Top star credits Matt Hardy and current WWE Superstar for helping him during "very scary" times in AEW
Many found Matt Hardy's run in AEW disappointing, but the wrestling legend left an impact nonetheless. Private Party's Isiah Kassidy recently praised Hardy and NXT Superstar Ethan Page for helping him through a tough time.
Private Party defeated The Young Bucks to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship on October 30. Zay and Quen are riding high after successfully defending the titles at Full Gear, but they suffered plenty of setbacks before making it to the top.
Marq Quen was injured in late 2022 and spent the entirety of 2023 on the shelf. During that time, Kassidy had to make his way without his partner, and he was helped along by Matt Hardy and Ethan Page. Zay recalled his journey in a recent conversation with Denise Salcedo:
"It was very scary. I was super scared because all I knew was being in a tag team. I literally got out of wrestling training, straight into a tag team with Quen, so to have him not by my side was very scary. But luckily I had the likes of Matt Hardy and Ethan Page by my side and kind of literally walking me, holding my hand, going into this journey, and making me get my confidence and really find out who I am, and I feel like although it was a very sucky situation that Quen was gone, it was very beneficial to me because I found out who Isiah was, and I found out [how] to just be myself and just turn it up a notch when the gamer is on. It was very scary, but beneficial at the same time," Zay said. [H/T: Fightful]
Matt Hardy reacts to Private Party winning the AEW World Tag Team Championship
While The Young Bucks famously put Private Party on the map in 2019, it was Matt Hardy who took the young duo under his wing. The WWE legend managed the tag team and invited them into his stable, the Hardy Family Office.
The Hardys are no longer with All Elite Wrestling, but Matt is keeping up to date on what is happening in the promotion. He addressed Private Party finally winning the Tag Team Championship on a recent episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy:
"I was pretty positive they were gonna win from speaking to them. In pro wrestling, though, it is never official until it actually happens and it goes down in real time. That was great, I know I made a quick post about them and I even acknowledged how it cool it was that we had just won the TNA tag team titles and they won the AEW tag team titles. Very, very cool, all of Hardy Party is strapped up now with a little bit of gold on the shoulder," Matt Hardy said.
The Hardys are currently free agents but spend most of their time in TNA. The door remains open for them to rejoin AEW if they wish it, but for now, they seem to be enjoying their time in the Nashville-based promotion.