Matt Hardy On A WWE Return, Jeff Hardy, Being TNA Tag Team Champs, The BROKEN Universe
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January 16, 2025
TLDR: Professional wrestler Matt Hardy discusses why he and his brother Jeff chose to stay with TNA, their tag team championship title, inspiration behind Broken Matt Hardy, epic WrestleMania 33 return, and potential WWE return.

In the latest episode of the Insight podcast hosted by Chris Van Vliet, professional wrestler Matt Hardy shares insights into his wrestling career, his relationship with his brother Jeff Hardy, and their current run in TNA Wrestling. This engaging conversation dives deep into Matt's experiences, motivations, and what lies ahead for one of wrestling's most iconic duos.
TNA Return and Championship Run
Matt Hardy opened up about the decision to return to TNA with Jeff. The brothers aimed to redefine their legacy and showcase that they still have much to offer in the wrestling world. Currently, they are the TNA World Tag Team Champions, marking their 13th championship reign together. Matt reflects:
- The Importance of Being Current: Matt emphasizes that the Hardy Boys are still relevant today, stating, "People need to speak in present tense. The Hardys are great."
- Winning Titles: The recent championship victory was significant, as it demonstrates their enduring appeal and ability to captivate audiences, contrasting past perceptions that they might be done.
The Distinctive Broken Universe
One of the standout aspects of Matt's career has been the creation of the Broken Matt Hardy character and the entire Broken Universe. Inspired by various media and a desire to innovate in wrestling, the character allowed Matt to experiment with storytelling and absurdity in professional wrestling. Key highlights include:
- Pushing Creative Boundaries: The introduction of the Broken Matt character was revolutionary during its time, leading to a new genre in wrestling that inspired many cinematic matches, especially during the pandemic.
- Dealing with Polarization: Matt recalls the mixed reactions from fans regarding the initial segments of the Broken Universe, noting that the polarization indicated they were onto something special.
Life Lessons and Inspirations
Throughout the podcast, Matt often draws upon personal philosophies and life lessons, including:
- Inspiration from Failure: Quoting Confucius, he reflects on how greatness isn't about never failing but about persevering through failures.
- Influence of Family: His family plays a vital role in his life and career decisions, especially when discussing the future direction of his wrestling persona and legacy.
Enduring Health and Longevity
As a seasoned performer in the ring, Matt addresses the importance of health, training adjustments, and recovery routines that have allowed him to sustain his career into his 50s:
- Daily Recovery Routines: Matt highlights the benefits of consistent cold plunges for recovery and mental toughness, emphasizing how they contribute to his longevity in the sport.
- Evolution in Training: He currently emphasizes more cardio and yoga, adapting to age while still remaining competitive in the ring.
Future Endeavors
Looking ahead, the Hardy Boys are keen on evolving their characters even further. Matt believes:
- Reinvention is Key: He hints at new directions for the Hardy Boys that may include elements of the Broken Universe while exploring fresh storytelling avenues.
- Possibility of WWE Return: As the wrestling landscape changes, Matt entertains the possibility of a return to WWE in collaboration with TNA talents.
Reflections on Legacy
The episode closes with a candid discussion about legacy and the aspirations the Hardy Boys hold:
- Influential Tag Team: Matt expresses pride in their impact on wrestling styles and character work, reflecting on how they inspire younger talent.
- Hall of Fame Prospects: Looking to the future, both brothers may be inducted into various wrestling Halls of Fame, adding to their already storied careers.
Conclusion
Matt Hardy’s insights in this episode of Insight are not only reflective of his personal journey but also serve as inspiration for anyone looking to overcome challenges and redefine their legacy. His stories about perseverance, creativity in wrestling, and the importance of family evoke a sense of gratitude and continuous growth.
Stay tuned for another engaging episode as we continue to explore the world of wrestling through the experiences of its legends.
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Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Blee!
Here we go. Welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CVV. Chris Van Vliet. Thank you for being with us on this one. There's a lot of wrestling podcasts out there. So thank you for choosing to spend the next hour with us hanging out here. And thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet.
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If you're feeling extra generous, you can leave a rating or review or you can leave a comment on Spotify to just say that you're listening to this. All of that would be the icing on top, the cherry on top, if you will. So I'll, I'll thank you in advance for all of that. Tickets are on sale now for insight live in Toronto. I'm coming home, baby. Friday, February 28th, it's the day before elimination chamber. Tickets are on sale for
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after the show. So CBV ticks.com. I will see you in Indianapolis, and Toronto, and Las Vegas for those. Matt Hardy is back on the show. Also, Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy are back in TNA. There is a lot of history there in TNA. That's where the whole broken Matt Hardy character was created. He wouldn't be saying delete, delete if it wasn't for TNA and what he did with the broken universe. And also the cinematic matches
might not have looked the way that they looked during the pandemic if it wasn't for the success of what they were doing at the broken universe and the cinematic matches that they had there. The hardies are currently the TNA World Tag Team Champions. They defend those titles this Sunday, January 19th at TNA Genesis is live on pay-per-view from Dallas, Texas. Tickets are on sale now at tna wrestling dot com.
Also, when you're done with this episode, check out Matt Hardy's podcast that he co hosts with John Alba. It's called the extreme life of Matt Hardy. Recently on the show, they talked about the possibility of the hardies returning to WWE.
Hmm. There's a partnership there, right? TNA and WWE have been working together. So we talk about that a little bit more during this conversation as well, but there's a lot to cover with Matt Hardy because you think about this, the Hardy boys together as a tag team, one of the most influential tag teams of all time, one of the most popular tag teams of all time. Then you think about Matt and Jeff individually.
A real argument could be made there that they've had Hall of Fame careers on their own. So lots to talk about here. Snap a screenshot and let us know that you're listening and tag us. He's at Matt Hardy brand. I'm at Chris Van Vliet when you tag us and let's dive into this. Please welcome Matt Hardy.
