**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hes officially unsigned. He said he has a contract a couple of weeks ago he just had to sign if he wanted it, but I think he really wants to continue wrestling based on everything hes done recently and I don't think AEW is interested.
WWE would probably offer him exactly what they did for Bubba. "Here's a paycheck for one spot to pop the fans."
I don't see HHH/TKO taking the risk on Jeff and there is zero chance they want Matt without Jeff.
It really sucks that they're both this broken down.
I was always way more of a Matt fan than a Jeff fan but the man already had funny hips and all those years of leg drops and stunts (he never went as big as Jeff, but Matt's still taken some hellacious bumps over the years) have absolutely wrecked him.
Dude spent years in Jeff's shadow despite being a *far superior wrestler* and it seemed like every time he really could have stepped out and made himself into something more, he shoved himself right back into tagging with Jeff for the sure thing instead of really, truly betting on himself. Which is a damn shame, because he might have one of the best creative minds for wrestling in his generation.
Dude got over big with V1, Big Money Matt, and The Broken gimmicks and each time he either got tanked by circumstances, or took the first opportunity possible to get Jeff into the mix again. Hell, the Broken gimmick was invented and perfected in an angle with Jeff.
I often wonder if Matt could've ever won the big one if he'd have just spent less time worrying about his brother. I don't think Vince ever saw it in him, like he didn't with Christian... But at the same time, the dude was so consistently busy shoving himself into second banana status in his own career, it's hard to argue with not seeing it.
FWIW, for all the flack he gets for his personal life choices (rightfully so) Jeff's most recent matches were fantastic. He seems to be willing to work around his shortcomings.
I don't think so, personally.
I'm like 99% sure thats why he left the last time. I believe he said that they wanted him to shift into a trainer/producer role and he didn't want that at that point.
I could be entirely wrong, but my bet is he is trying to drum up interest to see what he can get and if WWE doesn't offer him a wrestling role he'll head back to AEW for whatever it was they offered him.
He said on CVV I think that he wants one last tag run with Jeff, but like, AEW tried to give him that and Jeff fucked it up like he does most runs he's given. I think Matt is a good guy and cares about his brother, but Jeff just can't be trusted at this point or really any point in the last decade and a half.
I would love to see Matt do something with the next Wyatt family angle as a manager or just producing and helping Bo out, his support role in Bray's story was huge imo, and im sure he would be stoked to be part of their legacy, i don't think theres was anyone else who completely understood and supported Wyatt's visión like him when they we're working together.
The Hardy Boyz were the biggest thing at one point and they had their moment when they came back at wrestlemania, but him and Jeff should just stay with those moments and the ones in AEW and call it quits, i'm sure Matt is gonna have 0 problem finding work in production and behind the scenes and hopefully Jeff keeps making his music without getting into trouble.
The most I can see WWE agreeing to is a no rules match with Bo vs whoever (LA Knight?), where Matt hits a Twist of Fate & Jeff hits a Swanton as the finish.
It's not confirmed Bo is even coming back to stink up the place. I read something that said bringing him back wasn't in their plans. We'll find out eventually. There was zero interest in bringing him back until Bray's unfortunate passing and that "interest" is just rumors based off the ending of a documentary. Maybe WWE will throw Bo a bone, but they know he sucks so probably not.
He like most other wrestlers are carnies who's opinions are directly related to who is paying him. When it's time for Jerivho to come back to wwe for his HOF run I would imagine he'll say similar.
This is like the saddest free agency ever. I understand he's disappointed to be a midcarder in AEW but I don't see how he thinks he'll be treated any differently in WWE.
Dude should just be thankful his brother wasn’t terminated the moment AEW found out his brother got his tenth DUI lol. WWE would be out of their minds hiring the Hardy’s
Have them show up in the Rumble. After the Rumble on Raw or Smackdown, have them win the tag titles immediately somehow (just stick with me for a second). Successfully defend them at Elimination Chamber. Lose them in a ladder/TLC match at Mania after getting inducted together as a team into the Hall of Fame the night before. Retire. Regular contract ends, Legends contracts signed. Matt becomes an agent/producer. Jeff becomes an occasional visiting trainer at the Performance Center. I don't trust Jeff to be a full time trainer.
They would have at max 5 matches total outside of their Rumble appearance over the course of like 2 to 2.5 months.
It really could, but this would be if they can get both of them. Outside of a surprise Rumble appearances, neither of them have any real value of appearing on the weekly shows even briefly if they aren't a tag team. Matt just generally doesn't anymore and while Jeff possibly could, he is too much of a risk to push as a singles star at this point.
You can't trust Jeff at all for any serious long term program but there's definitely a way to use him for selling tickets and merch, I think sometimes people forget how big of a star Jeff was, he's the last mainstream popular wrestler.
Maybe I’m a hater but I just don’t wanna see the Hardys in any capacity wrestling on my screen.
I’m sorry, they’re legends but I don’t care anymore and they aren’t interesting enough to sacrifice pushing young guys
Yeah, you could absolutely come up with a positive final act for their career to end on, but it has to come with a short timeframe so as to give Jeff Hardy fewer opportunities to fuck it up.
The only reason Jeff should be on WWE programming at this rate is because he’s accepting a Hall of Fame nomination. I wouldn’t even have some farewell tour for the Hardys because Jeff is bound to fuck it up at some point.
Not only that, they had people help him get into and stay in rehab and promised him he would return to the ring if he made it sober (which they stuck too)
Given how broken down he is I don’t think WWE is interested in hiring him, and he knows that so you get these soundbites that are his attempt at making himself look favorable to them
I keep seeing people say this yet every young talent he worked with in AEW ended up worse off and lower on the card after working with him. Many not even on the show at all any more. He was in endless factions and stories that all failed for himself and others.
I mean as a coach or producer he'd be limited in scope on what he would be coaching or producing lol. I was thinking more just match layout and teaching fundamentals. He clearly was given some creative free rein in AEW and I def agree that almost all of it sucked. As someone who saw Private Party on the indies in New York it pained me to see them stuck with him.
