"Nostalgia has a law of diminishing returns" - Wrestling legend criticizes The Hardys reunion match on AEW Dynamite
Jim Cornette was not too pleased with Matt and Jeff Hardy's match against Private Party during last week’s Dynamite.
The Hardys have finally reunited after four years of being in different wrestling promotions. Matt left WWE back in 2020 and jumped to AEW, leaving Jeff behind as he continued his solo run.
After an underwhelming run and some controversy, Jeff Hardy was released from WWE in 2021. 90 days later, the brothers have joined forces again in AEW and begun what will likely be their final run.
According to veteran wrestling personality Jim Cornette their debut match was poorly promoted. Cornette ripped into the company and the booking behind the match on his podcast the Jim Cornette Experience.
"Matt and Jeff Hardy reunited in the wrestling ring for the time in [four years], the reunion on free television and not pay-per-view. The reunion match against underneath guys, not main event stars was announced via a press release from Tony Khan the afternoon of the f***ing show... None of these people have ever been involved in promotion before," Cornette said. [0.43 onwards]
Cornette opined that, rather than Private Party, the Hardys should have faced a more popular tag team .
"They decided we’re going to start the Hardy Boys off with an underneath tag team, and they’ll find out that nostalgia has a law of diminishing returns. You start with the hottest thing you can and work your way down, rather than the other way around. All the people out there who have given up on wrestling, who used to be Hardy Boys fans who might watch to see them again after all these years? They probably heard about it two days after the fact," Cornette added.
Bully Ray claimed something was missing when The Hardys reunited for Jeff's AEW debut
While speaking on Busted Open Radio, Bully Ray voiced a few concerns about the overall feeling of Jeff Hardy's AEW debut. The veteran explained that something was "missing", and he also criticized the booking of Jeff's arrival.
"I think there's something missing," said Bully Ray. "I think people weren't expecting Matt and Jeff to stand across from Darby and Sting. The Jeff run-in was a little wonky and odd from the dancing to who really was getting saved. There was enough people scratching their hands that I will give the Hardys an A but I would probably want to give them an A+." [H/T: Sportskeeda]
The Hardys will undoubtedly go on to become one of the biggest tag teams in AEW. While there might be hiccups today, hopefully these will be ironed out soon.
Please credit Jim Cornette Experience and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.