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy ‘The Hardy Boyz’
“Maybe it’s time for me to go back to the drawing board. Maybe it’s time for me to get rich of what I originally got rich off of and that was me. Maybe it’s time for me to tighten up my boots. Lace them a little tighter. Lace them a little more snug. Maybe It is time to adapt my old motto of fear is only a four-letter word. So starting today, February the 5th, 2022, I’m gonna make a promise to everyone.
I’m saying it here publicly so I’ll be held accountable for it. I’m gonna bust my ass. I’m gonna do everything that I possibly can to take my dilapidated vessel, after all the wear and tear on my body, after my age and get into the best shape that it can possibly be in. Because I don’t like the direction that Matt Hardy is currently headed in AEW. If something doesn’t happen with the AHFO, something has to change. Maybe it’s time for Matt Hardy to make an extreme change.”
Jeff Hardy’s WWE non-compete clause expires in early March. The Hardy Boyz have already been announced for a few appearances including a couple of matches after that. There is no news on how Tony Khan feels about Jeff joining AEW after the infamous live event incident. It’ll be interesting to see if The Hardy Boyz end up reuniting in AEW as well.
The Hardy Boyz, Matt and Jeff, have signed to wrestle together at another upcoming show.
The Hardys will team up on March 19th for the Patriotic Wrestling Federation’s live event from Clover, South Carolina. The match is being promoted as “The Hardy Boyz Carolina’s Reunion: 3 Years in The Making!”
Other familiar names booked to appear PWF show Griff Garrison of the Varsity Blonds and Brock Anderson (accompanied by his father, Arn Anderson). Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and Bill Eadie (Demolition Ax”) will also be on hand for meet & greets.
For more information and tickets, visit PWFLive.com.
Jeff Hardy is currently bound by a WWE 90-day non-compete clause. He will be free to wrestle again on March 9th.
The Hardy Boyz will be reuniting for several upcoming shows. They will team together on March 12th for Big Time Wrestling in Webster, Massachusetts.
The 12-time tag team champions will also be doing autograph signings at the following events:
Saturday, March 12: Zombie Hideout (Springfield, MA)
Matt Hardy has confirmed a report that WWE recently reached out to his brother Jeff about returning for a Hall of Fame induction.
Late in 2021, WWE released Jeff Hardy following a situation that occurred at a house show event. Jeff had competed alongside Drew McIntyre and Xavier Woods in the main event of a show in Edinburg, Texas.
Speculation ran rampant as Jeff appeared to be lethargic and exited into the crowd after giving McIntyre the hot tag. Jeff took pictures with fans and made his exit before the match finished. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful broke the news that Jeff was let go after turning down WWE’s offer to enter a rehabilitation program. Last week, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that John Laurinaitis called Jeff about being part of this year’s Hall of Fame class.
According to Matt Hardy, the Observer report about Hardy hearing from WWE is true. During his latest Twitch stream, Matt says WWE calling Jeff about returning is a “real thing” that actually happened. Jeff wasn’t interested, but did request the results of the drug test he took around his WWE release. Lawyers had to get involved before Jeff got his hands on the results – but they came back clean.
Matt Hardy confirmed today on Twitch that Jeff Hardy got back his drug tests from WWE and everything came back clean. Also confirms he was just done with WWE, and the rejection of the HOF induction they offered him. pic.twitter.com/yzfqThqd0w
“He got a call, which this has been reported online, from John Laurinaitis and they had offered to induct him into the Hall of Fame and they said they wanted to do this. I know people have seen this online and that’s not made up.
“That’s a real thing that happened and he [Jeff] just asked for his drug test at the very end of the conversation and said, ‘No, I just want my drug test. I want the clean result,’ kind of the clearest thing if that makes sense and I think it should, especially given his history.
“So, after my brother and his wife dealt with WWE and the drug testing company quite a bit they actually spoke with a lawyer and kinda had them help them out a little bit. Just a couple of days ago he got the drug test back and the drug test is compliant. Everything was a negative, it passed on all levels.”
Matt later revealed that Jeff told him he simply knew his run in WWE had reached its end by the time he entered the crowd.