Matt, always good to see you. Yeah, man, so he's good to be here with you, Chris. And look, you're a champion this time around. Champion again, yeah, this is pretty cool, man. This marks 13 for Jeff and I. Geez. What a career. Pretty good. We've had a pretty good career. Our goal in the beginning was to be the World Tag Team Champions one time. And if we did anything past that, we like totally exceeded it. So we exceeded it pretty good. What does this one mean to you?
i i think this particular title just uh... shows that people need to get their tenses right uh... you know a lot of people saying past tense you know the hearties were great mmm but present tense is what they need to speak in the parties are great you know we had
a couple years at a w where people thought oh my god maybe these guys are done or they're finished whatever we came back to t and and and kudos to t and a for putting us in a position to succeed and uh... we we rock enrolled as the original og hardy boys more or less and then we ended up earning a tag team title shot and we built to that full middle mayhem at the offer glory which was full middle mayhem reimagined with all just art on the tables and letters and chairs and whatnot
And we are in these titles and these mean a lot to us and we're really happy to be back and be very prevalent again in our position. What we're seeing in TNA right now are the OG hard is including what you guys are wearing. Are these the actual clothes you guys are wearing in the 90s? Yes, mine are. Jeff, his pants were burnt whenever it's house burned down. But mine are original. I still have
two or three pairs of the original slap, because they sponsored us when we first started doing it, and they would ship us. The pants. Kickwear pants, yeah. And he found a couple of the shirts at our dads just recently, and the shirts we wore at Final Resolution were some of our OG Hardy shirts too. Isn't this so funny that the fashion just comes right back around full circle? It's wild, yeah. Like it's so good.
kudos to you for hanging on to him, right? Yeah. Yeah, I'm big on that. I'm big on hanging on the stuff. It means a lot to like, you know, memorabilia. It's very important. I love to look back at that stuff and be reminded of a certain time, a certain feeling I had during that era. But you talked about the OG hardies. That was very important for us to go through and win these titles as the OG hardies. And now we're at the point, I think in 2025, one of the
important things that the hearties are going to do are start to evolve again. I think it's time to reinvent a little bit and go in a totally new direction. You're seeing little bits and pieces of that and some of the promos will be done recently. And what does that look like?
I think it looks like the Hardy Boys, once again, have found success. The Hardy Boys are feeling good. They're physically feeling good. They're mentally and emotionally feeling pretty good about what they're doing. And they're going to understand and be able to comprehend and understand that they are these legends that people speak of, these icons that people speak of after doing this for 33 years and maybe even lean into that a little bit. Did you get to a point in your career where you didn't think you'd be wrestling at this age? You didn't think you'd be wrestling in your fifties?
Yeah, I didn't. I never really thought about it, I guess. My approach in life, I live every day, like it's my last, but I am also living simultaneously living like I'm preparing myself to live to be 100 years old. That's kind of my mindset, because just life is so short, life is so precious, especially after those incidents with
Jay Briscoe, and then the thing with Bray Wyatt and Wyndham, you know, just them passing away like that so quickly and unexpectedly, you know, you never know, man. Do you also feel like maybe you rustle every match like it's your last match?
I think so. I think you guys leave it all out there. I think we try to, especially when you realize you're kind of on that back end of your career and you really want to submit your legacy, I think you kick in and you work a little extra hard. So it was tough whenever we did the whole final resolution thing, because we did the fourth rope show where we became the first champions, the first tag team champions, the fourth rope, which is a project with West Side Gun. And we did a TLC match that night.
So we did that in the next night. It was a tables match where we went through tables and we went nuts, was crazy. And then we actually had a match the third night as well. So those are a little trickier to bounce back from when you're a little older. Like Jeff and I were big cold plunge guys. I know you're an advocate of the cold plunge every day. I think, yeah, that has added so much longevity to both of us, I think, physically in our careers. As you sit here right now, what hurts?
I mean, my lower back, my hips, that's my biggest issue. And I miss not being at home, not doing the cold plunge because there was no bathtub in the hotel. So it was just like a little bit of a cold shower or whatever. But I mean, I get in that cold plunge every single day and I sit there like 45 minutes and it just.
It's crazy that the feeling that he gives you after sitting in there, once you get out, it's tough to get in. Sometimes you're like, I really don't want to get in there. Isn't that funny? It's hard, but then once you come out, you feel so good. It's such a high. There's not a day where my mind's not playing tricks on me. You can answer this email first, or you could eat first, or whatever. Standing out there with no shirt on, it's freezing outside.
I could probably, I could go in later on. Yeah. It's amazing that like mental games, your own brain is playing with you. Of course, yeah. It's really a great, it's a great way to find self-control too. You get in there and like you freak out and you kind of meditate and you get control of your body, you get control of your temperature, you get control of your mind. Yeah. And then like once you kind of focus and you find your chi in there, then you kind of get through it. And then once you get out, you have that amazing dopamine rush.
Yeah, and also if you can do something hard at the start of your day, then other things that day might not seem as difficult. Yeah, I mean, it's a great way to mentally and emotionally start the day. So that's your recovery, but how have your workouts changed over the last decade or so?
My workouts have changed more where I'm doing a lot more cardio. I try to do hard cardio. I just make sure that's important. And I just try and I start with my cold plunge in the day and then I'm cold and then I warm up doing cardio, burn those calories. And I think that's like a, so your body burns calories so your metabolism feeds up as much as we can when you're a little bit older or at an advanced stage like I am. And I do that and then I usually do one body part and then I implement some stretching and yoga every day.
You could have gone anywhere after AEW. What made TNA the right fit? It just worked out right because they offered me something just a couple of days out with the Moose thing, doing a little program with Moose, and I went in initially on a handshake deal. And we said, I'll work through against all odds. And we'll see what I end up doing by the end. And if that ends up being the last day, then we have a match. He retains the title. And then I'll go wherever.
And it turned out that Jeff's deal had expired at AW one day before that. So it was crazy timing. And then he ended up showing up that day. It was a huge reaction. And Jeff said, man, I love what you've been doing. And it's been so cool. And I think we should have a run here. It seems like this is a really good spot for us. They would put us in a position to succeed, which they have. And we can help TNA because they've been hot this year with Joe Henry. They've had the NXT
exchange, which has been great. And then they're really having a true resurgence. And we think we've helped add to that, which is very cool. So the original idea was it was just going to be you. It's just going to be Matt Hardy and TNA. Yeah. And then we got this beautiful thing of the hearties reuniting. Right. And look what it's turned into now. Yeah. So you were in a position in AEW where you were making a lot of other talent look good. Now you're in a position where you guys are the champion
And you're also able to make other talent look good. Yeah, I mean, it's once again, I can't compliment A.W. enough for putting us in a position to succeed. And that's what's real important, especially with a legacy act like myself and Jeff, you know what I mean? We are guys who are still very beloved. We're like generational talent because we have different generations that like us and adore us and follow us. You know, we have a very, very strong following a very, very diehardy
following a fan base and the fact that they have done that they gave us opportunities I mean we don't need to go out there the show doesn't need to be all about us we don't need to be on every single week but we can contribute to tna and they've done a great job in utilizing us what do you think it's been about the hardy boys that have allowed the audience to you've endured yourself to them they love you guys no matter where you are whether you're wrestling independently whether you're wrestling as a tag team they love you what is it I mean I
I think there's a real authenticity to myself and Jeff. I mean, so many people said when we first burst on the scene back in WDB in 1999, and we got over, you know, we were wearing the kickwear pants and the tight shirts. People said, like, these guys seem like regular guys. You know, they seem like guys, if they weren't wrestlers, I'd be friends with them because they're just like cool guys. They've got this cool
where they dress, they do crazy things. They're like, you know, they're just fun. I would be friends with them. And I think people look at us and go like, if these smaller guys can achieve superstardom and make their dreams come true, then hey, maybe I can too. Cause I think it's inspirational because we seem like something that is very attainable. And I still think
People look at us and they see everything we have overcome and they've seen us do all these things, especially Jeff. Jeff is an anomaly that he has destroyed his body for 33 years doing all these crazy stunts and maneuvers and table breaks and ladderfalls and everything else. If these guys can still keep, if they can take a lick and keep kicking like they're doing right now, then maybe I can too. I think it's motivational. I think it's a partial.
