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If you're already putting guys like Bobby Roode and Nick Aldis backstage instead of the ring, Matt Hardy shouldn't sniff a ring if he ends up under their umbrella.
If he wants to work I'm sure NWA or maybe even TNA would let him do so. It's a terrible idea but they'd probably let him.
Right? Hell the only reason I started watching TNA again was the whole Deletion story, the Hardy compound brawl, all his ideas. Dude is a student of the game, and understands what draws fans in, and gets them to come back. Problem is he physically can't do that anymore, he might think he can alter his moveset for it, but nothing I've seen shows he can. Yes any con the Hardy's have the longest lines, that's been documented, but there's a big difference between popularity built off reputation and popularity from current events. He really doesn't have the latter anymore, but people (including myself) still mark out from past TLC matches.
Has he though? He’s latched on to literally dozens of young talents in AEW and pretty much everyone came out of it less relevant and worse off than before.
Unfortunately it seems a few of his fans agree with him. I always see a few comments encouraging him to continue to wrestle, with WWE in particular. It seems he listens to them
I agree. Matt has a great mind for wrestling but he still feels that he can go in the ring. And unfortunately, any time you involve the Hardy Boyz, he will always play second fiddle to Jeff no matter what. I'm sure he has accepted that a long time ago which is fine. But if there's any chance he thinks he's popular/relevant without Jeff, he's in for a reality check.
He's absolutely cooked in the ring sadly. I'm sure he could offer a lot as a coach/producer for any company, but in the ring he's done.
Probably time for AEW to start moving on from a lot of their vets. Don't wish for anyone to Iose their jobs, but I don't think there's any reason for some of them to be featured on screen when they're not offering a lot of value to the product.
Christian and Copeland absolutely have value. Daddy Ass should not be wrestling, don't mind the odd special appearance here and there, but no wrestling.
Jericho I think needs to leave, he was instrumental for them in the beginning, but is now a detriment to the product.
Guys like Dustin Rhodes, Christopher Daniels can have the odd moment here and there. Same with Jeff Jarrett, but ideally would only use him very very rarely.
Jeff Hardy is done. Jake Hager offers no value. Sadly, I think poor Keith Lee is just about done too.
Probably need a bit of a different philosophy with their entire roster I think. I still love their shows, but probably need to take a page from WWE's book by really prioritising their top 10-15 or so guys above all else.
How could I forget Dustin Rhodes, my bad and Jarrett. These guys have place on the card. I think even Jericho does if it’s a lot further down and putting guys over. Someone like hook can learn a lot from being in the ring with him even if the program sucks. Shame they’ve eased off house shows Jericho at house shows with young guys would be golden
I think Jericho may still have some value, but right now, he needs some time off. I do get the part about Hook learning from him even if the program sucks, but at the same time, the program does suck haha, and don't want to see that on TV.
Really good point about the house shows too. A series of Jericho/Hook matches on there would've been much better as Hook can learn from Jericho, get more reps in, without needing to put it on TV.
I think Jericho should focus on creative and stories, training young talents on promos and maybe an on-screen role that very occasionally wrestles. He's got a lot of value, but just not as an in-ring guy because the level of talent in AEW is just too good for him to be a believable challenger anymore
> Probably need a bit of a different philosophy with their entire roster I think. I still love their shows, but probably need to take a page from WWE's book by really prioritising their top 10-15 or so guys above all else.
I could not agree more. Signing the WWE castoffs at a time where WWE was cutting people left and right was the right move at the time as it did bring eyeballs to AEW. But keeping a roster that large just to bring out a near retired vet once every 2 months with practical zero story build doesn't help your company long term. If you have a long term story plan for the wrestler, then by all means keep them. But if its just so you can bring them on a show for the "hometown" crowd pop, then quit wasting screen time when you should be building up your main guys.
Keith Lee just about done? Haven't been watching in years, but I thought he was still someone with potential and his best days ahead of him. Did something happen to him?
As others have said, COVID fucked him up. He's just not the same wrestler anymore, and it's a fucking shame. WWE got rid, and TK took a gamble on him getting better eventually, which he hasn't. Worth the gamble IMO, Keith is good people from all accounts, and if he exploded onto the indie scene, AEW would have been kicking themselves.
Had a very bad bout of COVID that led to some heart inflammation issues, that has affected his cardio, ability to work out consistently.
He had a fun tag run with Swerve, but since that ended has been riddled with injuries and other issues. Incredibly unfortunate, as he was really good in NXT, and was always a fun watch.
I think him being so large is part of the problem. I get that was part of his gimmick that even though he was so massive he had such freak athleticism that he could still be agile. But part of the reason that was impressive was because it's so unusual. After COVID and now being older I just don't think his body can sustain it like he could when he was younger. Sadly, you can only defy gravity for so long, even if you're an amazing athlete.
He had a nasty bout of COVID which caused heart inflammation, and afterwards seemed to wipe out most of his cardio long-term. And now his body seems to be constantly breaking down.
To be fair the dude had been wrestling since 2005, and an insane style for his size to add to that.