“I feel like Jeff was just kinda stressed out in many different ways about several different things. He just told me, confessed to me, said whenever he went over that guardrail he said he just knew he was done there.”
Reby, Matt’s wife, played devil’s advocate on behalf of some fans asking and brought up the theory that Jeff tried to get himself fired intentionally. Matt doesn’t believe that is the case.
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Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy, ‘The Hardy Boyz’ will be teaming for the first time in 3 years during an upcoming indie event in March.
Big Time Wrestling announced on Twitter that the legendary tag team will be reuniting for their upcoming event from Webster, Massachusetts on March 12:
No word yet on who Matt and Jeff Hardy will be facing on this card.
More tour dates for the Hardy Boyz will be announced soon.
This will be Jeff Hardy’s first post-WWE appearance after being released from the promotion. He has previously been announced for a couple of meet & greet events with Matt Hardy on the day following his in-ring return as well.
Jeff was released from his WWE contract back in December last year. This came after the charismatic enigma was sent home by the officials following a live event incident.
Jeff Hardy’s non-compete clause restricts him from working with any other promotion until March 9. He will be free to sign with any organization afterward.
There is no word yet on if any companies have shown interest in bringing Hardy in or if the former world champion himself is looking to sign a contract with any promotion. We’ll keep you posted on his future.
Jeff Hardy has made a handful of solo appearances since his WWE release. He currently wrapping up a ‘meet and greet’ tour.
Jeff Hardy is appearing at BIGS Sports in Sioux Falls, South Dakota – right down the road from tonight’s WWE live event.
The Hardy Boyz have not made any public appearances together since Matt’s release from WWE in March 2020. Jeff remained with the company until last month.
Matt and Jeff Hardy are 12-time tag team champions. Jeff’s WWE non-compete clause prohibits him from appearing for other wrestling organizations at this time. However, the brothers from Cameron, North Carolina are determined to team again.
On Saturday, Matt posted a photo on Instagram of himself and Jeff holding the ECW and WWE Championship titles. The caption reads, “Every Saturday until we reunite in the ring.”
Jeff Hardy was set for a big angle in NXT 2.0 prior to his surprise release from WWE last month.
WWE had plans for Hardy to be revealed as “The Shamon” for MSK, as first reported by Fightful. Hardy’s release left WWE scrambling. With just days until the culmination of this storyline, WWE tapped Matt Riddle to fill this role and “rush” to film the necessary content.
“Just days before the reveal was to happen, Hardy was released by the company, and Matt Riddle had to rush to film content with MSK to make it work,” the report states.
Luckily Matt Riddle and MSK’s characters mesh together quite nicely. The trio is scheduled to face Imperium at tonight’s NXT New Years Evil special.
Just days before the bombshell news broke, the Charismatic Enigma worried fans with a bizarre incident a WWE live event from Edinburg, Texas.
Jeff’s brother Matt Hardy shared on Twitch that he believes WWE made a mistake by canning Jeff. According to Matt, Jeff doesn’t need rehab and WWE didn’t even wait to see any drug test results before making its decision.
Here’s what Matt had to say during that Twitch stream, as transcribed by SEScoops’ own Andrew Ravens:
“Before anyone rushes to judgment, obviously they [WWE] drug tested him after all this stuff, wait until you hear the results of that and when that comes back clean then hopefully people will feel better about it. They [WWE] felt like they were backed into a corner because of his [Jeff’s] history. Even though they may have jumped the gun with this a little bit, they made a decision and it is what it is,”said Matt.
In recent weeks, Jeff Hardy has been doing meet and greets with fans. Christian Cage and Ric Flair have both said they could see Jeff joining All Elite Wrestling. However, neither side has addressed this possibility in public.
Matt Hardy’s new podcast, The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, launches Friday, January 7th.
Hosted by Emmy-Award winning journalist Jon Alba, this new weekly show will be part of the Podcast Heat network.
“I am one of the most fortunate men alive, as I have been able to fulfill all of my dreams thanks to pro wrestling,” said Matt Hardy. “Throughout my journey, I’ve had many successes and failures, which I’ve always learned from. I’m exceptionally excited to share my insights and thoughts, about both pro wrestling and life, to help fans have a better understanding of ‘The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy.’”