I mean, you talk about Jeff having all those great spots. You've had a ton of them yourself. Yeah, I mean, we have and I have to. I look in the mirror every morning and I'm still like very grateful that I'm able to walk, you know, and move like a normal man, you know, and beat up a little bit. But once again, I will, we swear by those ice baths, those cold lunges, they're super beneficial and I felt
great since I've been doing them. I've been doing it for over a year now. Like if Jeff wasn't your brother raising the bar of these crazy antics, these crazy stunts, everything you've done on your own would be just absolutely wild. Yeah, no, it would be. It's crazy because...
I can do that stuff good, but Jeff is the epitome of what the Hardy Boys represented. That's why I was so happy whenever I got the chance to kind of break away from him and do Matt Hardy version with the sensei of magnitude. Because whenever I'm playing over the top, almost delusional character, you know, larger than life, that's where I really shown.
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How many different versions of you have there been? Can we go through all the gimmicks, start to right now? Yeah, I think so. I mean, you initially had me doing independent stuff as a high voltage. This, right? Yeah. Yeah. Everything in the clock goes near your shock.
I came from that commercial, it was like a snare commercial. Oh, my. Yes. And that's where I got that from. And this was like the Ferris Bueller song. Yes. And this was like lightning. You know, that was kind of like my thing. It was like a lightning bolt. And then eventually high voltage, we send a demo tapes to WCW. And then they took the name, I know.
I have actual knowledge that they utilized my name and then took it and give it to the tag team if I voltage and I changed my name to surge just to kind of get a new name. Sounds like an energy drink. Yeah, you're right. And then once we came to WWE, obviously we were man Jeff Hardy.
Also in an era when people weren't using their real names. Yes. Well, we, we got lucky because we were enhancement talent, you know, starting in 1994 and they, you know, we were my real names, Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy. And they said, Oh, if we team them up, let's call them the Hardy Boys. It's catchy because it sounds like the old detective books, right?
And just lo and behold, because we kind of made our name there and people got used to calling us that, you know, by our real names, we were able to keep our real names whenever we started with WWE, which was truly a blessing. The WWE, we have to add a Z to the end for layers at a copyright thing. They added a Z, so it would be theirs, I think.
That was specifically why they did. So they do, you know, people ask like, Oh yeah, Hardy Boys, you use that. I mean, Hardy Boys is a WWE property, especially with a Z. And I would guess the Dudley Boys are too. Sure. You know, they put their, put their own spin on it so they can own it. But now it's, it's the hardies when you're in Tana. Yeah. Yeah. The hardies is what we go by. And it's still, it's still wild that we still call ourselves Hardy Boys, you know, but it does have a better ring to it than Hardy Men.
The hardy men. So after we started doing that, there was a point where we were with Michael Hayes, obviously, we got a little more serious, a little more brooding. And then we actually did join a brood with Gary Grayle that we did. As we went forward, we were still doing a hardy boy stuff. How badass was that entrance? It was the best. That that entrance was the coolest, especially every time you'd ride up. Sometimes if they didn't have
If they didn't have the space to do it or they didn't have the stage to do it, they would just like light a fire and we'd like run and stand in it and then walk out or whatever. But whenever you would come up and go through the stage with that music, it is one of the most exhilarating entrances ever. It was so great. That theme song was so cool. Yeah. Such a, such a banger as the kids say. Such a banger. Where does it go from there? And then you eventually split up the hardies and then you have Matt Hardy, but conversion one, the true version one of himself. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. The sense they have Mattitude.
We start doing that. I come back in 2005 after my knee surgery is Matt Hardy and it's kind of like the will not die version, more or less. Once I get into the version where I turn on Jeff at Royal Rumble and we end up going to WrestleMania 25 and having that extreme rules match, I'm cold blood Matt Hardy. I come to TNA.
I'm sorry, I was the black cloud. It's kind of what I was going by. That never got over huge though because then like Jeff was leaving and they wouldn't have turned me back babyhase. I come to TNA 2011. I was cold blood. Cold blooded meant hardy, cold blood meant hardy. Can we talk about the hair you had when you debuted in TNA? Yeah. What was the idea behind that?
Uh, just want to do something different. And if I'd been in a better place mentally, I think I could have made that into something special too. I just, I was, I was burned out on our levels physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I just, I needed to take some time off and go away for a little bit and get my shit together.
That idea with the hairs, obviously reinventing, trying to do something different, trying to be, you know, seem like a new version of Matt Hardy, whatever it may be. I end up going to Ring of Honor. Ring of Honor, I'm doing big money Matt Hardy now. We're kind of leaning into my history and how big of a star I am and how much TV exposure I've had and how much money I've made from it.
and whatnot. Then you have become back in our regional Jeff and TNA is the original Hardys. And we do that up to an extent where Jeff has gone away. I ended up winning the title as Big Money Matt, do a double turn with EC3. And then once that ends, we segue into Broken Matt Hardy and Jeff becomes brother Nero. It's really interesting. The funnest year of my career by far. We come back to WWE WrestleMania 33. I'm doing like this.
kind of like a morphed character. I feel like I'm still trying to retain the broken Matt Hardy identity, but we were playing regular Hardy boys. And you talk about it like it's not the greatest return of all time. Oh, WrestleMania 33. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was, it was, it was amazing. One of the things we are so grateful to have had that moment, you know, like we
We really kept it to a very small circle of people that knew about it. So there were some people that speculated it may happen, you know, it may not happen, but it did. And it's crazy because the TNA, after we done all the Broken Mount Hardy South, the Broken Universe, Brother Nero, just the tens of thousands of people in there going delete, delete, delete how we had gotten that over and established it.
you know, all over the wrestling industry was so, so cool. Did you feel that wave from the audience? Like, did you feel that rush of energy from them? Yeah, I mean, it was a very surreal moment. Looking back, it's still, whenever I picture it, a lot of times I have vivid memories in my head of something that, you know, has an event linked to it that you really have a vivid memory and it's very crisp.
This one is weird. It's almost like there's static around the outside of it because it's like surreal. It almost felt like a dream.
because it was just so chaotic. And we walked out like we hadn't been in that venue. And that was a long round. I mean, that we literally had got there and we ran up right before we were going out, you know, they were doing all they could to keep it quiet all the way up to the moment we walked through the curtain. And then once we stepped out, we saw that massive crowd and just to see if humanity, you know, delete, delete and all the excitement people were nuts. And I see it's kind of in slow motion, this blurry around the edges because it was so surreal. It was very like dreamlike, you know what I mean?