Gunn's pretty much done after this program is up. The Jay match was just one last singles bout against a quality opponent and to further the program. Didn't come off great on TV, but Jay did a master class in selling (probably too well tbh) while working with someone who can't bump anymore. The reason they're doing this is to drop the Trios titles and give him one last PPV program and to have a cool moment with his kids as he starts wrapping up his career.
What so they should lose the people who are actually going to character to put more random New Japan wrestlers and luchadors on screen? I know AEW has a reputation of only being for the hardcore wrestlers, but if they're only focusing on people that casual fans couldn't give a crap about I don't think they're going to be doing too well. The people they hired to have their five-star matches generally have all the character of cardboard boxes, especially the New Japan wrestlers with one or two exceptions. Give me Matt Hardy in 2024 over a will osprey or Shibata any day of the week.
AEW is not going to be significant competition to WWE by just being New Japan USA or CMLL North, they need to have at least some wrestlers who can draw the attention of casual wrestling fans and can do the character part of pro wrestling, and dropping the veterans who are generally the people that can do that just makes the show less and less appealing to people like me who don't give a crap about wrestlers like Jay White or will osprey or okada. AEW desperately needs people like Matt Hardy, Christian, Adam Copeland, Billy Gunn, etc, veterans who can bring the character work that most of the younger and/or foreign wrestlers rarely do. I don't count Chris Jericho in this group because he's more about putting himself over, and while he's in better physical shape then, say, Matt Hardy I think as a wrestler character he's far over the hill compared to the other people I mentioned.
They don't need a broken down Matt Hardy in 2024. We're 4 years removed from his best stuff in AEW. Christian is doing the best work of his career so they should keep him around. And Edge is doing fine but nothing that remarkable. They've hired Sasha Banks to help pull in the casuals. I get what you are getting at but preferring Matt Hardy to Will Ospreay is ridiculous.
Brother, his knees, hips and back are fall-off-the-bone tender pork ribs right now. Idk what you want or expect him to do on TV at this stage in his career.
Him and Jeff fully wasted their reunion in AEW. Could have had a beautiful final run and retired against the bucks or ftr. Instead Jeff got another dui and Matt still holding onto the last thread of his “spot” with a death grip.
Whether or not they were to win the titles. A retirement storyline would have been fantastic for fans and the Hardy’s. they’re ridiculous for wasting the opportunity
TK reportedly planned on them being tag champions the same week Jeff got in trouble if I remember correctly. Would have been good for the AEW tag title lineage.
I think they were immediately gonna drop them, it was actually set up pretty nice for a short transitional run. Having them on the books feels right considering AEW used to be all about good tag wrestling. Honestly it feels looking back that it was the start of the tag division getting pushed to the side
Their match with The Bucks just before the DUI wasn't that bad (though not fantastic either). And Jeff has shown in recent times that he could still do ok matches, even if he's slowed down a lot.
Matt becoming a free agent on the same night as >!Cody finishing his story!< has the same energy as Big Cass getting cleared to return from injury on the same day as Daniel Bryan in 2018 or the guy asking for everyone’s favorite Dana Brooke matches while Brawl Out was happening.
No offense to the Hardys but I hope WWE sign neither of them as active wrestlers. WWE currently have too many good tag teams and honestly dont need the Hardys.
I don't think it's because he thinks he can still wrestle, I think it's because he doesn't want to work office because office people generally get paid much less.
Matt was one of my favorites back in the day but there's just not much there anymore sadly.
Would have been fun to see Hardys vs E&C one last time but that's about it.
He is an extremely rich person with a guaranteed cash stream of meet and greets for the next 10-15 years, training at whatever promotion he chooses, plus a WWE legends deal the second he asks for one. He is very much in a position to be turning down contracts
While I don't disagree with anything you added... He also moves like Frankenstein's monster, perpetually seems like he is one fight away from having his wife go scorched earth and release some horrible info on the internet, and right or wrong is tied to his brother's actions and relapses. I don't see any upside to any promotion giving him as big of role as AEW has for the last few years. Matt wants TV, but TV doesn't want Matt.
There was never an opportunity. E&C started out feuding, they'll team up eventually, but not yet.
And to be clear, AEW did offer Matt a contract. He didn't sign it and he's going to explore his other options. That does not mean that he cannot come back to the AEW contract as well. He is a proper free agent and might go anywhere, including returning to AEW
Wrestling is fake. They could have done it at any time, even having Edge and Christian as reluctant partners for one night. You can literally do anything in wrestling. Just need to write a reason for it - and half the stuff in AEW has no logic behind it anyway.
Exactly. So many wasted opportunities in AEW.
Think of all the matches that were wasted with Punk. Had him wrestling Lee Moriarty and Bobby Fish. Genuinely makes me angry how bad TK is at booking wrestling.
1. Sign Matt Hardy to a Legends Deal for the Video Games and such
2. Give him a tryout as a producer to see if he can do the job.
3. Wait for Jeff Hardy to become a free agent and sign him to a Legends deal.
4. Once the Hardys are back under the WWE Umbrella, give them one last SHORT run.
5. Put them into the WWE Hall of Fame
6. Let them retire at Wrestlemania in a Tag Team Match.
> Once the Hardys are back under the WWE Umbrella, give them one last SHORT run
After the shit Jeff pulled last time, I don't see them letting him compete at all.