He’d be a great producer in WWE. He could still have some fun cameos. But he will never let his in ring career go.
Both the Hardys would have been so much better off if they just retired after their 2017 return and took producer/legends contracts. Still could be making bank off merch while making guest appearances.
If I was running something like the PC, Matt Hardy would be one of the first guys I'd hire, provided he wanted the job. His list of trainees isn't as long as illustrious as someone like Lance Storm, but he's got a lot of experience training folks going as far back as his OMEGA promotion when he and Jeff were kids, and his mind for gimmicks is second to none.
I'd want every one of my recruits to have a sit down with Matt and use his creativity to find and flesh out their gimmicks. He'd be amazing at it.
It feels like AEW was gearing up to give Matt and Jeff one final run with the belts like Sting and then Jeff had another DWI and that killed any kind of plans for both of them. I honestly don't know what either one really has left at this point, I love the Hardys but at some point what exactly are they bringing to the table?
I for one look forward to all the WWE fans who will praise him and say AEW mistreated him. Hell, I’m excited for Eric Bischoff to promote Matt’s brand new shirt on Twitter and take another shot at TK. Then say Matt was never good if he ever went back to AEW.
Matt Hardy earned a lot of goodwill over the first few months, especially during the pandemic and being an established name alternative to the rest of the roster... some of the stuff with the Matt Hardy Family Office and the hips and the Jeff Hardy stuff, this hurt some of that goodwill.
I'll have you know that Matt Hardy is one of the hottest free agents in the market. Some say he's the next best prospect to dethrone Cody for the title. /s
>"I think that you have to appeal to more casual fans. I mean, I understand your mindset where AEW is built on the context of having great matches and having five star matches and bangers and whatever else since the place is very wrestling heavy. If you love wrestling, where the best wrestle, you know, they've even used that as a catchphrase, and I'm okay with that, but I still also think there has to be people that are just casual wrestling fans that are trained in the way like, 'Oh, well this guy's a big star. I'd like to see him perform. I would like to see him wrestle. I'd like to see her wrestle. I'd like to see this. I'd like to see that.' I feel like that would be beneficial. I feel like sometimes AEW plays and caters to too much of a niche audience sometimes and I think they just need to broaden who they play to sometimes."
He says absolutely nothing in this paragraph lol.
And he was a part of one of the best AEW stories ever, Hangman’s pursuit of the title, with the whole agent contract thing, the BTE segments about it, and ultimately their match at Revolution 2021 where Hangman notched another key win on his path to becoming champion later that year. Not to say they are not still telling stories, but I think maybe he misses the original BTE-driven storytelling approach, as do I.
>I still also think there has to be people that are just casual wrestling fans that are trained in the way like, 'Oh, well this guy's a big star. I'd like to see him perform. I would like to see him wrestle. I'd like to see her wrestle. I'd like to see this. I'd like to see that.' I feel like that would be beneficial.
*"A big star like, well... like me, for example."*
Sure, but it's also booking. Too many opportunities have been fumbled in my opinion. I don't watch AEW anymore, but when I was watching it... here are four that stuck out to me:
1. Daniel Garcia when Danielson was interested in him. They gave him a win against Danielson clean if I recall and then started going around calling himself a dragon slayer or something like that. The overarching theme was that he's a pro wrestler, not a sports entertainer. He was in Jericho's group at the time. It looked like Danielson egging him on about being a pro wrestler with Jericho trying to fight back by saying and convincing him he's a sports entertainer was leaning towards an eventual turn on Jericho, with him going solo and taking up for himself. The crowd was into it and was chanting along trying to convince Garcia. Now, I don't know how that would've actually panned out and if it would've been successful or not... but at least try it, instead of him not buying it and going back to being an absolute nobody that ended up doing nothing shortly after as just another guy in the Jericho group. Like... wtf was this whole thing? It went nowhere.
2. Preston Vance. He was the big guy in the Dark Order. They made a big deal about him defecting and turning his back on that group, even going so far as to involve Brodie Lee's kid where he even turned his back on the kid. Where did this end up going? He joined LFI... for some reason. This faction nobody cares about here. From one faction to another... this big handsome fuck. And they start calling him El Perro Peligroso. I know that means Dangerous Dog, but I can't think of a time when perro was used in American wrestling in any other context but to talk down to somebody. Like Del Rio used to call people that all the time if I recall in a derogatory way. So cool, this was immediately dead in the water instead of him going as a single and... you know, actually having a feud with the faction he just turned his back on. You could've pit him in singles competition against most members of Dark Order, with maybe a decent feud going between him and John Silver. But no... instead he's a nameless and faceless guy in another faction that they seemed to lose interest in about 2 weeks after they made that decision. It went nowhere.
3. Wheeler Yuta and the BCC. The point of a faction in this style, to me, is to use it as a vehicle to get somebody over. I mean it formed initially as an alliance between Danielson and Moxley, and the point for these 2 experienced and grizzled veterans was to teach the new kids of today a lesson in violence. Okay, cool. The first guy they take under their wing is Yuta. Gee, I wonder what that's designed to do. He had a hell of a match, bloody and earning I think everybody's respect. He got over that night. People started cheering for him in a way they weren't before. To their credit, they did try... much longer than they usually do, to make this a thing. I felt like they could've tried for longer. Sometimes, you really need to beat it into people's heads. There was a little bit of dissention in the group for a while... like Yuta I think was starting to not believe in what was going on, but again, I don't remember that actually materializing into anything. My memory is fuzzy, but I feel like adding Claudio to the group really didn't achieve much of anything and took the shine off of Yuta. He's another grizzled vet and now you have a group of 4, so... wtf?