But what an amazing moment. We're both so grateful that we had. Then you get that. I leave WWE. I end up doing a little broken Matt Hardy and then Big Money Matt again and then back to the Hardy Boys. And then we came to TNA and we won the titles kind of as the OG throwback to the original Hardy Boys. Do you think about how much longer you can do this?
I just, uh, I think I'm just going to ride the spiral till it ends. You know what I mean? I'm just going to, I'm just going to ride the spiral till it ends. I think in the past I have, I'm just going to see how I feel and just roll with it. I try not to take too far ahead. I try not to overwhelm myself. I'm more of a day by day person. I just try and get through everything on day making as good as possible. Is there also the idea that you could continue on without Jeff or vice versa? Jeff continues on without you or do you think that when you guys are done, you're, you're going out together. The Hardy boys are done together.
Probably, I would imagine it would probably go out that way. We came in that way, we would probably go out that way. And then, you know, for Jeff, I could see him, he'll end up being an artist living in Cameron, or Kalan, or whatever he's doing. You know, I think I'm a lifer in the business. I'll be working somewhere as a producer, or an agent, or creative, or whatever else, just because I'm so passionate about pro wrestling. I think once I stop being an in-ring performer, I will still contribute.
The magic you made as broken mat was just it was so special. Thank you. Did you realize that like from the very beginning that you had lightning in a bottle? Whenever the contract signing aired and it was a very polarizing segment because we wanted to shoot things a different way. We wanted to look very different. We wanted to be weird and strange because this character was supposed to be weird and strange.
And I knew when we got such a polarizing reaction to that segment, some people thought, like, it's the most amazing thing. This is a throwback to old school 80s wrestling in the larger life characters. And other people said, like, this is the worst shit I've ever seen, you know? But I knew that the polarizing reaction meant we were on to something because we struck a nerve, right? And then once we did the final deletion, there was a little mixed feedback in the beginning. And then people said, oh, OK, I get what they're doing now. Like, they're kind of, you know, they're
They're doing something and they're kind of letting you in on the act to a degree because there's times where we would break, you know, the fourth wall and there's there's times where we do things unique that were only for inside fans, you know, and whatnot. We would try and produce that JB, Jeremy Borash was so good at this. They would totally be memeable as broken mat or would be a gift, whatever. And like people were sending like, you know, delete memes and gifts back and forth to one another. And it was
It was pretty amazing. I knew after the final deletion happened and we got some momentum rolling following that that we had really tapped into something special. Big credit to TNA for allowing you to run with that too. Because like you said, it was polarizing at first. And they could have said, I don't know, we're going to lean and this doesn't seem like it's going to work. Yeah, they totally could have said like this isn't worth taking the risk. Yeah. And they let you go with it. Yeah. I mean, once again, it was a risk. They were very nervous. I'll never forget.
we we sent a final copy and we did this intentionally jb edited the final deletion and he sent the john gabbard and we're gonna clear for tv and he did like last second so i can kind of had to be sent in to go to tv and and be on air whatever uh... he said well i watch this back and some people told me said
You know, only a wild man would let the school on TV said I guess you can call me the wild man from here on out. Wow. And I'll never forget Dixie texted me that that morning or that afternoon before found Alicia. I'm so nervous about tonight. I hope everything goes good. And it did like a record high number on the channel it was on. And there were so many people seeking it out in the DBRs and trying to record it, whatever else. And then it was like viral online, right? Yeah. So many, so many ways.
So it was, man. I mean, pro wrestling in many ways, especially if you're talking about creating a new genre or new character or new personas is a risk. But I mean, the big scheme of things and that what life is, it's a risk, right? Well, that's certainly what your life and your career has been about.
A lot of risks. It's just like you take a risk when you want to start getting into the podcasting business. We're just talking about that. You had a very successful one for a long time. Mine just turned three years old. Congrats on that. Thank you. You're a genre crusher. You have to take risk. I think we tried to take a calculated risk and they bet on us and it paid off.
I think that you guys created a whole new genre there. If it wasn't for the success of the final deletion, they'd be scrambling during the pandemic era to figure out what to do. Yeah, and that is cool because they've had some versions of the cinematic matches before in the past, but nothing had ever been done quite like ours was. And it kind of was the blueprint for what people would do when they were in a pinch during the pandemic, which was cool.
And it's only because it worked so well in TNA. Like final deletion worked so well that they went, oh, that's a card we can play. Because we know it's going to work. If it wasn't for you guys taking that chance, taking that risk, a real argument can be made that pandemic wrestling might have looked a little different. Yeah. I mean, that is true. And I take a lot of pride in that too. Is there something from that era that you're most proud of?
One of the things I am most proud of is that a lot of times if we were Shooting as opposed to going to work in Orlando. I just did all my work at home That was great to be working at home right right out the back door and you know start shooting fireworks and people How were you kind of? Testing the waters and figuring out what would work as broken Matt and Tana It was a really trial and error, you know the final deletion taught us a lot after we did that and
It was a really unique experience, and we did that with only four people on the production side. It was me, Jeff, and my wife was in it, my oldest kid, Maxle was in it, a senior Benjamin, my father-in-law, he was in it. But we were running and gunning, and we shot it over the course of the night, but we learned so much from doing that.
I feel like it got even stronger and better when we were doing deleted decay. You know, we told a great story in there about Jeff, you know, sacrificing himself for me to save me. And that's kind of what ended up bonding us because it was one of the things I'd, you know, part of the reason I became broken mad in the beginning was I said he was being selfish. We'd won the tag team titles and he's out riding a motorcycle and breaks his leg. You know, and finally he did something that I viewed as selfless and then like we bonded back together, you know, and I took him into the lake and healed him and whatnot.
And he kind of became a half-ass magical character too, which is cool. But it's one of those things where you would see like, these are the things that people like, like, for instance, I knew people loved it. When I first spoke like this, I didn't tell anyone, I was going to start speaking in like this weird combination of British with a British tone and
Jamaican tone, whatever, you know, just the whole combination. It was just something I was kind of figuring out as I went. But something we learned is like people love when I say words crazy. And then when I say them over and over again, because they almost want to sing along with me, they want to say it with me. You know, so whenever I'd say like, prima me Sean, you know what I mean? We know that that was something people love with broken mat. And I would try and look up archaic words that I could use for like something very normal, just
I tried to make that character so super different and stand out in that way. And that's something a character who is cognizant of a soul that is 2,000 years old. I think he would probably use some archaic words. What are the words that fans say to you guys at signers? I mean, every day I hear this. Yes, it will be wonderful. You know, wonderful is definitely the most popular broken mat word, no doubt.