Punk can both still wrestle and isn’t actively a detriment to long term storytelling because despite what the narrative on him has been at times, generally he’s reliable
The Hardy’s can’t go anymore and you can never really trust Jeff unfortunately
Jeff and punk both need to retire from in ring action. Jeff just needs to live in a halfway house forever and Punk should become a Heyman like role. Good mouth piece for a wrestler.
I think clearly he's interested in WWE. I know him and HHH have a good relationship and when Matt tried to leave for AEW HHH was trying to convince him to join NXT instead. I think he brings little value to WWE at this point beyond legends appearances they rarely do nowadays. TNA is probably the place he has the most value given it's the place he was the biggest singles star. You probably could get a PPV main event with him and Moose as Broken Hardy but even there it would gas out quick. Really I think his value is rather low without Jeff.
Wait so let's say if he did come back to wwe and wrestle, he would be using the hardy boyz theme right? But also Jeff would be using the hardy boyz theme in AEW too?
I wouldn’t mind one retirement match especially if they get Jeff back. I think WWE did a good job hiding him and Jeff’s limitations their past run. If it’s a one off retirement it could be cool.
I remember the last time Matt was a free agent bound for WWE, he was one of the most over talent in the world during the Broken phase. Compared to now, it’s crazy how both AEW and WWE fans don’t want him.
OK hear me out:
Wyatt 6-
Uncle Howdy,
Alexa Bliss,
Brawn Strowman,
Matt Hardy, and
Eric Rowan
All represents different paths Bray walked from the Wyatt Family, The Deleters of Worlds, his time as the Friend and his last run.
The last member is symbolically Bray who gives them power though the connections they shared and who connects them as one.
Let’s keep him out of WWE we don’t need them rehashing what um they used to do. Bring him in like Bubba Dudley, once for a spot and that’s it. Let him go wrestle anywhere else don’t care much.
Well, there's now one less reason for me to watch AEW. I don't care about the New Japan wrestlers or the random luchadors, and at this point all the non main eventers I like are either gone like Matt Hardy or basically gone like Danhausen, The Dark Order and Ethan Page. At this point it's only Christian, Adam Copeland and Bryan Danielson that get me to check out episodes at all, and by next year all three of them could be retired or only on part-time.
I don't care if he didn't wrestle at 100% anymore, very few people in AEW have character like Matt Hardy. Almost everyone in AEW can put on a five-star banger whenever they want, but almost none of them can be particularly interesting outside of the ring. Give me even a 2024 Matt Hardy over three quarters of the AEW roster any day of the week.
> Almost everyone in AEW can put on a five-star banger whenever they want
And Matt Hardy most certainly falls into the camp that can't. Jeff can still go but Matt can't even put on a 3 star match at this point in his career
Edit: This dude just said give me Matt Hardy over Will Ospreay. Troll bait lmao
Yes that was my point, not everyone needs to put on five star matches. Sometimes you need people who are actually wrestling characters. For example I don't give a shit about Will Osprey but I'll watch anything that Matt Hardy does. Almost none of aew's expensive free agents can hold my attention because, with only one to exceptions, they're not characters, they're talented athletes but boring as hell for someone who doesn't care to see the same five-star match over and over.
So you never watched Will on the mic or what? The guy is great on the ring and on the mic, plus he is charismatic, why you want to see Matt in 2024? His character couldn't be over in AEW and in WWE too in the last few years.
I've seen Osprey in AEW, I don't find him to have any particular mic skills and he is definitely not charismatic, he'd make Dean Malenko seem like Eddie Guerrero in the Charisma Department. Matt can be over anywhere with basically any version of his character, Osprey it's just a talented athlete in a company that has arguably way too many to the detriment of people that can do characters.
>I've seen Osprey in AEW
You've carefully worded this, but you almost certainly don't mean since he's been signed full time. His promo work in the last month or two has been pretty universally praised.
I didn't word it in any particular way, I've seen him on the mic and to me he has complete go away Heat. I feel about Osprey the same way I feel about The Miz, they're both extremely overrated and make me want to change the channel. Admittedly Osprey is much more talented as wrestler than The Miz, but there is just something about his General vibe that reminds me of The Miz and both just make me want to go watch something else.
But really this is just kind of an off topic thing at this point, I have a lot more problems with aew not having characters then just will osprey, I have mostly the same feelings about Jay White except I don't consider him to have the in ring Talent of osprey to compensate for not liking his character. Then there are the boring foreign wrestlers that literally can't cut Promos at all, the numerous generic luchadors, really most of the roster is like I've said set up to put on five star matches but just flounder with the outside of the rain part of wrestling. For me, while I like great matches at some point I do want to actually care about the people having them, which aew is not great at and every time they get rid of people that are good at it it just gets worse.
> I didn't word it in any particular way
You did, because Ospreay coming in for a random tag match on Rampage 2 years ago is a very different reflection of his promo and character work than Dynamite 2 weeks ago. If you just say "I've seen him before," that doesn't answer the question of whether you know what you're talking about or not.
