Matt Hardy addresses his decision to test free agency

Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2020/03/02/matt-hardy-addresses-his-decision-to-test-free-agency/

Matt Hardy officially became a free agent on Sunday when the clock turned to Midnight as his deal with WWE came to its expiration.

On Monday, Hardy posted a YouTube video confirming his status and elaborating on the decision to become a free agent at the age of 45.

The reason I needed to leave WWE is because when it comes to my creative stance and my creative outlook on myself and my career and how I want it to go for these last three or four years that I have to spend as an active in-ring competitor. I just think myself and WWE are on different pages.

Hardy returned to WWE in April 2017 alongside brother Jeff at WrestleMania 33 to one of the loudest reactions in WrestleMania history. The two entered as a mystery team and reunited as The Hardy’s for the ensuing months.

In time, Hardy would flirt with his previous ‘Broken’ Matt Hardy character as the Woken version. This allowed Hardy to take elements of the success he had in Impact Wrestling and apply them to a WWE setting including a segment filmed at the Hardy Compound that aired on Raw and a WWE Network special. The character never reached the success of the original incarnation. Hardy had been off television for a long period until recently where he confronted Randy Orton and was laid out in back-to-back angles on Raw last month.

In the video, Hardy was complimentary of WWE by thanking Vince McMahon, Paul Levesque, Stephanie McMahon, and Michael Hayes. He said he had no doubt that one day he would be back with WWE noting that he expects him and his brother to enter the WWE Hall of Fame.

His belief is creatively he and WWE are on different pages and that’s the driving force behind this decision to leave. He noted that he has to be used in a certain way at his age and doesn’t have time on his side with the ballpark of 3-4 years remaining as an active in-ring competitor.

Hardy added he would be watching everything to get a sense of where he would fit the best listing all of WWE’s programming, AEW, NWA, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, MLW, and New Japan.

Jeff Hardy is still under contract to WWE and will appear on WWE Backstage on Tuesday night.

At the end of this weeks BTE and at the end of Matt Hardys Free the Delete - it appears Matt and the Bucks are ringing each other. Linking 2 Social Media platforms to a build on tv - different and creative.

Creatively - Matt is bloody brilliant. I dont understand why WWE consistently waste his talent. So I agree with his belief they are on different pages

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I mean he isn’t great in Ring, doesn’t look like a star on their program, and his strength isn’t scripted promos. It is a bad fit for him, almost anywhere else is a better fit for what he does.

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Bridging Being The Elite and Free the Delete is very strong creative. Yes, it’s for a small subset of the fanbase watching one, or both of those shows, but it’s continues to trend that these performers who get to control their own creative will work to deliver satisfying hooks for their loyal fans.

And not to just make this a BTE/FTD lovefest…It is entirely possible Matt scripted his episode to be open ended. In the flashes we see before he makes the phone call we see Bray Wyatt. We hear Bray’s theme as Broken Matt is resurrected. He asks if “He is with you”. What if He is the Fiend?

The way he has crafted this story lends to multiple outcomes which is the mark of a good story. It would seem WWE doesn’t want him involved in stories with The Fiend at the moment, which does force it in the more obvious direction which could explain BTE’s ending that may have been filmed Sunday/Monday, whereas Matt did his video(s) earlier.

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Do you think at this point if it’s not Matt in the DO and instead turns about to be someone else it will be a disappointment?

Like higher power in WWE with the severe it was Vince?

As the unofficial defender of the Dark Order in the POST Cafe I would say, depends who.

I still think Raven is a viable option. One thing we’ve seen is that Evil Uno can cut promos for the group, so it doesn’t need to be a talker.

I do not think AEW Creatively would ever stoop to the level of a reveal that didn’t reward or try to reward it’s fans. The higher power was just story line meandering that probably never had a direction. I think with Dark Order there have been guys written in pencil and given the changing landscape of who is available to do what, they’ve laid out enough ground work to pivot as needed.

At this point the equivalent to Higher Power payoff would be somebody like Christopher Daniels actually being revealed, and Saturday was a rouse. I don’t see them going that route. They’ve never paid anything off like that in the past.

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I know he’s with Impact, but Sami Callihan would be a great leader of The Dark Order.

IF, Matt Hardy is revealed as part of the Dark Order, and the Dark Order headlines Dynamite - Blood & Guts. And the group becomes a major focal point of any future Matt Hardy story.

Do I get to call in to the Cafe and claim victory on the debate last fall when I argued it was a better attempt at getting a new team over and doing something with them that may result in them at the very least being a mid-card stable worthy of a main-event spot (I believe I even said in a team vs team situation)

It would be a great call!

Doesn’t Matt have a Non compete clause? So won’t he be unable to come out for a while

No; his contract expired similarly to how Moxley’s did. This wasn’t a release which would trigger a non-compete.

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Cool didn’t know it didn’t apply under those circumstances. Would totally expect him to be there then.

I assume with the cage the one side is the Elite (Hangman / Kenny / Bucks +/- Cody)

It would not appear to be the DO on the other side right now but they can easily push this with a big angle Wednesday

My feeling is the D.O. benefits more from it than an established group like Inner Circle. It also could be a big payoff to the Exhalted One as the 5th member. And, the D.O. have said for weeks they need to get to the Elite and want to take them down. #ItsTheLittleThings

I dont mind that scenario but who is on the Dark Order team?

Adding Hardy alone doesn’t make them a big enough threat to me. Maybe Harper?

Harper still has non compete i thought?

My understanding is that his 90-day no compete began in December. So he should be eligible any week

Probably the week before then in Rochester. Hometown crowd

What would be the penalty for violating the 90 day no compete clause? What if he waited 85 days, for example?

Probably a massive lawsuit for the talent, and the promotion that uses him.

Hardy, Evil Uno / Grayson. Perhaps another new person, Harper is a good idea. And worse case just throw in those two jobbers as guys to take beatings. I do think you have to try and establish this group as a viable main event act if you are debuting Hardy with them.

Likely he is getting paid out some severance and he’d have to pay that back. Or damages if it can be proven which I don’t think would apply here.

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