And be willing delete delete delete delete is always there and I mean that we a staple of my career now regardless of what persona I'm portraying because it's just so associated with me, right? I've always loved yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, yes It's it's so funny because like I don't normally throw yes in there like sometimes I do my podcast and you're real frustrated because I'm bad at throwing in like I'll use that word like over
I stop using that. You know, and it's a work in progress as you do it more, you kind of get more cognizant of it, right? And I would never throw yes in total conversations. But if I start, if I revert to broken mat, that yes pops up so naturally and it just comes in there and it's just like the filler, whenever you have, you're getting to your next thing, if you need a moment to think or whatever, yeah, it fits so perfectly. How did you come up with that laugh?
uh... just once again uh... trying to be different trying to be something that was like over the top you know we we
a lot of other laughs. We did. We tried some stuff. And I think part of the charm of the whole broken universe was that it was campy and we kind of wanted to be campy. And we wanted to like kind of let people in on the joke in some ways. And that's what it, that's what it took. Once people started figuring that out that it's okay, like where you can laugh with this because like this isn't meant to be super serious. We had a couple of serious moments here and there, like whenever Jeff sacrificed himself for me and deleted a K, but I think the whole point of that was to
have fun. It was like a fun character. It was a fun guy who says crazy things. And I was thinking about that. One of the reasons I ended up offering to do this deal, like Jeff's got a very funny story. He says, yeah, Matt came up to me and said, I want you to do like a real big swan town on me, like hurt me real bad. And just, I'm going to go crazy. And I'm going to go crazy for him. Like put a blonde streak in my hair and just I've got some ideas. And he said, yeah, he just told me I said, I had no idea kind of the big picture of what he ultimately wanted to end up doing.
What was the genesis of that? Where'd you even get the concept for that? The concept from Broken Mad, well, there were so many young guys doing these amazing matches, doing all these crazy athletic, acrobatic moves and stuff. That's when really the business, the work rate was picking up more and more and more. I said, you know, everybody's doing this. I said, let me lean into something I feel like I'd be better at.
you know, uh, and over the top, maybe half as delusional character, you know, this larger than life and I could do it. And maybe even tap into like the old school wrestling when you had like publish on go or when you had an undertaker and he was more magical. I'm really character based. Let me see if I can get into something like that and get it over. I said, you know, worst case scenario, uh, you know, I'll see him. I come crazy and then maybe even people will buy that. I'm like some sort of some sort of supernatural character. Something has happened to me after my brain was broken and I became, became cognizant of where my
essence or my soul has been over all these years. And I think the reason I really came up with that was because of True Blood. My wife and I, we'd been watching it. I was a big TV series person after I took time away from WWE initially. And I'd watch like True Detective, which season one was just incredible. Dexter, still a huge Dexter fan watching the new stuff right now.
And true blood and I thought the vampire stuff was so cool I was such a big fan of Alexander scars guard how you see him in these different eras how he has different clothes on he has different haircuts different styles and Just how much stuff changes through Thomas that'd be so amazing if you could do an immortal gaming
I said, obviously we're all mortal, right? You can't really truly do an immortal gimmick when it comes to that. I said, but what if I could be aware of where my soul has been, like the different bodies has been in, like once it leaves one body, then it goes to another. And I could say I've been all these people and I can say in theory, I'm 2000 years old, you know, if I'm aware of where my soul has been. And that's, that was pretty much the, the building blocks have broken been hardy. And you never broke character.
Yeah. I mean, that was something that I was very dead serious about to keep consistency because I wanted people to think if I had lost my mind and I wasn't going crazy, that he is going crazy. Because as soon as you step out of that and show people that you're normal and that you're a regular guy who can articulate and speak normal and you're okay, then it's obviously a character that is not really you.
I remember I was hot, they were trying to get me, I was hot as far as like business going. People were buying merch and they weren't to see Broken Man, they weren't to see Brother Newroom, we weren't to see the Broken Universe stuff. And they asked me to do media for something and they were going to have me do the Wrestling Observer with Dave Meltzer.
And they said, yeah, you know, we're going to do this, but we would like you to, you know, get going, talk to him a little bit about promote this event. This was a TNA. I said, well, I'll go on, but I'm not breaking character. I said, I'm going to talk about me in 2000 years old. I don't give a shit about work rates or a five star match or whatever else. I said, I'm broken that heart through and through. And that's where they're going to get that jargon. And, and I did, you know, I really stuck to the gimmick. Well, I did a podcast with Chris Jericho and did it for an hour. Was that hard?
No, I mean, I was so locked into it. Like, once I would commit to that bit and commit to the role, it was pretty easy. I was pretty good at it. I did an interview with you and Jeff in 2016. It was actually the day before you guys returned to WrestleMania 33. Oh, yeah. And Ring of Honor. Ring of Honor. And you were in full character. You were telling me how old my soul was. Yeah. How many vessels that I had been in. Yeah, yeah. Amazing. Yeah. And Jeff's next to you, like just kind of like playing along, like,
Yeah, man. This is what he does. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was, man. That was the year of doing Broken Mat and TNA. From when I started when Jeff jumped off the top of the impact zone and put me through that table and then we started the whole deal all the way through WrestleMania. That year, that was the funnest year of my career. By far, nothing even compares to it. If Broken Mat was so much fun, is that something you want to revisit now in TNA?
well as i said before i think jeff and i i think we want to read that and we want to do something new and fresh and you know that there's gonna be hints of broken mat you know broken mat is now you know it is part of me you know and always will be part of me you know so there there will be there will be some broken mat in in whatever identity i use going forward but i think we can do something
very special way forward that maybe we have transcended, you know, we have transcended. Pro wrestling superstars, we are something bigger, you know, and we're these angelic figures who want to put DNA on his back and bring it back to prevalence. And I think we could be filling ourself a little bit, you know, filling ourself a little too much after having this long legendary title ring.
Party Boys heel turn okay, maybe so we could see and I could see me in a big baby face thing to all that yeah It's hard to boo you guys. Yeah, it's very hard to boo you guys after all this time How do you know when it's time to move on from a gimmick? I Mean you can fill it in the audience just when things are getting stale just I like I I knew whenever I
Whenever I was back in TNA, and I was doing things, Jeff and I reunited, it was real hot for the first little thing. We were doing kind of like OG Hardy Boys. I was doing a lot of the math. I already wanted that stuff. But then once Jeff got hurt, and I started doing some stuff with EC3, and I volunteered, said, hey, this guy's gonna be kind of the face of the company. We're trying to build him, and he just won the title from Kurt Angle. I said, let me work against him. I said, we can have a couple matches, and maybe we can build to a ladder match, and I can put him over, and we can try and put him on the map, and make him into a bigger deal for TNA.