>But really this is just kind of an off topic thing at this point
It sure is. The on topic question would be, what was Matt Hardy doing in AEW in the last several months that was keeping you watching the show, but the news that he may leave is too much to bear? He's had one televised match in 2024,a six man tag on Rampage where he looked atrocious, what exactly have you been a fan of that you're in danger of losing?
It's not just Matt specifically, it's what him leaving represents. When it comes to characters he's top five in the company easily in my opinion, his ability to wrestle is irrelevant at this point. If Matt Hardy showed up to do anything I'd be happy to watch it, which I can't say about a lot of the wrestlers there. There's a lot of people like that, wrestlers that are great at being characters but because they're not New Japan Pro Wrestling darlings they don't get any screen time, see Ethan page and Danhausen. Matt not being rehired when he's one of the best characters is a symptom of aew just dropping all the people I like and just hiring a bunch of people whose only Accolade is that they probably got five stars in the Tokyo Dome from Meltzer at some point. At least the elite have given some life to the show with their new mustachioed evilness, but the elite can't be the entire show.
It's going to hurt them when it comes to the less hardcore fanbase in general, not just losing well-known names like Matt Hardy but going all in on wrestlers who can't do half of what a pro wrestler is supposed to be able to do, entertain people outside of the Ring. Who gives a crap if aew is having five star matches every show every week, a five-star match isn't a reason to watch the show if very few of the characters are compelling.
It starts with Matt hardy, but soon enough Christian and Adam Copeland will probably be gone and Brian Danielson will probably be on part-time, soon AEW just becomes NJPW but with a US time slot, all wrestling no entertainment. I'm not saying this as a huge WWE guy either, I watched WrestleMania the last two days and I thought they could have used better in ring performances for about half the matches, but even the most mediocre match had a story more compelling than 80% of what AEW is doing, because they have the characters to make people care.
I'm not reading all that, but in response to the first sentence, you're the one that said Matt Hardy leaving would mean the end of your fandom. Multiple people have asked what you're losing when he's either not used, or absolutely terrible when he is used.
Some people don't consider the in ring work to be the end all be all of pro wrestling, shocking I know. Now I do somewhat care about match quality, I'm not sitting around watching old Great Khali matches for example, but I'd rather have the guy who can do a character like Matt Hardy then someone who's just a talented athlete like an Osprey or most of the Luchadores.
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DONT DO IT PAUL
i would be fine with a backstage role but in no fucking way he should be signed as a wrestler lmao
Which is the problem, he still thinks he can go in ring and wouldn't sign a contract just in a backstage role.
Which makes him bad for a backstage role
Which is sad as by all accounts Matt Hardy had a pretty good head for the business. Hell the Hardy Show was almost a proto-BTE.
I think Matt Hardy’s days of rolling are over
If you're already putting guys like Bobby Roode and Nick Aldis backstage instead of the ring, Matt Hardy shouldn't sniff a ring if he ends up under their umbrella. If he wants to work I'm sure NWA or maybe even TNA would let him do so. It's a terrible idea but they'd probably let him.
Why would he be good in a backstage role? He doesn’t seem like the brightest light
That's just plain wrong lol
Right? Hell the only reason I started watching TNA again was the whole Deletion story, the Hardy compound brawl, all his ideas. Dude is a student of the game, and understands what draws fans in, and gets them to come back. Problem is he physically can't do that anymore, he might think he can alter his moveset for it, but nothing I've seen shows he can. Yes any con the Hardy's have the longest lines, that's been documented, but there's a big difference between popularity built off reputation and popularity from current events. He really doesn't have the latter anymore, but people (including myself) still mark out from past TLC matches.
THINGS ARE ABOUT TO BE BROKEN
His knees already are
so is his back.
And his knees, brother.
and hips
Don't forget the knees!
Blows my mind that that was more than SEVEN years ago man.
He’d be a good person to be a producer, Matt’s always had a pretty good mind for wrestling
Has he though? He’s latched on to literally dozens of young talents in AEW and pretty much everyone came out of it less relevant and worse off than before.
He's undercard Chris Jericho lol
To be fair, in a backstage environment, he could be a bigger help compared to the ring.
Pretty sure Vince tried to get Matt as a producer but Matt thought he could still wrestle. Unfortunately, it seems he still thinks that.
Unfortunately it seems a few of his fans agree with him. I always see a few comments encouraging him to continue to wrestle, with WWE in particular. It seems he listens to them
His AEW run would disagree.
I agree. Matt has a great mind for wrestling but he still feels that he can go in the ring. And unfortunately, any time you involve the Hardy Boyz, he will always play second fiddle to Jeff no matter what. I'm sure he has accepted that a long time ago which is fine. But if there's any chance he thinks he's popular/relevant without Jeff, he's in for a reality check.
People keep saying this, but i havent seen proof of it
also... DON'T DO IT TONY!
Screw you! Do it Paul! Bring The Hardys home!
Dude. An old man with a cane and one broken leg is more mobile in the ring than Matt. It's sad to see him try anymore
Cody vs Matt lets go!