According to a press release sent in by CuCommunications, “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” will navigate through some of the life-changing moments in Hardy’s career and connect them to their impact on the professional wrestling industry. The podcast will also gives Hardy, who is a current performer for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), a platform to share his thoughts and perspectives on the numerous current-day promotions and talent in the wrestling worlds.
Jon Alba also commented on this new project.
“I have long thought Matt Hardy was one of the most underappreciated creative minds in wrestling history, and there’s so much untapped knowledge he has to offer not just fans, but today’s generation of performers,” said Alba. “The goal of this show is to educate the audience every week on the art of storytelling, character development, reinvention, and give life lessons in overcoming hardships. This will be different from any other pro wrestling podcast you’ve heard, and I’m incredibly grateful for Matt allowing me to help tell his stories in a way that I believe will leave an impact on wrestling fans everywhere.”
Matt Hardy is very well aware that he has more wrestling years behind him than in front. Though the 29-year veteran would like to continue his involvement in the business once he has hung up his boots. The wrestling legend recently had an interview with Essentially Sports. He discussed things such as why the broken character didn’t work in AEW and more.
When asked if he would like to become a producer after his retirement, Hardy replied positively. He acknowledged that he has limited time left in his in-ring career and claimed that he would like to continue his involvement in the business:
“Yeah. I mean, whenever I finish my in-ring career which obviously I have a lot less years left than I do behind me, but I would definitely see myself being a producer or someone involved in the creative process. Because at the end of the day pro-wrestling is my passion.
I want to wrestle in the ring as long as I can, as long as my body will physically let me.” said Matt Hardy, “But, once that’s said and done, I can still be involved and I can still contribute but being a producer and you’re still able to, kind of, still live out your passion to some degree.”
The former Impact world champion was also asked if he would like to become the AEW champion somewhere down the line. Replying to it, Matt Hardy claimed that he would definitely like to win a championship in the company. Though at this stage of his career and considering what the company is built around, he is not sure that the world title will necessarily be the best fit.
After fighting hard to win the rights of his Broken character, Matt Hardy finally got a chance to use the character with the creative freedom he desired when he signed with All Elite Wrestling in March 2020.
However, the gimmick still failed to get traction and the wrestling veteran had to switch personalities. During a recent interview with Essentially Sports, the AEW star discussed the reasoning behind it.
Hardy explained that the broken character didn’t work because of the lack of fans in the arena. He also teased the potential return of it:
“The Broken Matt Hardy Character is a very fan-driven character and it was just very hard for it to work as well as it should without having fans in the venue. Obviously, the whole world was in the midst of this pandemic.
So, we just changed courses and then I went to a more reality-based character in Money Matt and you know, we took a step back from Broken Matt. Who knows, now the fans are back, maybe you’ll see Broken Matt again down the road.”
Apart from this, Matt Hardy also talked about the backstage culture of AEW. He explained that from all the way down to Tony Khan at the very top, people in AEW have the mentality of making the product as good as they can.
The former champion claimed that everyone is allowed to feel comfortable in AEW. If you have an issue, you can talk to anyone including Tony Khan.
Jim Ross believes WWE struck gold with The Hardy Boyz.
No one can deny the impact that Matt and Jeff Hardy have made in the wrestling business. They were known as daredevils and risk-takers during the Attitude Era. While the two split several times as a team, they always find a way to reunite.
WWE can take pride in the fact that The Hardy Boyz were homegrown talents. In fact, Ross believes WWE couldn’t have scripted it any better.
Jim Ross Puts Over The Hardy Boyz
Taking to his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross expressed his belief that when it comes to a homegrown team for WWE, it doesn’t get any better than The Hardy Boyz.
“The Hardys are the greatest team ever developed in WWE. Think about it. I’m not talking about Arn and Tully or the Dudleys, some of those other great teams that came through there, but they were teams when they got there, a lot of them.