And as we were doing that, that's where it ended up, that I was going to win the title. They kind of changed our last second. We happened to be in North Carolina for this Bound For Glory we're having. And that was an amazing moment at Bound For Glory 2015, where I was myself, EC3, and Drew McIntyre. My brother was the referee who's coming back from a broken leg. And at the end of the night, I'd won the title. My wife, my newborn son, Maxle, and our dad all came in the ring and we celebrated in North Carolina. That was a really, really special moment that I dug so much. But I also knew at that time,
that people were like, OK, well, it's the hardy boys. We've kind of seen it before. I knew I had to do something different. And that's right where I decided to continue working with EC3 and do that double turn and go back to being big money man and really hit it hard. Initially, I was going to do the iconic.
Matt Hardy and do a new version of Big Money Mad, but Big Money Mad ended up still kind of coming into play as well. It's just so interesting that they've all had success because you look at a lot of people in this business and they will stick to one character. There's a lot of legends. They have one character their entire career. Rock and roll express. Yeah, sure. You look at those guys. Yeah, and they play the greatest hits and it works. And I guess you guys could do that, but it's interesting that in reinventing yourselves, you've been able to have even more success.
Yeah, and I think that's what's important. I mean, once again, I was talking about, you know, series television and whatnot. You know, if you have Breaking Bad was five seasons in theory, the fifth season was very long, almost six seasons, right? But like, you can only write for these characters without being repetitive for so long, right? And that's why they wrap up these shows and it becomes really good, especially if the character doesn't like become repetitive or do stuff. Yeah, before they jump the shark.
Yeah, before they jumped the shark. But in pro wrestling, we've been doing this for 33 years. And once you've been doing it for three decades and a year is longer than a season, obviously. I mean, you have to change things up and freshen things up so that people have something new. So you don't become repetitive. So you don't become boring over and over. And that's what I think the whole art of reinvention is all about. I think you had some of the greatest spots of your career as broken mat in TNA. Yeah.
You rustled, you boxed a kangaroo. Oh yeah. I mean, Jeff and I didn't, that was one of the most terrifying things. People don't realize how scary that was. They would tell us too. They would say, look, you guys can play with this kangaroo a little bit. You just can't hit it, it can hit you, but these guys, they're a little older and they're not as excitable as a young kangaroo would be, but still be very careful. That kangaroo was jacked. Oh yeah, no, it was terrifying.
The very first time we're doing this, okay, I'll get out there and I'll spar with him a little bit like just show you with Jeff and I think it was so intimidating. We were actually shooting and we're announcing, okay, yes, here we go. I said, let's go smoking Joe Frazier and I go, brother Nero, I would like to allow you to go first. And yeah, I was always like, what? And again, that's kind of how that all started.
Like there's a possibility of getting really hurt there. Oh, there is. And also, too, they had very sharp fingernails, too. If they would scratch you a little bit, there was a couple of times I think my arms cut up a little bit. It was all right. You never knew what you're going to get whenever you're battling those kangaroos. It was fun. It made for great content, right? Made for great TV, but you never knew what you were going to get. There's a look on the kangaroos face where he's like, what am I getting? What's happening? Yeah. What are you guys doing? For sure. Well, I guess I've
I'll not kill you, but I give you a lot of credit for doing that. Yeah, those were wild times for sure. There's another big moment as broken mat where it's the side effect off the apron through that like kitchen table looking thing on the outside. Yeah.
That looked so painful. That was in the contract signing. And we dug this table up. We found this table because it was like the complete opposite of a table you would see broken and pro wrestling. And we specifically wanted that table so everything looked so different.
I remember there's also a thing when JB was doing it, we're deaf. I'm in the ring, I want to sign the contract. He storms into the ring, and I roll out. We did a couple of takes on that, and I rolled out smoothly, and we did one where I got kind of caught in the ropes a little bit, and then I told JB, and he said, oh, hey, well, we used one of these first two. He said, no, no, use the one where I get caught in the ropes. I think that even adds more intrigue to it. We don't want to take ourselves too serious here.
You know, and then we ended up doing that thing going through the table and it was crazy, Jeff, took an amazing bump with that, ended up being okay. That table just, it just studs when you hit it. Yeah. Like there was no give. Yeah, it was, it was brutal. Is that one of the scarier spots you've done?
It was definitely creepy. We took an axe and chopped the top of the table so the top would break off. We wanted to make sure, I don't think it would have if we hadn't have done that. Because it was one of those old school, they don't make them like they used to tables. What's your relationship like with fear?
I don't know. Life's too short to be afraid in many ways. I know I'm a father. I have people that depend on me. I have a family that depends on me to take care of them. I try and calculate my risk. I guess as far as it goes, when people talk about going through a table or whatever, I don't think Jeff and I even think twice about it. Even still, I don't think so. It's something we feel confident about. If there's something that I feel like there's
Too big of a risk. Once again, calculated risk is what it's all about. Then I don't want to do it. I'll do something else. I'll do something that I feel comfortable with or feel safe about. But as far as being afraid, there's not a ton of fear. If there's something I end up not doing, it's probably because I just don't want to take the calculated risk of possibly getting hurt because there's people that depend on me in my real life. Have you been more afraid to give a move or to take a move?
Um, yeah, I would say it would be take a move. I mean, if I'm giving something, I feel pretty confident about it. I feel pretty confident in the drivers. What I do. Yeah. I'm kind of in control. You know, sometimes if someone has you and they're doing something that you really have no power over that, that's a little more intimidating. Are you like, is it?
Is it often a move where you're up on someone's shoulders or is it when you're laying there and Jeff is climbing something tall to jump onto? Right, right, right. Yeah, I mean, both of those, I would say. I mean, it's probably the scariest thing is if someone is picking you up and you could be dropped on your neck or head. That's probably the thing I would be most concerned about more than anything else.
Congrats on three years on the podcast. Thank you. The extreme life of Matt Hardy. Yeah. You and John Albert are knocking out of the park with us. Thank you. Yeah. It's been great. And it's slowly been growing each and every week and it's cool because we've built a pretty loyal fan base. Well, then the thing about podcasting, as you know, is you just got to keep showing up. Yeah. Yeah. You know, you just got to keep showing up, got to keep putting it out there. And then the fans will also keep showing up. Right. John kind of sets you up for a possible WWE return this year, it feels like.
there is uh... he knows actually one of his bold predictions in the parties will wrestle and action to be before the years over how do you feel about that uh... i feel good about that i mean we
That's one of the great things about working with TNA now. They know that we do have a lot of love for WWE. They know that we would like to want to do the whole fame. We filmed some content from WWE that will probably be dropping pretty soon. I saw the Dudley's at the day before us and I know there's just dropped recently. But we have a good working relationship with him and I think the perfect storm arose. I think you could see us pop up even as TNA champs on some WWE show at some point. Who knows?
