From Matt Hardy To Broken Brilliance

Matt Hardy has been a household name in pro wrestling since the late 90s. He and his brother Jeff first rose to fame in the WWE Attitude Era as the Hardy Boyz. They had classic matches with Edge & Christian/Dudleyz and revolutionized the tag team division with their TLC matches. When Matt and Jeff split, Jeff was the one who attained singles glory and championship gold. Matt had a great, personal feud with Edge and his Version 1 character was entertaining, but something was missing. After he left WWE, Hardy wrestled all over the map, including ROH and Impact Wrestling. It would be in Impact where he would find his next great gimmick: Broken Matt Hardy.

In May 2016 Hardy turned on his brother Jeff and revealed himself to be ‘Broken’. He looked, talked and acted differently, but it was impossible to look away from him. The Broken character would become the focal point of Impact, and with Hardy given total creative control of his character, it flourished. Broken Matt, Brother Nero, Senor Benjamin & King Maxel were the highlight of almost every episode of Impact. Whether it was in ring promos, the reincarnation lake or the insane Final Deletion, the Broken Universe was the hottest thing in wrestling.

He Is Woken

When The Hardy’s made their shocking return to WWE at WrestleMania 33, fans wondered if we’d ever see the Broken Universe invade the WWE. It’s taken some time, but thanks to the end of a frivolous legal battle, it looks like Matt Hardy has finally transformed into his new, “woken” self. After Bray Wyatt beat Hardy on Raw two weeks ago, Hardy snapped. He was talking to himself and performed his trademark DELETE hand gesture, and it was magical. Hardy was transforming all over again, and his tweets signaled the dawn of a woken man. All that was left for Hardy was to find a new victim to delete. Enter, Bray Wyatt.

Bray Wyatt

On Monday’s Raw, the trademark sounds of a Bray Wyatt dark room promo bummed me out. I’ve loved Wyatt since his debut and will forever believe that he should be the modern day Undertaker. He’s the perfect mix of an engaging promo and in ring ability, but unfortunately WWE has booked him like a bum for years. He ALWAYS loses the big matches, and even if he does win, it’s because of children singing or a exploding TV’s. Wins and losses aren’t the only measuring stick for a wrestler, but it’s tough to take someone seriously who loses all the time.

Another big issue he’s had are his opponents. The Undertaker had Mankind and Kane, two psychological and demented wrestlers, to play off of. Wyatt has had John Cena and Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. While those three are great in the ring, they’re just normal guys from a character standpoint. Wyatt needs someone as weird as he is to keep things interesting, and a new ‘woken’ superstar is the perfect fit.

Woken Matt Hardy is the opposite of a normal guy, and has the perfect personality to feed off of Wyatt. He is the ideal dancing partner for Bray, and this is a feud I’ve wanted to see since July 2016 when they first started tweeting each other.

A Perfect Match

While we got a small preview of Hardy’s character two weeks ago, he showed up in all his woken glory on Monday. If the dueling promos and the laugh off are any indication, this feud will be a ton of a fun. Hardy’s new persona can give new life to Wyatt’s words and I want to see more from these two. This will also give Wyatt someone weird and wonderful to work with, which is something he’s never had. I hope these two feud and then join forces, because a woken Bray Wyatt could be something special. Here’s the full promo from Monday, including that maniacal Hardy laugh.

-Ryan