“Matt and Jeff came in wearing their own homemade wrestling tights that they sewed with their own sewing machine. I just love the story and I love their enthusiasm and their youthful passion. I don’t think there’s ever been a better tag team that’s developed in WWE than The Hardys.
“I hope that someday they go into the Hall of Fame. I don’t know how that’s going to happen or work out because Jeff leaving, unfortunately, but they deserve accolades because WWE has never developed a better tag team, homegrown, than the Hardy Boyz, in my opinion.”
It’s possible that Matt and Jeff could see tag team action again. Matt competes under the AEW brand and Jeff was recently released from his WWE contract.
While there was concern over Jeff’s health at the time of his WWE release, it appears he and Matt insist that everything is in the clear.
Matt Hardy is teasing a new project that will start in 2022. He recently posted a short video to social media teasing this.
“In 2022 I’m starting a brand new project with a great team of people,” Hardy said. “I’m very excited to start telling some more stories and sharing some of my insight. Everyone knows I’ve led an extreme life and when it comes to wrestling, I think I’ve been a pretty extreme performer. And I feel I’m owed a lot of extreme credit for the cinematic rage after the whole Broken Universe saga. And I have a lot of extreme viewpoints and perspective on pro-wrestling and I’m very excited to start talking about these on a regular weekly basis.”
Hardy continued to say that there will be a very special announcement soon.
Matt Hardy also recently shared an update on his brother Jeff during a Twitch stream.
“Jeff is in the best place I’ve seen him in a very long time,” said Matt. “As far as the details of what went down on that evening, and in that match, I’ve talked with Jeff, I feel good about everything he said and that’s Jeff’s story to share. And he told me he will when he’s ready to.”
Matt Hardy addressed the status of his brother, Jeff Hardy, who was released by WWE last week, during a stream on his Twitch account.
Matt stated that he is not worried about his brother and WWE “may have jumped the gun” in releasing Jeff, who was sent home by the company after a house show in Edinburg, Texas on December 4 before ultimately releasing him on December 9th.
“Before anyone rushes to judgment, obviously they [WWE] drug tested him after all this stuff, wait until you hear the results of that and when that comes back clean then hopefully people will feel better about it. They [WWE] felt like they were backed into a corner because of his [Jeff’s] history. Even though they may have jumped the gun with this a little bit, they made a decision and it is what it is.”
Matt stated WWE did ask Jeff to go to rehab, but Jeff Jeff refused because he did not think he needed to go. “And I don’t think he did either,” Hardy stated. Fightful was the first to report that Hardy was let go and also refused help.
“Jeff is in the best place I’ve seen him in a very long time,” said Matt. “As far as the details of what went down on that evening, and in that match, I’ve talked with Jeff, I feel good about everything he said and that’s Jeff’s story to share. And he told me he will when he’s ready to.”
Matt and Reby Hardy said they have talked to Jeff about starting a Twitch channel to show off his music and art. Jeff was said to be excited to start doing Cameo video messages, and that the two would like to do more Final Deletion-style matches together.
Matt Hardy is teasing a potential reunion with his brother Jeff Hardy after the latter was released from his WWE contract only days ago.
The broken one took on his Twitter earlier today and made a tweet that has got people talking about a potential Hardy Boyz reunion. He wrote: “I feel xtremely good about the future.”
Jeff Hardy was released from his WWE contract earlier this week. It happened after the high-flying star left a match in the middle during a live event and was sent home afterward.
Reports suggest that WWE officials offered to send him to rehab. The former world champion refused the offer, and as a result, he was let go.
Matt Hardy has been talking about a potential reunion with his brother in recent times. He even said that Hardy Boyz going up against an AEW team would be the ideal retirement match for him.
There is no word yet on how AEW officials feel about the WWE star due to the circumstances of his release. This tweet from Matt has certainly got people talking.
Though since Jeff Hardy was on a main roster contract, he should have a standard 90 days non-compete clause. This means fans will have to wait at least until March to see the brothers getting back together.
To recap, Jeff Hardy appeared at Saturday night’s WWE live event from Edinburg, Texas. During the main event, he teamed with Xavier Woods and Drew McIntyre to face The Bloodline (Roman Reigns & The Usos). Hardy appeared ‘sluggish’ during the match and actually left the ringside area with the bout still in progress.
https://youtu.be/9WD9T1Rofgc
The word going around backstage is that Jeff Hardy was sent home by WWE officials.
