Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2023/01/14/vindictive-vince-mcmahon-will-win-the-game-of-thrones-at-wwe-says-matt-hardy/
Matt Hardy has said Vince McMahon is a “vindictive guy” who will ensure he controls the destiny of WWE.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, he added that McMahon would ultimately take back the helm of the creative process.
In conversation with co-host Jon Alba, Hardy said:
At WWE they’re playing Game of Thrones — it’s like, in and out, who can retain the power and who can backstab, or who can get someone else out, or how can I get back in? Whatever it may be. Here, fortunately, it’s just TK sitting on the Iron Throne.
On McMahon’s return to the WWE Board of Directors as Executive Chairman, Hardy commented:
Obviously, still being the majority shareholder, he kind of runs the show. He kind of runs shit still…He said he had been given some bad advice from some people he trusted and, knowing Vince, I mean, he’s a pretty vindictive guy. I feel like if he feels like someone intentionally tried to do something to push him out or give him advice that was maybe misleading — that they were just trying to push him off to the side — I feel like he’s going to take that seriously and he’s gonna return with a vengeance.
I feel like he’s coming back with a vengeance, man, motivated and with an intent to either take over the company and run it again as he did, because he promised he’d run WWE until he died, several times over, or to either come back and sell it for one last big payday almost as a, “See? I told you I’m the man. I will always sit on the Iron Throne.”
When asked by Jon Alba whether the prospect of not being able to write the final chapter of his own story “ate away at” McMahon, Hardy replied:
I’m sure it ate at him, and I’m sure that really set a fire inside of him inside of his heart and soul to come back even harder, come back in an even bigger way, because that’s just how he is. He is an alpha male at his core, and he feels like this is a world he created and, by God, he’s going to run it and he will control the destiny of it one way or the other.
On what he’s heard from current talent in WWE, Hardy stated:
There’s not as much intimidation. You’re not walking on eggshells quite as much, you just feel a lot more safe and sound being there currently. It’s just a much more laid-back environment. That’s what I’ve heard overwhelmingly.
On the statements that there was no intention to change the current structure of the creative process, Hardy added:
I feel like, even if Vince is being sincere about that, he won’t be able to control himself. If he is back, he is going to put his fingerprints on things. It’s just who he is.
I worked with him a lot and I’ve been around him a lot, and I feel like I have a pretty good grip on his actions and his thought process. As time would go on, you would see a little more, and a little more, and a little more, until he got back to where he felt like he was controlling the helm of the show.