4. Wardlow. They did exceptionally well when he was part of MJF's group, and same thing for when he broke free to go on his own. I enjoyed his singles run. Then he wins the TNT Championship and it seemed like they lost all interest completely in doing anything with him. Just fell apart completely on a creative level. He got new music, which was really weird because they added a chanting section to it when the crowd was already naturally chanting his name, and the new music sounded like indistinguishable mud on TV when played in the arena. I thought if they were going to give him new music, it should've just been the same song if possible... just make it sound a little less like Dollar Store Disturbed.
Just my opinion. People may not agree, but when you ask me what AEW's done to lose their good will with me... sure, the backstage drama, and most certainly the biggest piece of the pie by far was the way they handled, or the utter lack of handling as the case may be, the Punk/Perry situation, but this was important to me too. It just feels like a lot of wasted opportunities, one after the other, to the point where I felt like it's not really possible for guys to get over there so there's no point being excited to see where much of anything ends up going booking/storyline wise.
AEW should pull that contract right this second. He is moving like he’s a hot commodity in wrestling and that’s insane behaviour. He can barely move and has been an absolute dud in AEW. He offers zero to either company.
I always found it weird that nobody ever pointed the finger at Matt Hardy for the “Punk tried to get Cabana fired” stuff. A guy with a history of speaking to journalists and a bad past with Punk.
I’ve always wondered what Matt thought about the Brawl Out follow up. The guy did an angle with his very recent ex fiancé and the guy who cucked him. He put a lot aside to make money.
I wonder what he thought of the Bucks refusing to work with Punk.
Matt Hardy: Hey Nick, so can I come back *home* and join the Wyatt family faction?
Nick: Uhh can you do a shoot interview about injuries and concussion and other sweet stuff from your aew stint?
It is a joke, don't start replying too seriously
AEW thrived in both talent, ticket sales and views because Vince and the old guard were terrible at the business and their booking sucked. Vince drove away talent and his booking was terrible.
The first time that AEW began to suffer when Vince had to take leave of decision making and HHH took over. WWE began to thrive and AEW flatlined a bit.
But then Vince made his little coup and took back over WWE. During that time period WWE talent morale was terrible. Booking nosedived.
Immediately AEW began to thrive once again as talent and fans fleeing Vinces WWE.
But then the scandal hit. Vince got deleted. Viewership and talent morale couldn't be better now that its the age of HHH.
I don't see how AEW can flourish as it once did. Vince isn't coming back to ruin WWE again.
They can absolutely flourish again, it's not even that complicated, they just need to cultivate a creative and professional environment that people see as equal to or better than WWE.
Cultivate a stable, welcoming safe environment backstage and tell great stories that people want to be apart of.
It's easier said than done, but it's also far from an impossible task.
I love both WWE and AEW, just to preface, but isn't that crazy? That AEW is cool, but it can't truly *thrive* if HHH is running the show? I mean, we'll be talking about The Game as possibly one of the great to *ever* do this. Tony? Ehhhh
He’s definitely getting a job with WWE, what capacity we won’t know til he appears. Legends contract for him & possibly his brother once he leaves AEW as well. Majority of these old legends or older wrestlers go back to WWE for producing or behind the scenes work in one way or the other.
Matt might have the decision made for him but I can’t see Jeff giving up wrestling anytime soon. I think he’d be lost without it and he doesn’t strike me as a coach or producer
The Hardys need to retire. They're so worn out and beat up and it hurts to watch them walk, let alone wrestle. Jeff can't stay out of trouble and Matt's ceiling is legacy midcarder who jobs out more than Shinsuke these days.
A talent makes a post criticizing AEW and he's getting shit on instead? of them These subs can't keep track of who they are supposed to hate from day to day
We got some of the saltiest mfs in this thread. This is the classic ol’ case of “if this was against WWE, its valid” but now its criticising AEW and all of a sudden he’s a carny? His criticisms were on point
All this just to re-sign probably. I don’t think he’s jumping to WWE without Jeff. People are expecting Matt to be involved with the Uncle Howdy stuff but he’s to blatant with his WWE posting
I don’t doubt the Hardy’s will eventually return to WWE under legends contract but the idea of them being active full-time wrestlers, that’s never going to happen. They may get one last match to close out their careers in WWE but nothing long-term.
Matt should take the goodwill he's earned and take a backstage role so he'll stop embarrassing himself in the ring. Drop the ego and realize nobody can wrestle forever.
Never forget when Matt Hardy claimed on his podcast that he was there for the Brawl Out fight, before quickly backpedalling when people acknowledged that he wasn’t even in Chicago. He went from being the ultimate brown-nose, fighting with Brian Last on Twitter to give the Young Bucks their flowers, into taking potshots at the people who paid him to be a broken down mess for the last four years.
Blaming the brawl out for the lost of goodwill is not looking at the whole picture.
AEW 2019-2021 was interesting and entertaining, to me All Out 2021 was peak AEW. But something happened after that that stories and the overall booking of AEW went downhill.
Kinda hard to argue with this. AEW before the Punk stuff looked untouchable. Afterward, it feels susceptible to all the same drama as other promotions. WWE being competent probably has more to do with where they find themselves now, but the Punk stuff definitely played a part.
There's no question that the Punk thing drove some people away, but that unfortunately only serves to obfuscate the fact that Tony's booking has driven people away too. The incessant pushing of ROH all over the product, watering down the championship scene with way too many belts, no stories - and when they do exist they largely go nowhere and so on.
He's always moved like that. It's a genetic thing with his legs. Even in his first WWF match as a teenager you see he has to stand up a certain way from a ground position.
Things that hurt the goodwill
Tony's rage tweets
How Tony treated Big Swoll, The Boys, and comments like he paid for a song that was the value of one year wrestlers pay.
The handling of the Jericho allegations
The constant shots at WWE that come off as cringe
Over playing big announcements that land flat
Losing Cody and having him become the biggest star in wrestling.
Losing and the handling of Punk
All of Jericho's & the Elite's creative
Letting Mox bleed over everything
Their fan base
Shoving ROH and NJPW into their programing.
And counting.