The Royal Rumble is right around the corner. There's an opportunity there for a version of you to show up, maybe at another point in the match. Jeff, to show up as well, wearing these championship titles.
Yeah, I mean, their relationship is very good. It's very good for business. The very positive WWE slash NXT, TNA relationship is a very good for business. And it goes both ways as well. It does. And that's been really fun to see. I mean, if a TNA star goes and shows up on NXT, they seem like a bigger star. It's a great star building moment for them.
And with that same thing being said, TNA is a company that has been around for over two decades. And if you sit in NXT talent in TNA, they seem like a big star for being there too. In 2016 in TNA, you teamed up with a young Will Osprey. Do you remember this? Tag team matches Matt Hardy, Will Osprey versus James Storm, and at the time Eli Drake. Yeah. What were your impressions of Will Osprey at that time?
I had seen him some of his stuff from England earlier, just super impressive. He's just an incredible athlete. It's amazing. His athleticism and his ability to do things and do things so with such explosion and so Chris was just, is incredible. What did winning the TNA championship the first time mean and then what did it mean when you won the second time?
The first time was real meaningful because it was in North Carolina, because my family was there, because my dad got to come in there and celebrate that moment. That was very cool. Obviously, Jeff had been the teenage champion before, so it was cool to also be doing that so that we had both won it. And the second time was something that proved like that double turn I did with EC3, it was so successful. And I think that is the most underrated match in my career in many ways, that match where we do a double turn in a false counter anywhere match.
That just showed that I was on the right pulse as far as where I was going like it's time to like freshen up do something different Maybe be a hill and obviously if that doesn't happen that doesn't lead to you know broken my heart It doesn't happen to so that that kind of became The whole story of me turning hill winning the title my brother confronting me and asking me like what am I doing and that leads to us feuding once again That is what opened up the door to do broken my heart and
I can't imagine my career now without that period of the broken universe because it was just so instrumental in so many things. Do you think at some point you'd want to have another singles run? Maybe be a three-time TNA champion? Maybe. Never say never. I think it's very important to Jeff and I to really cement our legacy is one of the best teams to ever do this. That legacy was cemented a long time ago. Yeah, but we want to keep adding to it. How many more of these do you want to win?
I don't know. I'd like to have more than the Dudley's, just so they can't say they're the most decorated tag team of all time. How many do they have? I don't know the exact number, but they racked them up whenever they were doing ECW, right? Sure. So it's someone who just said earlier today when we were doing promotion or yesterday, I said that, you know, I want to introduce you to the most influential tag team of all time. And that's a pretty, pretty
correct term. I get that. And they were even saying like, you know, not even just for pro wrestling, but like for different cultures and whatnot, which is so cool. And then we've also been introduced as the most popular tag team. You know, so we're in there. Those are hard to argue against. You know, and that's cool. We're very grateful for that. But it's so funny because that's always what Bubba and Diva throw out there, the most decorated tag team, and they still got us there. They've got like 20 titles.
something along those lines. But when you talk about most influential, think of all of the people over the last 20 years that wrestle the style that they wrestle because they saw the Hardy Boys do it in the 90s. Yeah, no. I mean, the influential is something I really like because that does ring true. Was there ever a point early on when someone in WWE said, you guys shouldn't wrestle that way? That's a little too unsafe.
No, we never, we never really got that. It was, you know, we did that first ever tag team ladder match and they really gave us permission to kind of go out there and paint a wrong picture. Maker was no mercy, right? Yeah, there was no mercy 99. And following that,
kind of became like this snowball that started rolling down the mountain and got bigger and bigger and stronger and faster. You know, then that went to the first ever tag team tables match at Royal Rumble 2000 versus the Dudley's. And then it leads to the triple threat triangle ladder match, which in essence was the first TOC at WrestleMania 2000. But when that snowball is rolling down the hill like you're talking about and you're gaining more momentum and you're trying to always outdo that last match, right? You get to a point now 30 years in where you go, well, how can I outdo all this other stuff?
Yeah, I mean, well, that's also one of the things that I am critical about. I remember hearing this from Stone Cold Steve also. We were on a flight, we were coming back from Europe, and he said,
I think that the album was the re-education of Lauren Hill. And he said, you know that album, the re-education of Lauren Hill. He said, we need to do that with wrestling, man. They've raised the bar so high that you can't go any further. The characters are paramount, the stories, the angle. I mean, that's what it's all about at the end of the day. The match is just a match.
and I do believe that I'm a huge advocate for that now I mean if you like great wrestling awesome but like the most important thing in the entertainment business of pro wrestling is the story and the character and that those are things you can always change you can do things new
like you're not going to be able to top yourself over and over and wrestling like human beings. How much can the human body absorb, you know, and still end up being healthy when it's all said and done. I mean, you are your living breathing answer of that. Yeah, I guess we are. And it's one of those things I wish.
I would have had this mindset back when I was doing house shows in the early 1990s, you know, in 1999, 2000, 2001, whenever nothing hurt, you know, and we'd go out there and kill ourselves every night, beat ourselves up every night and then bounce right back. Just that character work is so instrumental. It is so important, so paramount. And I'll never forget that. And I still think in a lot of
in a lot of different areas in pro wrestling. There are people that get, I don't know if it's the sickos or whatever Tony calls them, but you get so into the wrestling, right? And they want to see these five-star matches in the work rate and these guys go nuts and kill each other up and take all these crazy bumps, whatever. And I'm all for that. I love a great wrestling match. When you can do all that stuff, that's amazing. You go out and do it.
But like at the end of the day, the most important thing is like your character work and the story that's going on. That's where people become invested and that's when your product grows and that's when you have people that might not be down hard wrestling pants, but something catches them like a broken mat hard. You're like a stone coat Steve Austin or like a rock or whoever it may be. And they're like, wow, this guy's, it's really special. I dig what this guy's doing. I want to tune in next week to see what he's doing.
How did you know when it was time to step away for a little bit from wrestling and kind of re-center yourself?
I just knew when my body was so beat up and I had worked so hard through 2010, you know, and at one point, you know, they just said, oh, well, I said, I heard, can I have some time off? I said, oh, well, you're one of the guys we depend on. We'll leave you on the road. And since we'll just go, you know, to the doctor, see what they can do. And all doctors do is like write your prescription for pills, you know, and that's kind of where that happened. But once I started going down that
very slippery slope. That's where I said, okay, I've got to take some time away. I've got to get myself together and make things work the right way. And then you came back really better than ever from there. I feel like, yeah, whenever I came back, I was a lot smarter. Sure. And wrestling is kind of a cruel business. Like when you're young and you're athletic and you can do everything under the sun, you'll go out there and do it. And you don't think about the character work. You don't think about
You know, really building a strong persona and telling strong stories necessarily with your character and like whatever the arc is and the story that you're working against your rival. Until you get hurt and beat up real bad and you're like, I've got to tell more of a story. I've got to be more of a character. And then that's when you start doing it, but then you can't physically do everything that you could when you were younger. So it's a, it's a real twisted business in that way. Kind of cursed. I don't feel like there's not a lot you can't do anymore though. I mean, the only thing you told me you don't do is the leg drop.
