From the WWE Rumor Mill: Why the WWE is staying away from the Matt Hardy-Impact Wrestling situation
What’s the story?
On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that the WWE is staying away from the Matt Hardy-Impact Wrestling situation as it does not want to set a precedent of buying a gimmick from another promotion.
The background
In 2016, Matt introduced fans to his ‘broken’ persona on an episode of Impact Wrestling. As part of this gimmick, he adopted a British accent and became obsessed with ‘deleting’ his opponents. Moreover, he began to refer to Jeff Hardy as ‘Brother Nero’. Needless to say, this gimmick became a hit with fans in no time.
Shortly after leaving Impact Wrestling, Matt got into a heated legal battle with Impact Wrestling over the ownership of the gimmick. In the meanwhile, The Hardys returned to the WWE at Wrestlemania 33 and won the Tag Titles in a fatal 4-way match.
The heart of the matter
On the latest instalment of Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said that the WWE is keeping away from this legal battle. However, at the same time, he made it clear that the WWE would love to use the gimmick if Matt is able to acquire the rights to it.
Recently, Impact Wrestling’s President Ed Nordholm claimed that the WWE is not interested in using the ‘Broken’ gimmick.
What’s next?
The Hardys will be putting their WWE tag titles on the line against Sheamus and Cesaro at the Extreme Rules PPV in a steel cage match. It will be worth watching if they exhibit any ‘Broken’ mannerisms during their match.
Author’s take
The ‘Broken Hardys’ is indeed a terrific gimmick and added new life to Impact Wrestling in 2016. As such, it could become pretty popular in the WWE as well.
However, the Hardys are already quite over with the WWE Universe and do not really need that gimmick at present.