Jeff Hardy did not appear at Sunday’s WWE live event from American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, TX and was replaced by Rey Mysterio.
Matt Hardy updates Jeff’s Condition
During a Monday afternoon Twitch stream, Matt made his first public comments about the situation.
Matt did not want to say much on his brother’s behalf, but assured fans that he spoke with Jeff earlier in the day. He thinks Jeff will be fine, but said it’s not his business and believes Jeff will speak for himself if and when he chooses to do so.
“He is at home and he’s okay,” said Matt. ”It’s not my business. It’s not my story to tell or explain, and besides that, I wouldn’t be able to do it justice anyway because it’s not from my perspective. So, I love my brother and I just want my brother to be okay and healthy. That’s pretty much it.”
“Jeff is okay. He’ doing fine. All is good. If there’s any information to be given out, I’m sure he will himself. He’s good, though.”
Matt Hardy has confirmed that he will be phasing out the ‘big money’ character on AEW and try to be the real him. So his children can see the best version of himself. A fan recently asked Matt about it on Twitter. In response, Hardy said that it seems that AEW audience appreciates real, so he will be focusing on being more authentic.
Hardy later clarified his remarks in a video. He said that he loves his children more than anything on this planet and it’s important for him that they get to see the best version of Matt Hardy:
“Anyone out there that follows Matt Hardy closely knows there’s nothing I love on this planet more than my children. And I’m sure they also know that I am extremely passionate about my chosen career of professional wrestling.
And it is very important to me that my children get to see the best of me as a professional wrestler because I know my time doing this job, living this career is limited, So it’s very important that I optimize every bit of it and my children experience it in real-time. That’s very important to me, and to do that, I have to be the best version of Matt Hardy that I can possibly be.”
The wrestling veteran introduced the big money character on AEW TV at the start of this year. He started managing Private Party and started using heel tactics in their favor. They were later joined by The Butcher and The Blade, forming the Hardy Family Office stable. There is no word yet on if Hardy plans to stop using the big money character completely or keep some aspects of it.
Jeff Hardy has been part of many memorable WrestleMania matches. One of them was when he faced his brother Matt Hardy in a one-on-one match at WrestleMania 25. Though as it turns out, Jeff wasn’t really happy with the bout immediately afterward and he was mad at everyone including Vince McMahon.
The charismatic enigma opened up about it during his appearance on Stone Cold Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions. He revealed that they had to cut a lot of spots from the bout because of timing issues:
“We got cut a lot of time off that match. I’ll never forget this. And I was so upset because we had to cut out several spots. I was so passionate and upset. We didn’t get to do it in front of that crowd. And that was one time me and Vince did have a conversation after that.
[I] think he kind of liked it. He saw how mad I was because I was like throwing stuff [and I was like] ‘can’t believe we didn’t get do that stuff we wanted to do.’ We did plenty. More than enough. But still the passion within me really ignited that night after the match. I was really upset.”
Jeff Hardy On What It’s Like Facing His Brother
Jeff Hardy faced Matt Hardy at WrestleMania 25
Steve Austin also asked Jeff Hardy how it is working with his brother as an opponent. Replying to it, the former world champion said that Matt is his favorite person to hit the swanton bomb on. He also explained that getting the opportunity to face his brother on the grandest stage of them all was a dream come true:
“I was asked this recently. Who’s your favorite person to hit the twist to fate on? I was like – ‘my brother.’ Because when we are teaming, he hits that twist of fate for me to hit that swanton bomb. So, when he’s been a butthole, like he can be. I love to hit him with it and then follow up with the swanton. It’s awesome man. Brother vs. brother. Dream come true.”
Though while the match was a success, Hardy’s career went downhill from there. He was released from his WWE contract the same year. He was then arrested only two weeks after his WWE release. Jeff explained that at that point he felt that his life was over and he would never be able to return to WWE after that.
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Several wrestlers have posted to social media to show how they celebrated Thanksgiving recently. We’ve curated some of the best posts below.