Yeah, I don't do that. I mean, I used to do 450s back in the day. I mean, I could even still do those actively when we're in WWE, like 9,000, whatever. And I didn't really do them a lot because, you know, it was so hard on my knees. And now just I have so much scar tissue in my body and just, you know, I do some yoga. I do stretching, trying to stay as limber as possible. I can still do a lot of the basic stuff that I do, obviously, that I have done. It's just I have to be real careful whenever
Uh, if something is going to land on my lower back or spine, because my hips and lower back in this stuff is so tight, you know, I just have to protect that stuff. I'm working work very smart. People talk a lot about how moments are so massive and wrestling, right? People remember moments and sure that can be jumping off of a cage or jumping off of a ladder, but it can also be a great return and you were turning to TNA.
That was a moment. Yeah, it was. We had a lot of great moments. Jeff returned to TNA. It was a great moment. You know, us winning, you know, the Full Metal Mayhem match, you know, the TOC match at Bound for Glory, which is the match we helped create and usher in to become a staple of pro wrestling. That was a big moment, you know. So moments are everything. And that's what, that's what I really try to focus on now more than anything else, more than moves or moments. Do you have like,
A list in your head of like, all right, this would be good. We've got TNA Genesis coming up. Man, this would be a really cool moment if we can figure out a way to make this work.
Yeah, I think this, once again, this reinvention that Jeff and I are wanting to get into, I think this can be real good. And I think it's something different. I think we can be extremely entertaining doing it. I think people will understand it and it's something that could be heavily entertaining so that casual fans may like it as well.
It's important. It was very important, I feel like, because people wanted to see us succeed as the Hardy Boys, that we were the OG Hardy Boys through Bound for Glory. And now we started tweaking things a little bit, you know, even like calling ourselves as the goats, which that's typically the hardies wouldn't do that, you know, because they're humble guys, you know. But we're filling what we're doing a little bit here. Maybe we transcend wrestling superstars. What's your favorite Jeff Hardy match?
One of my matches really stand out just because it was such a big deal for him at the time when it happened. I know it's one of his favorites as well, is when he wrestled the Undertaker in a ladder match. And I know Taker was taking a lot of pride. He wanted it to be good and he wanted to make it into a great match. And that moment at the end where Jeff wouldn't stay down and he came back and he endorsed him. Once again, it's such a big moment. That's probably what pops into most people's minds. That and JR's call. Yes.
Yes. And also a lot of the ladder make yourself famous. Yeah. Yeah. J-arms great. Whenever Jeff won the world title, that was an amazing moment too. When he first did that in the match, the triple threat against Edge and Triple H. And at that time, in 2008, you guys were white hog.
both had a championship at the same time. Yeah, it was very cool. It was very cool that, you know, that show went off the air. I came out at the end of it, but, you know, I was out there as the ECW champ and Jeff was the WWE World champ. It was very cool. And that's amazing considering the career you guys had together.
And then the career you guys have had on your own too. Yeah, yeah, and we both take a lot of pride in that. It's amazing, man. Jeff is such a special guy, and I feel like the headspace he's in now, the way his personal life is is the best he's ever been. He's just an amazing human being who has everything in check.
I feel like he looks back and goes, God, I wonder what I would have done if I would have been like this the whole, you know. Wow. So it's always intriguing. There's no question the Hardy Boys are future Hall of Famers. Do you think that Matt and Jeff will also get inducted one day?
I don't think that's out of the realm of possibility. I definitely... Like I'll say, obviously, you guys have had Hall of Fame careers on your own. Yeah, yeah. I mean, we want to go in to a Hall of Fame wherever it is. I think... You'll be in many Hall of Fame. Yeah, yeah. You know, we'll do that. But yeah, I think there is an argument to have us in a single field. I think in the TNA Hall of Fame, it's just Team 3D is the only tag team in there right now. I think, yeah. You guys will be...
Yeah. Whenever you decide to hang him up, whenever that happens to be, feel like there's definitely going to happen. Yeah, it will some point no doubt. Did you ever think, though, at some point when you guys were just a tag team, that you'd be able to have the successful singles career that you had?
You know, our goal right from the jump was to be the World Tag Team Champions in one place. We want to either be the WWE World Tag Team Champions or the WCW Tag Team Champions. Just do it one time. And if we did anything past that, then it was all like extra credit, right? So we obviously exceeded our initial goal and aspiration many times over. I don't know if we really thought we'd be singles guys. I think there was a point where
As the Hardy Boys grew 2002-ish, I think we did realize that, yeah, there's a capacity for us to both have pretty successful single-screw ears as well. And look at the career you guys have had. Yeah. It's been blessed, man. We've been very blessed. Always so good to be able to sit with you, Matt. And I'll ask you the question, man, you were on the show about it a year ago. Maybe your answers will be the same. Maybe they'll be different, right? But you know, gratitude's so important to me in my life. What are three things, Matt, that you're grateful for right now?
First and foremost, I am grateful for my children and my wife, my family, and grateful for my health. And I'm also very grateful that I am still able to live out my dream weekend and week out as a professor. That was my passion. It's one of those things where, you know, they say, if you love a job so much, it's not really a job. If you're going to work to do something you love, and that really rings true.
Yeah, you're doing it. Always good to see you, Matt. You too, man. Thanks again. Thanks for having me. Yeah, always great chatting with you. Chopping it up. Chopping it up. Yeah.
Okay, there we go. I always love Matt's openness and honestness. I just appreciate how we talked about so many different things there. Same thing with the Jeff Hardy episode that aired a few days ago. If you haven't listened to that yet, go back and listen to it now that this episode's almost done. And while you're looking at other podcasts, go check out the extreme life of Matt Hardy wherever you're listening to this as well.
Sure sounds like in 2025, we may see the hardies in WWE. I mean, the Royal Rumble's coming up. We only know the handful of names that have been officially announced for the Rumble. And it's the big names, right? Like CM Punk or John Cena leaves a lot of other possibilities there for some fun returns. So I mean, that place would erupt if the Hardy Boys music hit. Hmm.
Snap a screenshot, let us know you're listening. Tag us. He's at Matt Hardy brand. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. Again, tickets are on sale right now for Insight Live in Indianapolis, Toronto and Las Vegas. CVVtix.com, CVVtix.com. I will wrap this up with a quote from Confucius. A man is great, not because he hasn't failed. A man is great because failure hasn't stopped him.
Be great and be grateful my friends. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. We'll see you tomorrow for Ask CVV number 66.
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