WWE legend claims disappointment with current tag team titles design introduced by Shane McMahon and Mick Foley
The WWE RAW and SmackDown Tag Team Titles were refurbished in 2016. Hall of Famer Mick Foley and then-commissioner Shane McMahon introduced the titles to the respective brands. However, multi-time tag team champion and current AEW star Matt Hardy recently stated that he does not like the new design of the championship.
Matt and Jeff Hardy were a prominent part of WWE's tag team division in the late 90s and early 2000s. Debuting as The Hardy Boyz, they later went on to become Team Xtreme alongside Lita. The duo are ten-time WWE Tag Team Champions and are currently with AEW.
During a Q&A Session on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, the wrestling veteran was asked to break down his favorite and least favorite championship designs.
The former tag team champion stated that his favorite tag team title design was during the late nineties and early 2000s when he first won it alongside Jeff Hardy.
"I would say my favorite belt design is the first-ever WWE Tag Team titles that we won and the ones that were circulating in the late 90s, and early 2000s I love those. I didn't like whenever they switched to the blue and red belts of the SmackDown tag belts. You know, I love those classic Tag Team Titles because those are the ones." [H/T Fightful]
He added that the current red and blue versions seemed like a step back in comparison to the other titles in the company. The titles were introduced during the brand split to identify separate championships for RAW and SmackDown in the brand's respective ccolors.
"The blue and red World Tag Team Championship, I thought that was a step back from the other titles, you know, especially the ones that preceded them, the tag titles before them look really, really nice. I think it was a step backward."
Check out the entire video below:
Matt Hardy recalls scary match against Edge at WWE No Mercy 2000
On a recent edition of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, the AEW star detailed a tag team match against longtime rivals Edge and Christian at No Mercy.
Their opponents donned masks during the match. However, according to Hardy, The Rated R Superstar almost passed out due to suffocation:
"They went out to a mall and bought some masks. It was some famous Mexican masks or whatever. Edge's mask, was actually spraypainted gold. He almost suffocated. He almost passed out because he was wearing a mask that had been spraypainted just a couple of hours earlier."
#LosConquistadores celebrate winning the @WWE #TagTeamChampionships with @EdgeRatedR and @Christian4Peeps at #NoMercy 2000 🍾
#AndNew #AttitudeEra #AttitudeRewind https://t.co/RTW0hD1DTl
Despite being a legend in WWE, Matt Hardy has been plying his trade with AEW for a couple of years now. He reunited with his brother earlier this year and rebranded the iconic tag team as The Hardyz.
It remains to be seen whether the former tag team champions will return to their former stomping grounds anytime soon.
What do you make of the current RAW and SmackDown Tag Team Titles? Let us know in the comments.