John Cena’s posted a special message for Thanksgiving:
“Gratitude has found its way to the core of my being. Today, many will give thanks and might even express what it is they are thankful for. Challenge yourself to do this more than once a year. It could greatly affect perspective.”
Gratitude has found its way to the core of my being. Today, many will give thanks and might even express what it is they are thankful for. Challenge yourself to do this more than once a year. It could greatly affect perspective.
“I’m thankful for my family, friends and fans. I love my job and I couldn’t I ask for more. Although there is days I can’t move, I’m tired and I feel I can’t keep going I have to remind myself that I’m blessed and I wouldn’t live my life any other way!” wrote Thunder Rosa.
I’m thankful for my family, friends and fans. I love my job and I couldn’t I ask for more. Although there is days I can’t move, I’m tired and I feel I can’t keep going I have to remind myself that I’m blessed and I wouldn’t live my life any other way! #thankfulpic.twitter.com/uvUYU4fsQ8
Brandi Rhodes showed off her setup for Thanksgiving as well:
The dining room set up and the butternut squash soup. Cody went fishing on the right day cause I’m a CATCH honey (And my dog’s cute too) ?? pic.twitter.com/vrhEAVKtdx
Matt Hardy is currently enjoying his stint as a wrestler and manager in AEW. Though at the age of 47 years, the prospect of retirement is lingering around the back of his mind. The wrestling veteran has a couple of interesting scenarios for it. Hardy was asked about a dream retirement match during his latest appearance on AEW Unrestricted. Replying to it, he showed interest in a one on one match with Kenny Omega:
“A dream retirement match would maybe be something against Kenny Omega. I can see that. I’ve never gotten to do a one on one with Kenny Omega and I think he is absolutely one of the most talented guys alive. Even more than that. I would maybe even say a better retirement would be myself and my brother, if that works out in the future, verses like The [Young] Bucks or one of the current tag teams [in AEW]. I would definitely like to end on that note, for sure. That’s how we came in and [I] would kind of like to go out that way.”
Matt Hardy Wants To Be Remembered As A Fearless Wrestler
The Hardy Boys have been wrestling for almost 3 dacades
The other part of the question was what would he like to be remembered for once he has hanged his boots for good. In response, Matt Hardy explained that he would want to be remembered as one of the most fearless wrestlers of all time. Not only from the physical aspect of things but from a creative aspect as well:
“I almost want to be remembered to be one of the most passionate wrestlers of all time, because I am. I’m one of those guys who love this. I grew up a huge fan and I was able to do it. I was able to achieve some success and I’ve always been very passionate [about] everything I’ve done. [I] also want to be remembered as being a fearless wrestler, not necessarily from aspect of taking chance and taking risks even though I have done my fair share of that.
Fearless from a creative aspect about not being afraid to try different things and sometimes they work and they’re a huge success. Sometimes they don’t. And then you go back to the drawing board. So, I would like to be remembered for being a fearless competitor, especially from a creative aspect. I’ll take somewhat of the physical aspect too, athletically, but then also, just being a very passionate wrestler. One of the most passionate wrestlers of all time.”
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Former world champion Matt Hardy is getting to interact with a lot of new people in AEW and one of them is none other than the legendary Sting. The former WWE star recently had an interview with Post Wrestling. He talked about things such as Edge being cleared to compete by WWE and more.
During the talk, Hardy also detailed his first conversation with the Icon. Matt revealed that Sting praised their Stadium Stampede match and expressed the desire to work some cinematic matches himself:
“One of the first things Sting said after he was at AEW was, ‘I gotta tell you, they showed me the match you guys had, the Stadium Stampede. You know, when you went in the water and came out, you were a different gimmick. Like oh my God.’
He said that stuff was so great and he was just going into the whole thing.” recalled Matt Hardy, “He said, ‘You know, I’m think I’m gonna do some of those while I’m here’ but he said, ‘You know, I feel pretty good. I think I can do a couple regular ones too’ and I said, ‘Really?’”
