Matt & Jeff Hardy received one of the biggest reactions in recent memory when they returned to WWE at WrestleMania 33. And while fans excitedly cheered for the return of The Hardy Boyz, Matt believes that the pop wouldn't have been as big if it weren't for what the brothers were able to do outside of the company.
Appearing on Busted Open Radio, Matt Hardy was discussing with Tommy Dreamer, Vince McMahon's vision upon The Hardy Boyz returning to WWE. Dreamer noted that McMahon couldn't ignore the pop that The Hardy Boyz got at WrestleMania 33, thus making it more likely he would stick with that gimmick despite Matt & Jeff finding success elsewhere and with different characters.
Matt responded by saying, "The reaction we got at WrestleMania 33 being the Hardy Boyz, we wouldn't have gotten that reaction if Broken Matt and Brother Nero hadn't come to fruition. If they hadn't come to be. That's what got us red hot again. That's one thing I realized, you never stay the same in this industry. You're constantly changing. What happens when I get to the next stage when I become the second coming of Matt Hardy, that character is still going to evolve. It's not going to be like the original Matt Hardy. There's many more layers. I'm working on creating one of the most layered characters in wrestling history. There's constant change, all the time. That's what you have to have to stay fresh and keep people interested. Even when Jeff and I came back and we did the Hardy Boyz, Jeff got hurt and I did an overseas tour, every single night there's 'Delete, Delete.' That's what people wanted to see at that point. The Hardy Boyz were two guys who were 25-30 years old and we're past that. We've moved on. You have to constantly keep changing and evolving. That's the secret to longevity in this business."
Matt created the Broken Universe to much fanfare during his time in TNA/IMPACT. But the gimmick was never given life in WWE, leading to creative differences between Hardy and WWE. Hardy, who let his WWE contract expire on Mar. 2, noted that he and WWE were on different creative pages.
Elsewhere in the interview, Hardy went into detail on their differences saying his brand of entertainment isn't a priority for WWE. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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