Why Broken Matt has been more 'wonderful' than Woken Matt
The long anticipated yet surprise return of the Hardys at WrestleMania garnered a significant applause from the fans. With Matt Hardy's appearance in Bleached hair that was characteristic of his 'Broken' look in Impact Wrestling, it seemed the arrival of the gimmick wasn't far behind. However, just when copyright issues made it seem like it was something that wouldn't happen, Impact Wrestling gave up the rights of the gimmick thus allowing it to be used in the WWE. Although Hardy has been using the gimmick since then, it hasn't been as successful as it was in its earlier incarnation.
The WWE has had a long relationship with Impact Wrestling with the two creating inspired storylines and often at times, straightaway lifting gimmicks. While imitation is oftentimes considered to be the 'sincerest form of flattery', we often wish someone came up with original ideas instead of using the same gimmick on the same superstar. When you come to think of it, Impact Wrestling's rendition of 'Broken' Matt Hardy was one of the best Gimmicks in recent memory of wrestling fans. However, the gimmick hasn't been able to capture the fancy of the WWE universe.
In this article, we take a look at five reasons which did not allow the gimmick to be as successful in the WWE as it was in Impact Wrestling.
Lack of a proper Background pilot
The introduction of the 'Broken' gimmick was a well-planned decision that had time to evolve into the character that we know today. If we look at it closely, Jeff's Willow gimmick was pretty over with the fans as well. Matt Hardy turning broken was leveraged well when he attacked Jeff disguised as an imposter Willow.
Coming to the introduction of the 'Woken' gimmick in the WWE, it seemed rather forced as well as rushed. The 'Woken' persona getting 'triggered' in a confrontation with Bray Wyatt seemed rather out of context. It seemed like WWE was desperate to get the gimmick in action as soon as Matt gained the rights to use it.