AEW's Matt Hardy Explains What's 'Most Annoying' About The Wrestling Business
Following last week's episode of "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy," in which Matt Hardy expressed frustration with the current creative (or lack thereof) in AEW for both he and his brother Jeff, he took to the airwaves once more to address the response from fans and the motivation behind what he put out for the public to consume.
On this week's episode, Hardy sounded positive about what was said and why he expressed what he did, telling co-host Jon Alba that it was, simply, as authentic as he could be. "I can say that it was 1,000% real," Hardy said. "That was the real, genuine Matt Hardy. That was the real, authentic Jeff Hardy, speaking from the heart, speaking very honestly, speaking very truthfully."
On the episode in question, Hardy spoke of their seemingly aimless direction in AEW by recounting patience on their part running thin and leading, ultimately, to frustration.
"Creatively, just the way we've been utilized, like, the last four months, it's been very frustrating," he explained. "We've been very patient but there has been a lot of frustration [with] the things we've done and how we've been utilized in some ways."
Hardy spoke of pitching to play off of their current frustrations, channeling that into what he and Jeff might do on-screen moving forward. In essence, it would be another evolution of their characters — something they've proven adept at several times over throughout their careers. So far, however, nothing new has materialized.
If You're Not Getting Better, You're Getting Worse.
It remains to be seen if anything changes for Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy in AEW but the motivation behind airing their grievances in the way Matt did was pure. While some may have spun that more negatively than he intended, he seems satisfied with how the message was broadcast.
"At this stage of the game, myself and my brother, if we can't be honest and open about our lives, then we might as well quit the business," Hardy proclaimed. "One thing that is so annoying about people online sometimes [is] the way they judge wrestlers when you have a bit of notoriety and everything is public. Not everyone has their past out there. We have all our negatives out there and we own them all, we accept them all, and we really try and inspire people by telling them how it's allowed us to grow into better people."
Hardy cited words of wisdom he once received from an old football coach to explain the drive he still has to continuously improve. "If you're not getting better, you're getting worse. You don't stay the same," he quoted. "That really hit home with me. If you're not driven, if you become complacent and it's just about making a payday, you're doing yourself a disservice."
It remains to be seen if anything will change for Matt and Jeff in AEW, but for now, the elder Hardy brother seems content to have explained his stance on things at present.
If you use quotes in this article, please credit "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.