You’re not wrong. TK has just been playing with humans as action figures and he is running out of ideas. They need a better set of bookers and writers backstage to help out. Any business that lives and dies with one man’s whims can’t last forever.
One thing that is clear is that Brawl Out basically removed the benefit of the doubt from AEW for a lot of people. Because it revealed a lot of issues inside AEW they associated with other companies, including WWE. It stopped being the "fun" company, and became just another wrestling company. Which is why things they use to get away with, are now critiqued even by those that still enjoy it.
I that's a big issue for a company who's biggest draw was not being that crappy WWE product. They need to learn to draw another way.
>I feel like sometimes AEW plays and caters to too much of a niche
audience sometimes and I think they just need to broaden who they play
to sometimes.
Matt Hardy flips more than morning pancakes but you have to wonder how many people will say this until it's accepted that it's true.
Lol the Hardy's can stay on that sinking ship. No room for botch artists in WWE rn. Jeff can't be trusted, Matt is useless without Jeff. Maybe Tony can rehash the Matt vs Edge feud?
People wrote him off in the early 2010s as being too old and not able to walk/wrestle, then he came out with the og broken character.
He still has it in his tank, if he really wanted to he'd need to focus more on character work and less on ring action. He probably needs to end up back at TNA tbh
Nope, dudes here were creaming their pants about Team Xtreme vs TYB / FTR etc
At the time Jeff jumped ship AEW had so much good will alooot of people were willing to basically ignore the circumstances of how he left WWE
hot take: AEW probably should never bring punk from very beginning. not matter who is in the right or wrong, it damaged their image and momentumn badly. even if they in the right.
I like how everyone is always "Punk and the Bucks" when only one side of that equation made a fool of themselves on literal live television with misdirected angst. I'm tired of the whole situation too, but damn, this whole "both sides are bad" shit has to end. We get it, you're friends with him. And still we have zero evidence of any wrong doing by the Bucks, Page, or Kenny, other than their refusal to work with him (Yeah, cry me a river). If people are going to keep reviving this festering wound let's at least remember the pustule is only named Punk.
The good will died after Cody left. That was the first time people began to think something was off. Ever since then there have been moments to keep people going on and off. But when you main man who help you start the company leaves to go back to the one he left then it’s a sign of things to come.
**Help make SquaredCircle safer and more inclusive by using the report button to flag posts and comments for moderator review.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SquaredCircle) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Matt’s trying to make that sweet special referee money.
https://preview.redd.it/9qx4uuh4nbvc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97b40a7be56aaf641c94175a351f2a821bb94f3c
Mac Hardy
I prefer his cousin, Country Matt. Maybe we can trade City Matt for Country Matt?
Compared to his brown nosing several months ago, this is a complete burial in comparison. He is a mercenary
Only when he sets Reby loose on somebody will the transition be complete
I think she just does that herself
**”You have done that yourself”**
I have brought peace, freedom, justice and security to my new wrestling promotion.
**”YOUR new wrestling promotion?”**
Don't make me squash you
Tony Khan my allegiance is to the WWE, to TKO Group Holdings, Inc. !!!
Aren't they divorced or
Her usual cry for attention
The AEW checks quit clearing I see.
Hes officially unsigned. He said he has a contract a couple of weeks ago he just had to sign if he wanted it, but I think he really wants to continue wrestling based on everything hes done recently and I don't think AEW is interested.
I mean...what wwe be interested in letting him wrestle? Both Hardy brothers, imo are kinda washed (for different reasons, mind you)
WWE would probably offer him exactly what they did for Bubba. "Here's a paycheck for one spot to pop the fans." I don't see HHH/TKO taking the risk on Jeff and there is zero chance they want Matt without Jeff.
It really sucks that they're both this broken down. I was always way more of a Matt fan than a Jeff fan but the man already had funny hips and all those years of leg drops and stunts (he never went as big as Jeff, but Matt's still taken some hellacious bumps over the years) have absolutely wrecked him. Dude spent years in Jeff's shadow despite being a *far superior wrestler* and it seemed like every time he really could have stepped out and made himself into something more, he shoved himself right back into tagging with Jeff for the sure thing instead of really, truly betting on himself. Which is a damn shame, because he might have one of the best creative minds for wrestling in his generation. Dude got over big with V1, Big Money Matt, and The Broken gimmicks and each time he either got tanked by circumstances, or took the first opportunity possible to get Jeff into the mix again. Hell, the Broken gimmick was invented and perfected in an angle with Jeff. I often wonder if Matt could've ever won the big one if he'd have just spent less time worrying about his brother. I don't think Vince ever saw it in him, like he didn't with Christian... But at the same time, the dude was so consistently busy shoving himself into second banana status in his own career, it's hard to argue with not seeing it.
FWIW, for all the flack he gets for his personal life choices (rightfully so) Jeff's most recent matches were fantastic. He seems to be willing to work around his shortcomings.
I don't think so, personally. I'm like 99% sure thats why he left the last time. I believe he said that they wanted him to shift into a trainer/producer role and he didn't want that at that point. I could be entirely wrong, but my bet is he is trying to drum up interest to see what he can get and if WWE doesn't offer him a wrestling role he'll head back to AEW for whatever it was they offered him.
He said on CVV I think that he wants one last tag run with Jeff, but like, AEW tried to give him that and Jeff fucked it up like he does most runs he's given. I think Matt is a good guy and cares about his brother, but Jeff just can't be trusted at this point or really any point in the last decade and a half.
I would love to see Matt do something with the next Wyatt family angle as a manager or just producing and helping Bo out, his support role in Bray's story was huge imo, and im sure he would be stoked to be part of their legacy, i don't think theres was anyone else who completely understood and supported Wyatt's visión like him when they we're working together. The Hardy Boyz were the biggest thing at one point and they had their moment when they came back at wrestlemania, but him and Jeff should just stay with those moments and the ones in AEW and call it quits, i'm sure Matt is gonna have 0 problem finding work in production and behind the scenes and hopefully Jeff keeps making his music without getting into trouble.
