Things are getting interesting in TNA Impact Wrestling with Jeff Jarrett returning to creative control and a number of big names returning. However, there are also some big name talent who have contracts expiring as well, including Drew Galloway as well as Jeff and Matt Hardy. According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the WWE wants to bring back Jeff and Matt Hardy but have not made any sort of offer yet.
The reason for that is simple legal reasons. The WWE won’t have direct negotiations with anyone under contract to another company because of legal ramifications if they do so. Instead, the WWE has made it clear that Jeff and Matt Hardy would have a home in the WWE if they wanted to return.
A lot has changed since the Hardy Boyz were last in the WWE. The high flying risk takers from the WWE are now a very interesting gimmick tag team with Matt Hardy taking on the role of Broken Matt and his brother Jeff alternating between an almost zombie state and a more ground based wrestler.
The storyline reasoning for grounding Jeff Hardy was due to Matt Hardy not wanting him to act like a “spot monkey” and instead work on being a great wrestler. The real reason is that Jeff Hardy’s body has taken a severe beating over the years and can’t take many more high-risk bumps.
The entire Broken Matt Hardy gimmick is hugely over. As much as two years ago, wrestling fans had turned on Matt Hardy and the only chants he heard was how much he sucked. Signs read “Fat Hardy” and he was nowhere near the fan favorite that Matt used to be.
Matt Hardy is smart and realized he had to change or he would end up pushed out of the business he loves. It all started in Ring of Honor when he started working as a heel using the gimmick of a rich wrestler that everyone hated because he was successful and they weren’t.
It was slightly based in reality since Matt Hardy had saved his money well and was very wealthy by this time. He also realized that many people hated him because of his prior success in the WWE, although there were also people who tired of his antics on the Internet over the years.
When he ended up in TNA Impact Wrestling, he kept the Ring of Honor gimmick and worked it into a world title reign. He feuded with his own brother Jeff Hardy and was one of the top heels in the company. After his feud with EC3, the Hardy Boyz reteamed for a short time in a three-way feud with the Dudley Boyz and the team of Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards.
In 2016, everything changed. Matt Hardy got some creative control over his character and with Billy Corgan’s help was able to create the Broken Matt gimmick. He had wild hair and spoke in a British accent, mostly spouting nonsense. He got his wife Reby Sky involved and even added a groundskeeper, a drone, and his own toddler son to his group.
Finally, Matt Hardy defeated Jeff Hardy for the Hardy name and renamed him Brother Nero. They had a glorious Final Deletion match at the “Hardy Compound” in North Carolina. Since then, they also staged Delete or Decay and Total Nonstop Deletion from his home, shooting each match like a movie would be edited.
It has been a complete reinvention of Jeff and Matt Hardy and one that kept TNA Impact Wrestling alive during a very tough 2016. However, there is no contract offer from TNA Impact Wrestling yet and the Hardy’s contracts end this month.
If they don’t resign, there is a chance that the WWE could jump in. However, whether or not the WWE allows Jeff and Matt Hardy to remain “Broken” remains to be seen.