Sting got his wish of participating in a cinematic match when he made his in-ring debut for AEW. He teamed up with Darby Allin to face Team Taz in a street fight at Revolution. He has since wrestled in a few live matches as well.
Apart from this, Hardy also discussed the difference between Tony Khan and Vince McMahon. He detailed an incident where Khan told the commentary team to use the word belt for a title, something which Mr. McMahon notoriously hates.
Matt Hardy would like to see his brother Jeff eventually make the jump to AEW.
Matt and Jeff have been a part of some of the most memorable moments in wrestling. The two took the tag team world by storm as The Hardy Boyz. While they have been on singles runs, they seem to always get back together as a team. As it stands now, Matt competes in AEW, while Jeff is in WWE.
Matt spoke to Adam’s Apple and said that he’s enjoying his time in AEW at the moment.
“Tony Khan is great. I think he’s really on the pulse of pro wrestling in 2021, and he knows how to utilize everyone from top to bottom.
“They’re keeping older guys, or veterans so to say, and utilizing them right while also building up talent. And wins and losses matter and they’re really taking a sports-centered approach that even I had to get used to.”
When asked if Jeff Hardy will ever make his way to AEW, Matt made it clear that it’s something he’d like to see.
“Fingers crossed, man!”
Back in Sept. 2020, Matt explained to Chris Van Vliet why Jeff wasn’t free of his WWE contract as soon as he was.
“Jeff had two major surgeries during his deal. He had shoulder surgery and then he had the knee surgery. He also had some personal time off he needed to take. Altogether it was about a year and eight months,” Hardy explained. “Once that happens in WWE if they still continue to pay you, they can extend his contract so he had a year and eight months tacked on to his deal as opposed to my deal. I worked all the way through without ever being injured, so that is why Jeff is still working there now.”
Jeff ended up signing a new contract with WWE. Fightful Select reported that the deal runs through either the end of 2022 or early 2023.
Mark Henry has given his take on Matt Hardy’s recent injury.
The Aug. 25 edition of AEW Dynamite opened with a matchup between Hardy and Orange Cassidy. At one point in the match, Cassidy landed a flying crossbody and Hardy was clocked right on the nose. Hardy began bleeding and the aftermath was a busted face. Cassidy ended up winning the match.
Henry was asked about Hardy’s injury during an appearance on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio and had the following to say.
“I don’t know if you all paid attention, but Orange Cassidy, right before they went to the finish, he did a flying cross body where he cross bodied Matt Hardy right across the face. I hope that Matt Hardy is alright because I saw him later on in the evening, and his eye was shut, his nose was broken, his face was swollen up to where I couldn’t recognize him if I didn’t know what clothes he had on.”
Hardy has been in a feud with Orange Cassidy that started when Cassidy took issue with Hardy’s treatment of Wheeler Yuta. It was explained on AEW TV that Cassidy felt Hardy targeted Yuta, who has aligned himself with Cassidy and Chuck Taylor, because he’s a newcomer to the promotion.
Matt Hardy says his feud with Orange Cassidy is personal now that he’s busted his face.
When you come for the KING, you’d best not miss. Your best shot missed, OC. You didn’t finish me. You couldn’t end me. This is personal now.
“When you come for the KING, you’d best not miss. Your best shot missed, OC. You didn’t finish me. You couldn’t end me. This is personal now. You can’t BREAK what’s already BROKEN.”
Many believe that WWE did not utilize the Broken Matt character to its full extent during Matt Hardy’s last run with the company. It appears that Vince McMahon being unaware of the character’s origin may have been the reason for it.
The former WWE star recently held his first Twitch ama. He answered questions related to a wide variety of topics including things such as crowds coming back after covid, his scariest bump, and more.
When a fan asked how much Vince McMahon knew about Broken Matt Hardy before their return at WrestleMania 33, the attitude era star revealed that the boss knew absolutely nothing about it:
“He didn’t know anything about it. We worked out the deal with Triple H, on the down low. Triple H was great. Really, I think we came back because Vince was like, “Why are all these people saying Delete?”