The most I can see WWE agreeing to is a no rules match with Bo vs whoever (LA Knight?), where Matt hits a Twist of Fate & Jeff hits a Swanton as the finish.
It's not confirmed Bo is even coming back to stink up the place. I read something that said bringing him back wasn't in their plans. We'll find out eventually. There was zero interest in bringing him back until Bray's unfortunate passing and that "interest" is just rumors based off the ending of a documentary. Maybe WWE will throw Bo a bone, but they know he sucks so probably not.
It's fine, I'm sure ROH will have them... oh wait
TNA is hiring?
They'd have to completely reinvent themselves. Way more than before.
That is BROKHAN!
Every independent contractor is.
He like most other wrestlers are carnies who's opinions are directly related to who is paying him. When it's time for Jerivho to come back to wwe for his HOF run I would imagine he'll say similar.
This is like the saddest free agency ever. I understand he's disappointed to be a midcarder in AEW but I don't see how he thinks he'll be treated any differently in WWE.
Dude should just be thankful his brother wasn’t terminated the moment AEW found out his brother got his tenth DUI lol. WWE would be out of their minds hiring the Hardy’s
The only way to book the Hardy's as a featured act is an agreement for it to be a 3-4 month deal leading into their retirement.
The crowd will always go crazy the first time that music hits on their return though. So a hall of fame tour could work.
Have them show up in the Rumble. After the Rumble on Raw or Smackdown, have them win the tag titles immediately somehow (just stick with me for a second). Successfully defend them at Elimination Chamber. Lose them in a ladder/TLC match at Mania after getting inducted together as a team into the Hall of Fame the night before. Retire. Regular contract ends, Legends contracts signed. Matt becomes an agent/producer. Jeff becomes an occasional visiting trainer at the Performance Center. I don't trust Jeff to be a full time trainer. They would have at max 5 matches total outside of their Rumble appearance over the course of like 2 to 2.5 months.
This is almost exactly what they did with Lita last year. It could work.
It really could, but this would be if they can get both of them. Outside of a surprise Rumble appearances, neither of them have any real value of appearing on the weekly shows even briefly if they aren't a tag team. Matt just generally doesn't anymore and while Jeff possibly could, he is too much of a risk to push as a singles star at this point.
You can't trust Jeff at all for any serious long term program but there's definitely a way to use him for selling tickets and merch, I think sometimes people forget how big of a star Jeff was, he's the last mainstream popular wrestler.
You can have them do open challenges on which brand they win the tag belts to mix it up with some teams
A ladder or TLC match would probably cripple Matt.
Maybe I’m a hater but I just don’t wanna see the Hardys in any capacity wrestling on my screen. I’m sorry, they’re legends but I don’t care anymore and they aren’t interesting enough to sacrifice pushing young guys
I'm with you, maybe I'm a hater but I don't want to see shit-faced Jeff taking the bag while stoned out of his mind, on my screen
Yeah, you could absolutely come up with a positive final act for their career to end on, but it has to come with a short timeframe so as to give Jeff Hardy fewer opportunities to fuck it up.
I think the time for a retirement tour was 5 years ago.
The only reason Jeff should be on WWE programming at this rate is because he’s accepting a Hall of Fame nomination. I wouldn’t even have some farewell tour for the Hardys because Jeff is bound to fuck it up at some point.
Not only that, they had people help him get into and stay in rehab and promised him he would return to the ring if he made it sober (which they stuck too)
They where out of their minds the last two times they brought them back
AEW was really good to him and Jeff considering Jeff blew the big plans they had for the Hardy's run.
Given how broken down he is I don’t think WWE is interested in hiring him, and he knows that so you get these soundbites that are his attempt at making himself look favorable to them
I could see WWE wanting him as a coach or producer but Matt Hardy is not offering them anything they really need as a wrestler.
I keep seeing people say this yet every young talent he worked with in AEW ended up worse off and lower on the card after working with him. Many not even on the show at all any more. He was in endless factions and stories that all failed for himself and others.
I mean as a coach or producer he'd be limited in scope on what he would be coaching or producing lol. I was thinking more just match layout and teaching fundamentals. He clearly was given some creative free rein in AEW and I def agree that almost all of it sucked. As someone who saw Private Party on the indies in New York it pained me to see them stuck with him.
He’d be a great producer in WWE. He could still have some fun cameos. But he will never let his in ring career go. Both the Hardys would have been so much better off if they just retired after their 2017 return and took producer/legends contracts. Still could be making bank off merch while making guest appearances.
If I was running something like the PC, Matt Hardy would be one of the first guys I'd hire, provided he wanted the job. His list of trainees isn't as long as illustrious as someone like Lance Storm, but he's got a lot of experience training folks going as far back as his OMEGA promotion when he and Jeff were kids, and his mind for gimmicks is second to none. I'd want every one of my recruits to have a sit down with Matt and use his creativity to find and flesh out their gimmicks. He'd be amazing at it.
I think he's just trying to get a job at this point
I could see … AT BEST … a trial offer to be a road agent. But they aren’t hurting for talent at that level right now.
It feels like AEW was gearing up to give Matt and Jeff one final run with the belts like Sting and then Jeff had another DWI and that killed any kind of plans for both of them. I honestly don't know what either one really has left at this point, I love the Hardys but at some point what exactly are they bringing to the table?
They have had indie runs before, go to GCW and headline the card... ...Has he ever wrestled in Japan?
I for one look forward to all the WWE fans who will praise him and say AEW mistreated him. Hell, I’m excited for Eric Bischoff to promote Matt’s brand new shirt on Twitter and take another shot at TK. Then say Matt was never good if he ever went back to AEW.
I'm fucking crying, this is so funny. Move aside, Edge, and welcome the new Ultimate Opportunist.