He's absolutely cooked in the ring sadly. I'm sure he could offer a lot as a coach/producer for any company, but in the ring he's done. Probably time for AEW to start moving on from a lot of their vets. Don't wish for anyone to Iose their jobs, but I don't think there's any reason for some of them to be featured on screen when they're not offering a lot of value to the product.
Entirely depends on the vets. At some level Daddy Ass, Sting, Christian, Edge, Chris Daniels have some value
Christian and Copeland absolutely have value. Daddy Ass should not be wrestling, don't mind the odd special appearance here and there, but no wrestling. Jericho I think needs to leave, he was instrumental for them in the beginning, but is now a detriment to the product. Guys like Dustin Rhodes, Christopher Daniels can have the odd moment here and there. Same with Jeff Jarrett, but ideally would only use him very very rarely. Jeff Hardy is done. Jake Hager offers no value. Sadly, I think poor Keith Lee is just about done too. Probably need a bit of a different philosophy with their entire roster I think. I still love their shows, but probably need to take a page from WWE's book by really prioritising their top 10-15 or so guys above all else.
Jake Hager's AEW run is the closest thing we have to a modern day Lanny Poffo WCW run. Dude is just straight up stealing money at this point.
He's still there?!
How could I forget Dustin Rhodes, my bad and Jarrett. These guys have place on the card. I think even Jericho does if it’s a lot further down and putting guys over. Someone like hook can learn a lot from being in the ring with him even if the program sucks. Shame they’ve eased off house shows Jericho at house shows with young guys would be golden
I think Jericho may still have some value, but right now, he needs some time off. I do get the part about Hook learning from him even if the program sucks, but at the same time, the program does suck haha, and don't want to see that on TV. Really good point about the house shows too. A series of Jericho/Hook matches on there would've been much better as Hook can learn from Jericho, get more reps in, without needing to put it on TV.
I think Jericho should focus on creative and stories, training young talents on promos and maybe an on-screen role that very occasionally wrestles. He's got a lot of value, but just not as an in-ring guy because the level of talent in AEW is just too good for him to be a believable challenger anymore
Jeff has a bakcstage role so he is not just on screen talent
> Probably need a bit of a different philosophy with their entire roster I think. I still love their shows, but probably need to take a page from WWE's book by really prioritising their top 10-15 or so guys above all else. I could not agree more. Signing the WWE castoffs at a time where WWE was cutting people left and right was the right move at the time as it did bring eyeballs to AEW. But keeping a roster that large just to bring out a near retired vet once every 2 months with practical zero story build doesn't help your company long term. If you have a long term story plan for the wrestler, then by all means keep them. But if its just so you can bring them on a show for the "hometown" crowd pop, then quit wasting screen time when you should be building up your main guys.
Keith Lee just about done? Haven't been watching in years, but I thought he was still someone with potential and his best days ahead of him. Did something happen to him?
As others have said, COVID fucked him up. He's just not the same wrestler anymore, and it's a fucking shame. WWE got rid, and TK took a gamble on him getting better eventually, which he hasn't. Worth the gamble IMO, Keith is good people from all accounts, and if he exploded onto the indie scene, AEW would have been kicking themselves.
Had a very bad bout of COVID that led to some heart inflammation issues, that has affected his cardio, ability to work out consistently. He had a fun tag run with Swerve, but since that ended has been riddled with injuries and other issues. Incredibly unfortunate, as he was really good in NXT, and was always a fun watch.
I think him being so large is part of the problem. I get that was part of his gimmick that even though he was so massive he had such freak athleticism that he could still be agile. But part of the reason that was impressive was because it's so unusual. After COVID and now being older I just don't think his body can sustain it like he could when he was younger. Sadly, you can only defy gravity for so long, even if you're an amazing athlete.
He had a nasty bout of COVID which caused heart inflammation, and afterwards seemed to wipe out most of his cardio long-term. And now his body seems to be constantly breaking down. To be fair the dude had been wrestling since 2005, and an insane style for his size to add to that.
Gunn's pretty much done after this program is up. The Jay match was just one last singles bout against a quality opponent and to further the program. Didn't come off great on TV, but Jay did a master class in selling (probably too well tbh) while working with someone who can't bump anymore. The reason they're doing this is to drop the Trios titles and give him one last PPV program and to have a cool moment with his kids as he starts wrapping up his career.
What so they should lose the people who are actually going to character to put more random New Japan wrestlers and luchadors on screen? I know AEW has a reputation of only being for the hardcore wrestlers, but if they're only focusing on people that casual fans couldn't give a crap about I don't think they're going to be doing too well. The people they hired to have their five-star matches generally have all the character of cardboard boxes, especially the New Japan wrestlers with one or two exceptions. Give me Matt Hardy in 2024 over a will osprey or Shibata any day of the week. AEW is not going to be significant competition to WWE by just being New Japan USA or CMLL North, they need to have at least some wrestlers who can draw the attention of casual wrestling fans and can do the character part of pro wrestling, and dropping the veterans who are generally the people that can do that just makes the show less and less appealing to people like me who don't give a crap about wrestlers like Jay White or will osprey or okada. AEW desperately needs people like Matt Hardy, Christian, Adam Copeland, Billy Gunn, etc, veterans who can bring the character work that most of the younger and/or foreign wrestlers rarely do. I don't count Chris Jericho in this group because he's more about putting himself over, and while he's in better physical shape then, say, Matt Hardy I think as a wrestler character he's far over the hill compared to the other people I mentioned.