Hardy mentioned how he had to explain the whole story of the character to McMahon in 30 minutes. Though according to the former world champion, the boss kept an open mind during their discussion:
“Explaining the Broken Matt story to Vince McMahon in 30 minutes was one of my favorite moments of all time. I had to sound like a madman to him. But he stayed open minded. They said they’ve give us a compound deletion fight, and he kept his word.”
Broken Matt Hardy is one of the most popular gimmicks of the wrestling veteran’s long career. Originally created during his TNA run in 2016, he has taken the persona to multiple promotions since then. He has successfully utilized it in companies such as WWE, ROH, and AEW.
Matt Hardy is arguably one of the most innovative wrestlers of the current era. Jim Cornette, on the other hand, has been frequently critical of the current state of the wrestling business. The two have been clashing on social media as of late.
Ironically, this all started when Matt Hardy put out a tweet encouraging people to not be so negative online. He wrote, “If you read/watch someone’s take & you dislike it, why would you waste any of your time to negatively comment on it? This is odd. Move on. People believe differently than you, whether you accept it or not. Unless someone’s being unethical & immoral, let people live their life.”
This led to someone commenting that Hardy sometimes is sometimes critical of Jim Cornette online.
In the past, I’ve responded to some of his cult over their #BROKEN Matt hate to enhance my heel persona. Done with that. Diehard @AEW fans view me as a heel, so I’m just gonna be me, be real going forward. Had great respect for JC early on, not into his current shock jock gig. https://t.co/kEnPBuukPI
“Not a gig, Matt, just my real opinions since I’m done with this dog & pony show some of you guys call wrestling these days. A shame what’s happened to the business. Had great respect for you when you didn’t teleport to other dimensions and change clothes in a fucking ice machine,” Cornette Tweeted.
Reby Hardy wasn’t going to just sit on the sidelines while someone insulted her husband.
“Your principles will always be tested by people who care more about fame than integrity or money instead of what’s right. Cash in & be a whore or stand up for what you believe in and have a bunch of stupid idiots say you “can’t change.” Words of wisdom. Also don’t do stupid shit,” Cornette responded to Hardy’s Tweet.
My principles have never been better, Jim. I believe in enjoying life & providing the absolute best for my family. That’s what I’m doing. I’ll keep doing that regardless of you.
You "hate" & are done with @AEW? You’ll keep watching. You have to. It fuels your shock jock gig. https://t.co/s2oBO7v679
I was speaking to your husband, who I've known for some time. You obviously don't know me. Some people are intimidated by your tonguelashings. I'm not. Stay in YOUR lane Chickadee, you're dealing with a professional. I don't play nice. https://t.co/ECjMs2O2U9
Wasn't talking just the Lollipop Guild you work for Matt, I mean ALL of this horseshit, your company & it's amateur booker are just the most egregious. Sorry you have to do shit like this to provide for your family, it must be a rotten feeling. I enjoy speaking my TRUE opinions.
Matt Hardy made his AEW debut during the first edition of Dynamite taped without a live audience. Since that time, Hardy has started performing more under his “Big Money Matt” persona rather than his “Broken” one. He spoke to the Asbury Park Press about how the pandemic forced him to reinvent himself yet again.
“Broken Matt Hardy is a very audience-friendly character,” Hardy said. “It needs a crowd, it needs an audience, and it just was not in the cards to be Broken Matt Hardy … because his debut was in the first-ever empty arena era, pandemic-era show, the first empty arena show that AEW had.”
“Broken Matt Hardy is … very theatrical, and it doesn’t translate as well to the current AEW audience that sits at home and watches (on television) because I’ve realized that this is a much younger audience. It’s a much more sports-centric-type audience.”
Hardy then praised Tony Khan for giving him the creative freedom to switch characters.
“I tip my hat to (AEW president and CEO) Tony Khan. He allowed me to try kind of switching characters and see how people reacted to it,” Hardy continued. “I think if we had been in arenas full of people it would have been different.
“But considering we’re now playing to the television audience, it was better for me to zone in and focus on one thing.”
Hardy would continue to say being a heel is the best option for him currently. He will face Hangman Page at Revolution. A stipulation was added to the bout that the winning wrestler is given the losing wrestler’s pay for the first quarter of 2021.
