Matt Hardy Discusses Original Plans For Firm Deletion, It Initially Being A Singles Match

Since his time as "Broken" Matt Hardy in the late 2010s, the elder Hardy brother has become known for competing in cinematic matches at his compound in North Carolina. The most recent of these bouts, the "Firm Deletion," aired on the May 5 episode of "AEW Rampage" and saw Isaiah Kassidy, HOOK, and The Hardys defeat The Firm in a grueling cinematic match emanating from Matt Hardy's home property.

In a recent episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Isaiah Kassidy joined the show to talk about the match and how it came about. While Hardy credits Sonjay Dutt with initially proposing a match with The Firm at the Hardy Compound, Tony Khan was the one who decided on the format of the battle. "We were talking about having me vs. Ethan [Page] and having Private Party involved... I have to give Tony Khan credit for this, he said, 'What if we did a big tag match with Jeff?'" Matt Hardy explained.

As for Kassidy, his now infamous dive off Matt Hardy's roof was something he had wanted to do to make sure his role in the match was as memorable as possible. "I knew going into this match I wanted to have at least one big moment... that's when I texted Matt and said, 'I want to jump off your roof.'" Kassidy recalled. The Private Party member went on to mention that, while the original spot was intended to be a crossbody, it was Jeff Hardy himself who suggested he do the Swanton Bomb off the roof.

The Firm Deletion was the second match of its kind to occur in AEW, with the first being Matt Hardy's "Elite Deletion" match against Sammy Guevara in 2020.