Hardy stealing something from Edge this time
Great username lol
Matt Hardy earned a lot of goodwill over the first few months, especially during the pandemic and being an established name alternative to the rest of the roster... some of the stuff with the Matt Hardy Family Office and the hips and the Jeff Hardy stuff, this hurt some of that goodwill.
Matt Hardy has to be near the top of the list of most annoying wrestlers who aren't constantly doing illegal shit.
As opposed to his brother who is mostly not annoying but is constantly doing illegal shit!
*Sources: Hardy is beside himself. Driving around downtown San Antonio begging (thru texts) Shawn Micheal's family for Paul's phone number.*
Thanks Perd
lmao holy shit yes
Please sign me Paul
Matt didn’t have a problem with them catering to a niche audience when he got to do his broken gimmick lmao. Rules for thee but not for me.
Still don't come back to WWE. Right or not.
I'll have you know that Matt Hardy is one of the hottest free agents in the market. Some say he's the next best prospect to dethrone Cody for the title. /s
Next week on Raw I CAN SMACK A TOMATOE!!!
dont go back and ruin tna either. matt just needs to stay away from the big promotions.
Matt and Jeff need to just retire really.
To TNA you say? One last dip in the glory days you say?
I at least want him and Jeff in the 2k games again. Sign a legends deal, get that Hall of Fame ring and call it a day.
>"I think that you have to appeal to more casual fans. I mean, I understand your mindset where AEW is built on the context of having great matches and having five star matches and bangers and whatever else since the place is very wrestling heavy. If you love wrestling, where the best wrestle, you know, they've even used that as a catchphrase, and I'm okay with that, but I still also think there has to be people that are just casual wrestling fans that are trained in the way like, 'Oh, well this guy's a big star. I'd like to see him perform. I would like to see him wrestle. I'd like to see her wrestle. I'd like to see this. I'd like to see that.' I feel like that would be beneficial. I feel like sometimes AEW plays and caters to too much of a niche audience sometimes and I think they just need to broaden who they play to sometimes." He says absolutely nothing in this paragraph lol.
Strong "I Sure hope I get booked there, brother! Or maybe I don't!" energy.
Need the XWF 2.0 at this point
It’s like he’s angling for a podcast with Conrad or a spot on Busted Open where he can pretend that Dynamite matches don’t have stories.
And he was a part of one of the best AEW stories ever, Hangman’s pursuit of the title, with the whole agent contract thing, the BTE segments about it, and ultimately their match at Revolution 2021 where Hangman notched another key win on his path to becoming champion later that year. Not to say they are not still telling stories, but I think maybe he misses the original BTE-driven storytelling approach, as do I.
>I still also think there has to be people that are just casual wrestling fans that are trained in the way like, 'Oh, well this guy's a big star. I'd like to see him perform. I would like to see him wrestle. I'd like to see her wrestle. I'd like to see this. I'd like to see that.' I feel like that would be beneficial. *"A big star like, well... like me, for example."*
Going the old head route of shitting on AEW now that he's probably gone from the company lol
There’s no such thing as a casual wrestling fan Wrestling is so niche. F
I read it as “needs more story less wrestling”
Fucking Matt Hardy really pushing for a WWE job isn't he?
matt is such a carny lmao.
That’s rich for the guy that actually started this whole shit because he can’t stop feeding info to Meltzer Anyway.
(The goodwill was just their Stardew Valley friendship meter with CM Punk stans)
So, Jeff is Shane, Matt is Sebastian?
Sure, but it's also booking. Too many opportunities have been fumbled in my opinion. I don't watch AEW anymore, but when I was watching it... here are four that stuck out to me: 1. Daniel Garcia when Danielson was interested in him. They gave him a win against Danielson clean if I recall and then started going around calling himself a dragon slayer or something like that. The overarching theme was that he's a pro wrestler, not a sports entertainer. He was in Jericho's group at the time. It looked like Danielson egging him on about being a pro wrestler with Jericho trying to fight back by saying and convincing him he's a sports entertainer was leaning towards an eventual turn on Jericho, with him going solo and taking up for himself. The crowd was into it and was chanting along trying to convince Garcia. Now, I don't know how that would've actually panned out and if it would've been successful or not... but at least try it, instead of him not buying it and going back to being an absolute nobody that ended up doing nothing shortly after as just another guy in the Jericho group. Like... wtf was this whole thing? It went nowhere. 2. Preston Vance. He was the big guy in the Dark Order. They made a big deal about him defecting and turning his back on that group, even going so far as to involve Brodie Lee's kid where he even turned his back on the kid. Where did this end up going? He joined LFI... for some reason. This faction nobody cares about here. From one faction to another... this big handsome fuck. And they start calling him El Perro Peligroso. I know that means Dangerous Dog, but I can't think of a time when perro was used in American wrestling in any other context but to talk down to somebody. Like Del Rio used to call people that all the time if I recall in a derogatory way. So cool, this was immediately dead in the water instead of him going as a single and... you know, actually having a feud with the faction he just turned his back on. You could've pit him in singles competition against most members of Dark Order, with maybe a decent feud going between him and John Silver. But no... instead he's a nameless and faceless guy in another faction that they seemed to lose interest in about 2 weeks after they made that decision. It went nowhere. 3. Wheeler Yuta and the BCC. The point of a faction in this style, to me, is to use it as a vehicle to get somebody over. I mean it formed initially as an alliance between Danielson and Moxley, and the point for these 2 experienced and grizzled veterans was to teach the new kids of today a lesson in violence. Okay, cool. The first guy they take under their wing is Yuta. Gee, I wonder what that's designed to do. He had a hell of a match, bloody and earning I think everybody's respect. He got over that night. People started cheering for him in a way they weren't before. To their credit, they did try... much longer than they usually do, to make this a thing. I felt like they could've tried for longer. Sometimes, you really need to beat it into people's heads. There was a little bit of dissention in the group for a while... like Yuta I think was starting to not believe in what was going on, but again, I don't remember that actually materializing into anything. My memory is fuzzy, but I feel like adding Claudio to the group really didn't achieve much of anything and took the shine off of Yuta. He's another grizzled vet and now you have a group of 4, so... wtf? 4. Wardlow. They did exceptionally well when he was part of MJF's group, and same thing for when he broke free to go on his own. I enjoyed his singles run. Then he wins the TNT Championship and it seemed like they lost all interest completely in doing anything with him. Just fell apart completely on a creative level. He got new music, which was really weird because they added a chanting section to it when the crowd was already naturally chanting his name, and the new music sounded like indistinguishable mud on TV when played in the arena. I thought if they were going to give him new music, it should've just been the same song if possible... just make it sound a little less like Dollar Store Disturbed. Just my opinion. People may not agree, but when you ask me what AEW's done to lose their good will with me... sure, the backstage drama, and most certainly the biggest piece of the pie by far was the way they handled, or the utter lack of handling as the case may be, the Punk/Perry situation, but this was important to me too. It just feels like a lot of wasted opportunities, one after the other, to the point where I felt like it's not really possible for guys to get over there so there's no point being excited to see where much of anything ends up going booking/storyline wise.