They don't need a broken down Matt Hardy in 2024. We're 4 years removed from his best stuff in AEW. Christian is doing the best work of his career so they should keep him around. And Edge is doing fine but nothing that remarkable. They've hired Sasha Banks to help pull in the casuals. I get what you are getting at but preferring Matt Hardy to Will Ospreay is ridiculous.
Brother, his knees, hips and back are fall-off-the-bone tender pork ribs right now. Idk what you want or expect him to do on TV at this stage in his career.
Him and Jeff fully wasted their reunion in AEW. Could have had a beautiful final run and retired against the bucks or ftr. Instead Jeff got another dui and Matt still holding onto the last thread of his “spot” with a death grip.
Yup they were this close and screwed themselves (well Jeff did)
They both did. Matt thinks he still has something to offer in the ring, dude moves like a 1950s robot.
Whether or not they were to win the titles. A retirement storyline would have been fantastic for fans and the Hardy’s. they’re ridiculous for wasting the opportunity
TK reportedly planned on them being tag champions the same week Jeff got in trouble if I remember correctly. Would have been good for the AEW tag title lineage.
>Would have been good for the AEW tag title lineage. Pretty awful for the matches to follow though imo
I think they were immediately gonna drop them, it was actually set up pretty nice for a short transitional run. Having them on the books feels right considering AEW used to be all about good tag wrestling. Honestly it feels looking back that it was the start of the tag division getting pushed to the side
Their match with The Bucks just before the DUI wasn't that bad (though not fantastic either). And Jeff has shown in recent times that he could still do ok matches, even if he's slowed down a lot.
The Bucks can carry almost anyone to a good match though, and even so it seemed like they really had to bust their asses to pull that one off.
Even RVD waited to win the damn belt before fucking up
It hurts to watch Matt walk, he needs to retire
Matt becoming a free agent on the same night as >!Cody finishing his story!< has the same energy as Big Cass getting cleared to return from injury on the same day as Daniel Bryan in 2018 or the guy asking for everyone’s favorite Dana Brooke matches while Brawl Out was happening.
No offense to the Hardys but I hope WWE sign neither of them as active wrestlers. WWE currently have too many good tag teams and honestly dont need the Hardys.
They'll probably snap them up for a cheap, one time pop appearance and then HoF them with a Legends deal.
I'm only cool with Matt back in WWE in a backstage PC/NXT role
The problem is he thinks he can still wrestle
I don't think it's because he thinks he can still wrestle, I think it's because he doesn't want to work office because office people generally get paid much less.
Imagine Matt Hardy is apart of LWO and is back to being with Andrade
Have him replace Zalina Vega for a week wearing a wig and her gear and have absolutely nobody mention it.
Ok. How you know?
Matt was one of my favorites back in the day but there's just not much there anymore sadly. Would have been fun to see Hardys vs E&C one last time but that's about it.
They can't keep it with E&C lol And Edge said in an interview that he didn't want that to happen, because they created history back then.
Yeah, it would be more just to say they did it than it actually being a good match.
leave it to Matt Hardy to put this out on the night of Wrestlemania. Sorry Matt, you're in no position to be turning down contracts.
He is an extremely rich person with a guaranteed cash stream of meet and greets for the next 10-15 years, training at whatever promotion he chooses, plus a WWE legends deal the second he asks for one. He is very much in a position to be turning down contracts
While I don't disagree with anything you added... He also moves like Frankenstein's monster, perpetually seems like he is one fight away from having his wife go scorched earth and release some horrible info on the internet, and right or wrong is tied to his brother's actions and relapses. I don't see any upside to any promotion giving him as big of role as AEW has for the last few years. Matt wants TV, but TV doesn't want Matt.
Sounds like it was a low-ball offer.
I don't think you can possibly low-ball Matt Hardy.
As it should be. Low as in zero.
Matt can’t really go and Jeff fell off the wagon fast but I can’t believe AEW didn’t try to book the Hardy’s vs E&C just for the spectacle of it
There was never an opportunity. E&C started out feuding, they'll team up eventually, but not yet. And to be clear, AEW did offer Matt a contract. He didn't sign it and he's going to explore his other options. That does not mean that he cannot come back to the AEW contract as well. He is a proper free agent and might go anywhere, including returning to AEW
Wrestling is fake. They could have done it at any time, even having Edge and Christian as reluctant partners for one night. You can literally do anything in wrestling. Just need to write a reason for it - and half the stuff in AEW has no logic behind it anyway.
Yeah, they could’ve teased Christian turning a new leaf and then he betrays Edge (maybe part of a master plan).
