– During a recent interview with Bill Pritchard for WrestleZone, AEW star Matt Hardy discussed what he would be looking for in order to continue with AEW and wanting The Hardys to be optimized for their remaining time in the business. Below are some highlights:
Matt Hardy on AEW: “I haven’t left AEW, I’m still under contract. I love AEW. I think AEW is crucial. I think it is paramount for the health of the industry that AEW does well, and I want it to do well. I think for The Hardys do well…regardless of whether you love us or you hate us, once again, we’ve been very blessed to be looked upon as one of the greatest tag teams that have ever done it. We have done so many…the tag team ladder match, the tag team table match, the TLC stuff, we made that a staple of pro wrestling. We were involved in that. We were, Jeff more than me, the daredevils in those matches, and then we both had very good singles careers. We kept TNA alive whenever we did the whole Broken Universe and whatnot. We thrived in Ring of Honor. We’ve done a lot of different stuff. I think if you have a tag team of that magnitude, it’s very important to keep them in a position where they are relevant and they look strong. They need to always look strong.”
On how AEW optimized the use of Sting: “I think Tony Khan did a perfect job with Sting. The way he came in, he was put in situations to succeed over and over again. That never minimized Sting in any way. He was always optimized to the best of his ability in any degree. I think for us, it’s different because we can win a few matches, and then we can have a program with someone and they can beat us, and that doesn’t hurt us. It never has, and it never will. I don’t mind that. But if you take The Hardys, and The Hardys don’t win tag team match on TV for ten or eleven months, that is not a positive. I don’t think that is a positive. That is a strong stance I’ll take. Because still, to this day, whenever we do cons, whenever we do signings, we have one of the longest lines. We are popular. There’s a ton of value in us. We’re performers who are generational performers. We have people who aren’t fans anymore that know who we are, that would tune in to see us if we’re put in the right positions, and I will stand my ground on that. I will die on that hill. So what I want to do, I only have a couple years left to do this, I want to be optimized, wherever I’m at, and if I’m with Jeff, I want to be optimized as The Hardys. That is very, very important to me, and that is a fight I am willing to fight. If nothing else, I’ll just keep my ass at home. I don’t have to go back to work. I’ve worked really hard to put myself in this position.”
On diehard fans being overly critical: “I feel like there are so many AEW fans, and this is diehard fans, that are so overly critical of things when it comes to the product, and when they look at some guys, even [Chris] Jericho for instance, Chris still kicks ass, as far as in the ring. He works really hard. Sure, is he what he was 25 years ago? Of course not. But he is still extremely good. He has a name, he has value. There’s a lot of equity with Chris Jericho. Same goes for Matt and Jeff Hardy. Some people get upset or hot, like, ‘Come on, get them out of here. They’re not who they were. They can’t….’ We can. We can go out, and we can be a huge benefit to any promotion, and I believe that, and that’s another hill I’ll die on. I think there’s a way to use us where you keep us in a position of relevancy because we still have to win, and we have to be kept at a certain level, but we can definitely help build the future tag teams of tomorrow. That’s what both of us, myself and Jeff, we want to do. That is our goal in the big scheme of things. So that is my mindset going forward. That is what I want.”
As previously reported, Matt Hardy revealed on his podcast last week that he received a new contract offer from AEW and that he’s still currently weighing his options.