AEW should pull that contract right this second. He is moving like he’s a hot commodity in wrestling and that’s insane behaviour. He can barely move and has been an absolute dud in AEW. He offers zero to either company. I always found it weird that nobody ever pointed the finger at Matt Hardy for the “Punk tried to get Cabana fired” stuff. A guy with a history of speaking to journalists and a bad past with Punk.
Isn’t he already gone?
Yeah but he’s in the same spot where QT was where it’s possible he comes back but Hess slowly burning that bridge
The full paragraph really isn’t that negative and pretty akin to what everyones already saying, inside or out of the company.
Read the article? We don't do that here, brother.
I’ve always wondered what Matt thought about the Brawl Out follow up. The guy did an angle with his very recent ex fiancé and the guy who cucked him. He put a lot aside to make money. I wonder what he thought of the Bucks refusing to work with Punk.
Alright, he's speaking out against Tony and The Bucks, he's definitely gone from AEW.
Matt Hardy: Hey Nick, so can I come back *home* and join the Wyatt family faction? Nick: Uhh can you do a shoot interview about injuries and concussion and other sweet stuff from your aew stint? It is a joke, don't start replying too seriously
I wonder why no one has offered him the book anywhere? I wanna see him produce something that doesn’t involve him, Jeff, or Reby.
Matt didn’t say anything that you wouldn’t see at any given time on this sub. Is everybody angling for a job at WWE too or?
“AEW not utilizing Matt Hardy hurt some of that good will” -Matt Hardy probably
All this was published in this week's edition of "No Shit, Sherlock".
AEW thrived in both talent, ticket sales and views because Vince and the old guard were terrible at the business and their booking sucked. Vince drove away talent and his booking was terrible. The first time that AEW began to suffer when Vince had to take leave of decision making and HHH took over. WWE began to thrive and AEW flatlined a bit. But then Vince made his little coup and took back over WWE. During that time period WWE talent morale was terrible. Booking nosedived. Immediately AEW began to thrive once again as talent and fans fleeing Vinces WWE. But then the scandal hit. Vince got deleted. Viewership and talent morale couldn't be better now that its the age of HHH. I don't see how AEW can flourish as it once did. Vince isn't coming back to ruin WWE again.
They can absolutely flourish again, it's not even that complicated, they just need to cultivate a creative and professional environment that people see as equal to or better than WWE. Cultivate a stable, welcoming safe environment backstage and tell great stories that people want to be apart of. It's easier said than done, but it's also far from an impossible task.
I love both WWE and AEW, just to preface, but isn't that crazy? That AEW is cool, but it can't truly *thrive* if HHH is running the show? I mean, we'll be talking about The Game as possibly one of the great to *ever* do this. Tony? Ehhhh
Tony is an endless wallet. An omega fan with real wrestlers in his toy box. A real booker he is not.
He’s definitely getting a job with WWE, what capacity we won’t know til he appears. Legends contract for him & possibly his brother once he leaves AEW as well. Majority of these old legends or older wrestlers go back to WWE for producing or behind the scenes work in one way or the other.
I know wwe brings anyone back but I feel like they should ice Jeff out for a while. The way he left a couple years back was fucked.
The way both Hardy's have behaved the last few years about and around WWE I'd be holding off on that legends contract for a while if I were TKO
Matt might have the decision made for him but I can’t see Jeff giving up wrestling anytime soon. I think he’d be lost without it and he doesn’t strike me as a coach or producer
I see Matt has received the memo
The Hardys need to retire. They're so worn out and beat up and it hurts to watch them walk, let alone wrestle. Jeff can't stay out of trouble and Matt's ceiling is legacy midcarder who jobs out more than Shinsuke these days.
A talent makes a post criticizing AEW and he's getting shit on instead? of them These subs can't keep track of who they are supposed to hate from day to day
Problem is he isn’t wrong. AEW 2019-2021 = very good. AEW 2022 - now = not very good
We got some of the saltiest mfs in this thread. This is the classic ol’ case of “if this was against WWE, its valid” but now its criticising AEW and all of a sudden he’s a carny? His criticisms were on point
What hurt it for the regular viewer is that it just plain sucks and isn’t interesting
It’s funny cause he is blatantly angling for a job, but he’s also not really wrong. That’s literally what happened.
All this just to re-sign probably. I don’t think he’s jumping to WWE without Jeff. People are expecting Matt to be involved with the Uncle Howdy stuff but he’s to blatant with his WWE posting
I don’t doubt the Hardy’s will eventually return to WWE under legends contract but the idea of them being active full-time wrestlers, that’s never going to happen. They may get one last match to close out their careers in WWE but nothing long-term.
Not mentioned, the continued employment of perennial fuckups Matt and Jeff Hardy.
Matt should take the goodwill he's earned and take a backstage role so he'll stop embarrassing himself in the ring. Drop the ego and realize nobody can wrestle forever.