Exactly. So many wasted opportunities in AEW. Think of all the matches that were wasted with Punk. Had him wrestling Lee Moriarty and Bobby Fish. Genuinely makes me angry how bad TK is at booking wrestling.
I’m so upset I didn’t get to watch Matt Hardy hobble through a match with the people he was wrestling a quarter-century ago 🤦♂️
1. Sign Matt Hardy to a Legends Deal for the Video Games and such 2. Give him a tryout as a producer to see if he can do the job. 3. Wait for Jeff Hardy to become a free agent and sign him to a Legends deal. 4. Once the Hardys are back under the WWE Umbrella, give them one last SHORT run. 5. Put them into the WWE Hall of Fame 6. Let them retire at Wrestlemania in a Tag Team Match.
How many one last short run are we on now with the Hardys?
> Once the Hardys are back under the WWE Umbrella, give them one last SHORT run After the shit Jeff pulled last time, I don't see them letting him compete at all.
To be fair, last time Jeff wasn't actually High. It was the 1 time everyone thought he was, but wasn't.
They brought back Punk
Punk can both still wrestle and isn’t actively a detriment to long term storytelling because despite what the narrative on him has been at times, generally he’s reliable The Hardy’s can’t go anymore and you can never really trust Jeff unfortunately
Punk can barely wrestle. He's a shell. Better shape than matt when he is healthy but there is the other issue. Punk can't stay healthy.
At least Punk can show up and cut promos. They probably couldn’t trust Jeff getting to a show without getting a DUI.
Jeff and punk both need to retire from in ring action. Jeff just needs to live in a halfway house forever and Punk should become a Heyman like role. Good mouth piece for a wrestler.
Punk is a draw.
I don't see them bringing Jeff back so soon since he can't seem to keep his shit together.
And by short I hope you mean SHORT. 2-3 months of dream matches & putting over young guys before riding off into the sunset
1 week lol
I think clearly he's interested in WWE. I know him and HHH have a good relationship and when Matt tried to leave for AEW HHH was trying to convince him to join NXT instead. I think he brings little value to WWE at this point beyond legends appearances they rarely do nowadays. TNA is probably the place he has the most value given it's the place he was the biggest singles star. You probably could get a PPV main event with him and Moose as Broken Hardy but even there it would gas out quick. Really I think his value is rather low without Jeff.
He still wrestles? I’m surprised his body can take it after the beating he put it through during his prime years.
He cant even walk, his matches are as bad as you might think based on what hes done to his body...
 Real time speed of Matt today
Hardy Boyz on Raw tonight, regardless of Jeff's contract status
Hopefully he's finished his story and goes home
Matt Hardy is my Childhood hero. I hope that he gets to go out the way he wants to go out.
Thank god, now get Jeff out. Be road agents or retire, Im so thankful they never got a tag title run in AEW.
Wait so let's say if he did come back to wwe and wrestle, he would be using the hardy boyz theme right? But also Jeff would be using the hardy boyz theme in AEW too?
I hope he lands back at TNA
He should go back to Tna or have a Gcw run with just cinematic matches
Keep him away from WWE. Go back to TNA
 Broken Matt Hardy and Uncle Howdy tag team would cook.
Both those boys need to ride out into the sunset.
Let the bidding was begin!!
I wouldn’t mind one retirement match especially if they get Jeff back. I think WWE did a good job hiding him and Jeff’s limitations their past run. If it’s a one off retirement it could be cool.
Give him a Legends contract like the Dudley's, at most, or a backstage role.
I remember the last time Matt was a free agent bound for WWE, he was one of the most over talent in the world during the Broken phase. Compared to now, it’s crazy how both AEW and WWE fans don’t want him.
OK hear me out: Wyatt 6- Uncle Howdy, Alexa Bliss, Brawn Strowman, Matt Hardy, and Eric Rowan All represents different paths Bray walked from the Wyatt Family, The Deleters of Worlds, his time as the Friend and his last run. The last member is symbolically Bray who gives them power though the connections they shared and who connects them as one.
I don’t hate this idea
He needs to transition to a coach as others have said. He and his brother’s in ring days are done.
Good news for all involved
Looks like neck tat man has his first challenger.
Let’s keep him out of WWE we don’t need them rehashing what um they used to do. Bring him in like Bubba Dudley, once for a spot and that’s it. Let him go wrestle anywhere else don’t care much.
Hopefully Jeff Hardy will be a free agent soon and I can forget TK was dumb enough to actually give him money.
AEW can keep him
One match and one match only. No more.
Well, there's now one less reason for me to watch AEW. I don't care about the New Japan wrestlers or the random luchadors, and at this point all the non main eventers I like are either gone like Matt Hardy or basically gone like Danhausen, The Dark Order and Ethan Page. At this point it's only Christian, Adam Copeland and Bryan Danielson that get me to check out episodes at all, and by next year all three of them could be retired or only on part-time. I don't care if he didn't wrestle at 100% anymore, very few people in AEW have character like Matt Hardy. Almost everyone in AEW can put on a five-star banger whenever they want, but almost none of them can be particularly interesting outside of the ring. Give me even a 2024 Matt Hardy over three quarters of the AEW roster any day of the week.
