Matt Hardy has always been there for his brother, Jeff. Even this time around, he’s most certainly had his back. But even when they’ve been separated, working for different promotions, Matt has continued on, fighting for the legacy he believes in, and in so doing Matt Hardy has had many incarnations; perhaps one of the most successful of those incarnations was the very dark, ‘Broken’ version of Matt Hardy.
In a recent appearance on Being The Elite, Hardy may have planted seeds on what’s next for him now that Jeff is dealing with his issues and hoping for a return to the ring down the line. Here’s some of what he said during that appearance:
“Ever since I’ve come to AEW, I have went on and on and on, probably at nauseum to most folks, about cementing the legacy of the Hardys…About really cementing our legacy, and proving that we are one of the greatest tag teams of all time. Maybe I have an obsession with it. Even when I look back to those situations, I was so down, and I was broken, but in a fantasy world…
Broken in a fun way and I ended up finding success out of all that. And then we came to AEW together, finally, and we were really set to cement our legacy as the greatest of all time. I don’t put that on Jeff…I don’t blame Jeff for that. I look in the mirror and go, ‘I’m the one that keeps bringing him back. I’m the one that is obsessed with this legacy of proving ourselves as one of the greatest tag teams ever! Maybe it’s on me!’ …
One thing I can say with clarity is that not winning the AEW World Tag Team titles has left me broken. But not broken in the fun, fantastical way, not at all. It’s left me broken in reality. So why do I give a sh*t about anything anymore?”
via Wrestling Inc. (Transcription)
He would mention the above appearance on Being The Elite, or rather clarify what he said on his own podcast, The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy. He said:
“It was very heartfelt…It was kind of based in a lot of reality, and I kind of tried to toe the line a little bit on it, but I have some different ideas about a new direction, obviously, with Jeff being gone for who knows how long…I would like to go in a new direction…Start a new version of Matt Hardy and build it off of a real-life scenario…
I am broken down — I was in a madhouse, and now — when all was coming right — when I had forgotten the King — the King in Yellow, and — but I shall go mad again — I shall go mad —”
via Wrestling Inc. (Transcription) – link above
These “King in Yellow” references come from the writings of Robert M. Chambers—a writer of horror circa the 19th century—as alluded to by Wrestling Inc. writer, Dominic DeAngelo (link above) in his piece on the subject.
Of course Hardy has gone in this direction before…most notably with the ‘Broken’ version of Matt Hardy, as mentioned above. Speculation is now running rampant that perhaps a return to this version of himself is imminent…especially after the aforementioned statements. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes with this…and what he might add to it.