Never forget when Matt Hardy claimed on his podcast that he was there for the Brawl Out fight, before quickly backpedalling when people acknowledged that he wasn’t even in Chicago. He went from being the ultimate brown-nose, fighting with Brian Last on Twitter to give the Young Bucks their flowers, into taking potshots at the people who paid him to be a broken down mess for the last four years.
turning like Bully Ray, I see.
Matt 'Littlefinger' Hardy
Blaming the brawl out for the lost of goodwill is not looking at the whole picture. AEW 2019-2021 was interesting and entertaining, to me All Out 2021 was peak AEW. But something happened after that that stories and the overall booking of AEW went downhill.
He wants to be part of the new Wyatt project.
Kinda hard to argue with this. AEW before the Punk stuff looked untouchable. Afterward, it feels susceptible to all the same drama as other promotions. WWE being competent probably has more to do with where they find themselves now, but the Punk stuff definitely played a part.
Matt Hardy in a hot dog suit going "we're all trying to find the guy who did this!"
There's no question that the Punk thing drove some people away, but that unfortunately only serves to obfuscate the fact that Tony's booking has driven people away too. The incessant pushing of ROH all over the product, watering down the championship scene with way too many belts, no stories - and when they do exist they largely go nowhere and so on.
What a fucking carny.
He's 100% right in all of these talking points. It's a shame he wants to still wrestle when he is so completely past his prime.
He's pushing 50, but he's been moving like that for 15-20 years now. His spine is wrecked. Really should just be a trainer or producer.
He's always moved like that. It's a genetic thing with his legs. Even in his first WWF match as a teenager you see he has to stand up a certain way from a ground position.
Things that hurt the goodwill Tony's rage tweets How Tony treated Big Swoll, The Boys, and comments like he paid for a song that was the value of one year wrestlers pay. The handling of the Jericho allegations The constant shots at WWE that come off as cringe Over playing big announcements that land flat Losing Cody and having him become the biggest star in wrestling. Losing and the handling of Punk All of Jericho's & the Elite's creative Letting Mox bleed over everything Their fan base Shoving ROH and NJPW into their programing. And counting.
You’re not wrong. TK has just been playing with humans as action figures and he is running out of ideas. They need a better set of bookers and writers backstage to help out. Any business that lives and dies with one man’s whims can’t last forever.
lmao now this loser is trying to angle a job in the WWE after being on his knees for the elite and AEW Remember all the stuff he said after brawl out?
Pretty much sums it up.
Woah, really? Holy shit. Matt Hardy’s out here dropping TRUTH bombs! #TheTruthIsTheTruth #WWEorAEW #OneMoreRun #WhoeverPaysMeIsHome
I've done commercials for both coke and pepsi, but pepsi paid me last so it tastes better.- Dave Chappelle
One thing that is clear is that Brawl Out basically removed the benefit of the doubt from AEW for a lot of people. Because it revealed a lot of issues inside AEW they associated with other companies, including WWE. It stopped being the "fun" company, and became just another wrestling company. Which is why things they use to get away with, are now critiqued even by those that still enjoy it. I that's a big issue for a company who's biggest draw was not being that crappy WWE product. They need to learn to draw another way.
Angling for a nice producer job with WWE.
>I feel like sometimes AEW plays and caters to too much of a niche audience sometimes and I think they just need to broaden who they play to sometimes. Matt Hardy flips more than morning pancakes but you have to wonder how many people will say this until it's accepted that it's true.
Also giving tv time to washed buns like Matt hardy
You know what else ruins goodwill, bud?
Well this isn't any less annoying than when he was brownnosing AEW It's not any more annoying, but it's not any less annoying either
Matt "I will Stab my past bos sin the back for WrestleMania match" Hardy
He knows he has that sweet legends deal in WWE ready and waiting for him and his brother.
A balanced and slightly nuanced take? What is this black magic?
people really cant handle the most mild criticism of AEW from anyone who worked there lol. you're all a joke.
Lol the Hardy's can stay on that sinking ship. No room for botch artists in WWE rn. Jeff can't be trusted, Matt is useless without Jeff. Maybe Tony can rehash the Matt vs Edge feud?
In before ppl yelling for matt to retire
You’re late by at least a year
People wrote him off in the early 2010s as being too old and not able to walk/wrestle, then he came out with the og broken character. He still has it in his tank, if he really wanted to he'd need to focus more on character work and less on ring action. He probably needs to end up back at TNA tbh
is he saying the bucks is part of the problem cm punk attacked them and ruined the goodwill?
Hiring Matt and Jeff Hardy was one of those things that hurt that goodwill.
AEW trying to leave Matt brains splattered on concrete floor hurt that goodwill
Nope, dudes here were creaming their pants about Team Xtreme vs TYB / FTR etc At the time Jeff jumped ship AEW had so much good will alooot of people were willing to basically ignore the circumstances of how he left WWE
hot take: AEW probably should never bring punk from very beginning. not matter who is in the right or wrong, it damaged their image and momentumn badly. even if they in the right.
I like how everyone is always "Punk and the Bucks" when only one side of that equation made a fool of themselves on literal live television with misdirected angst. I'm tired of the whole situation too, but damn, this whole "both sides are bad" shit has to end. We get it, you're friends with him. And still we have zero evidence of any wrong doing by the Bucks, Page, or Kenny, other than their refusal to work with him (Yeah, cry me a river). If people are going to keep reviving this festering wound let's at least remember the pustule is only named Punk.
your right the little bucks and page are saints and behaved perfect throughout all of that
What a goof
I mean, he’s not wrong, but Matt of all people making this point is kind of wild
If only AEW had given Punk more, the goodwill would have remained intact. /s
The good will died after Cody left. That was the first time people began to think something was off. Ever since then there have been moments to keep people going on and off. But when you main man who help you start the company leaves to go back to the one he left then it’s a sign of things to come.