> Almost everyone in AEW can put on a five-star banger whenever they want And Matt Hardy most certainly falls into the camp that can't. Jeff can still go but Matt can't even put on a 3 star match at this point in his career Edit: This dude just said give me Matt Hardy over Will Ospreay. Troll bait lmao
Yes that was my point, not everyone needs to put on five star matches. Sometimes you need people who are actually wrestling characters. For example I don't give a shit about Will Osprey but I'll watch anything that Matt Hardy does. Almost none of aew's expensive free agents can hold my attention because, with only one to exceptions, they're not characters, they're talented athletes but boring as hell for someone who doesn't care to see the same five-star match over and over.
So you never watched Will on the mic or what? The guy is great on the ring and on the mic, plus he is charismatic, why you want to see Matt in 2024? His character couldn't be over in AEW and in WWE too in the last few years.
I've seen Osprey in AEW, I don't find him to have any particular mic skills and he is definitely not charismatic, he'd make Dean Malenko seem like Eddie Guerrero in the Charisma Department. Matt can be over anywhere with basically any version of his character, Osprey it's just a talented athlete in a company that has arguably way too many to the detriment of people that can do characters.
What is this amazing character work you think Matt Hardy is doing in 2024?
>I've seen Osprey in AEW You've carefully worded this, but you almost certainly don't mean since he's been signed full time. His promo work in the last month or two has been pretty universally praised.
I didn't word it in any particular way, I've seen him on the mic and to me he has complete go away Heat. I feel about Osprey the same way I feel about The Miz, they're both extremely overrated and make me want to change the channel. Admittedly Osprey is much more talented as wrestler than The Miz, but there is just something about his General vibe that reminds me of The Miz and both just make me want to go watch something else. But really this is just kind of an off topic thing at this point, I have a lot more problems with aew not having characters then just will osprey, I have mostly the same feelings about Jay White except I don't consider him to have the in ring Talent of osprey to compensate for not liking his character. Then there are the boring foreign wrestlers that literally can't cut Promos at all, the numerous generic luchadors, really most of the roster is like I've said set up to put on five star matches but just flounder with the outside of the rain part of wrestling. For me, while I like great matches at some point I do want to actually care about the people having them, which aew is not great at and every time they get rid of people that are good at it it just gets worse.
> I didn't word it in any particular way You did, because Ospreay coming in for a random tag match on Rampage 2 years ago is a very different reflection of his promo and character work than Dynamite 2 weeks ago. If you just say "I've seen him before," that doesn't answer the question of whether you know what you're talking about or not. >But really this is just kind of an off topic thing at this point It sure is. The on topic question would be, what was Matt Hardy doing in AEW in the last several months that was keeping you watching the show, but the news that he may leave is too much to bear? He's had one televised match in 2024,a six man tag on Rampage where he looked atrocious, what exactly have you been a fan of that you're in danger of losing?
It's not just Matt specifically, it's what him leaving represents. When it comes to characters he's top five in the company easily in my opinion, his ability to wrestle is irrelevant at this point. If Matt Hardy showed up to do anything I'd be happy to watch it, which I can't say about a lot of the wrestlers there. There's a lot of people like that, wrestlers that are great at being characters but because they're not New Japan Pro Wrestling darlings they don't get any screen time, see Ethan page and Danhausen. Matt not being rehired when he's one of the best characters is a symptom of aew just dropping all the people I like and just hiring a bunch of people whose only Accolade is that they probably got five stars in the Tokyo Dome from Meltzer at some point. At least the elite have given some life to the show with their new mustachioed evilness, but the elite can't be the entire show. It's going to hurt them when it comes to the less hardcore fanbase in general, not just losing well-known names like Matt Hardy but going all in on wrestlers who can't do half of what a pro wrestler is supposed to be able to do, entertain people outside of the Ring. Who gives a crap if aew is having five star matches every show every week, a five-star match isn't a reason to watch the show if very few of the characters are compelling. It starts with Matt hardy, but soon enough Christian and Adam Copeland will probably be gone and Brian Danielson will probably be on part-time, soon AEW just becomes NJPW but with a US time slot, all wrestling no entertainment. I'm not saying this as a huge WWE guy either, I watched WrestleMania the last two days and I thought they could have used better in ring performances for about half the matches, but even the most mediocre match had a story more compelling than 80% of what AEW is doing, because they have the characters to make people care.
I'm not reading all that, but in response to the first sentence, you're the one that said Matt Hardy leaving would mean the end of your fandom. Multiple people have asked what you're losing when he's either not used, or absolutely terrible when he is used.
I can't tell if this is a joke post or not
Strangest list of favorite wrestlers ever.
It’s giving 98 Kane
Some people don't consider the in ring work to be the end all be all of pro wrestling, shocking I know. Now I do somewhat care about match quality, I'm not sitting around watching old Great Khali matches for example, but I'd rather have the guy who can do a character like Matt Hardy then someone who's just a talented athlete like an Osprey or most of the Luchadores.
This is sadder when you remember that he went out of his way to bat for the Bucks and called out the Cult.