Matt Hardy Predicts How Much Longer Jeff Hardy Will Wrestle, Talks Vets Helping Young Talent
As previously noted, professional wrestling legend Matt Hardy was recently a guest on The Jim Ross Report with WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross for a two-part interview. Among many other interesting pro wrestling topics, Matt discussed how long he thinks his brother Jeff will continue to wrestle. Also, Matt weighed in on performers from bygone eras returning to WWE and how it is beneficial to younger talent.
According to Matt, 'Brother Nero' will probably wrestle for two or three more years.
"I have to be honest, like, he is right up there with having one of the most indestructible vessels of all time because the amount of punishment he put his body through and for him to just keep on ticking, it's just unreal. It's just unreal. Like, it makes me question half the time whether he is truly human. It's like aliens just dropped off a baby brother for me as opposed to a regular human being. He's amazing as far as his perseverance. But I don't know. With him I'd say maybe a couple of years." Matt added, "I would say two or three more years if he can hang in there."
On the subject of the old 'part-timers in WWE' debate where fans and some WWE Superstars complain that old timers are taking time and spots away from talent going through the daily grind of WWE life, Matt professed that the likes of The Undertaker, Kane, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels returning to WWE is good for business overall. 'The Woken One' suggested that The Deleter Of Worlds helped establish The B Team as a legitimate tag team. Matt went on to say that all pro wrestlers need to understand the life cycle of being a pro wrestler and you put people over at the end to help build the business.
"Undertaker, Shawn [Michaels], Hunter, Kane, Kurt [Angle] back, it's good. I mean, fans from 'The Attitude Era', those relapsed fans that maybe haven't watched in a while might tune back in because they know who those people are because they're stars. And it's nothing bad. And if, like, the young people were smart, they will learn from them, they will be taught by these guys, and, hopefully, they'll be on the same shows and there will be more eyeballs. You obviously too have to use these guys to interact and mingle with the younger talents, trying to continue to elevate them, to get them over. That's very, very important.
"One of the last things myself and Bray Wyatt did is, when we talked about it and we were finishing off the team, was we were against the B-Team. I'm like, 'we're going to try and help elevate them to like a regular tag team' and I'm like, 'I'm totally cool with that.' And I get that. It's kind of like the cycles of life in the [pro] wrestling industry." Matt continued, "when you look at the big team, everybody is playing a role. Sometimes, you're at the top, and at some point, you come back down a little bit. You have to help other people move toward the top. I mean, that's just how it is unless you are one of the handful of guys that just stay at the top the whole while and there are some guys that are like that. But in the big scheme of things, people who get frustrated about bigger names or older guys from 'The Attitude Era' coming back, it's going to be good for business all in all."
In Matt's ideal situation, pro wrestling veterans would work with the younger talents to give them the rub. At the very least, Matt believes WWE should let the young stars have strong matches on the same card as the returning legends to let the fans of 'The Attitude Era' take notice of the new generation.
"If they can interact and mingle and continue to help elevate the younger guys, I think that's a super cool thing." Matt explained, "I think it's beneficial to have those guys around. I think the most important thing with like The Undertaker, and Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and if you look at Triple H, his last few WrestleManias, he has been very beneficial with the way he's being used, especially helping to elevate other talent. And all of those guys, I think they have a role around internally. And I believe they just need to be utilized in the right positions to honor their iconic and legendary statuses and also the younger guys either work with them and get a rub, or let the younger guys have a real standout match that makes people go, 'whoa, I'm an old-timer from 'The Attitude Era' and I came here to watch The Undertaker tonight, but holy Christ, this Seth Rollins is amazing!' And I really do [think so]. I think he's the top new young babyface in the company. I'm a big fan of Seth Rollins."
Also during the interview, Matt claimed that he learned a lot from working with The Two Man Power Trip, The Undertaker, and Eddie Guerrero.
"There's no substitute for experience and being around. It really is [true]." Matt said, "when [Austin] did the Two Man Power Trip with Triple H, we worked with those guys for a few weeks and that was an amazing learning experience. Just to get to interact with guys who are legitimately top guys on top and to be able to work with them and them say, 'maybe do this' or 'do that', and to feel you can bring you work up to them, that's where I feel we learned so much. I felt so lucky, blessed, to get to work with The Undertaker quite a bit, especially when he was doing stuff with Brock Lesnar.
"When I did Matt Hardy, Version One, I was kind of like Brock's go-to guy and stuff and they used me in a lot of stuff, me and [Paul] Heyman. I got to work with Taker quite a bit in that time and learned a ton from him as well. He's just an amazing wrestling mind and he has a really amazing perspective on things. Eddie Guerrero, a guy I was thinking about yesterday. I tweeted out a picture of him. I learned so much from Eddie Guerrero, working with him. I've never been in the ring with somebody who can just read an audience no matter what town you're in, whether it's Amarillo, Texas or Bakersville, California, or Portland, Oregon, like, he'll put a different spin on a match just depending on the vibe of the crowd every single night and that was just such a pleasure and such a great learning experience to be in the ring with guys like that."
Check out the interview here. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit The Jim Ross Report with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: The Jim Ross Report