Matt Hardy Thinks Vince McMahon "Always Chose Jeff Over Him"

AEW star Matt Hardy recently spoke with the Wrestling Perspective Podcast about him and Jeff first splitting up. He recalls how they had become very popular as a tag team, selling record numbers of merchandise. However, the former ECW Champion also discussed Vince McMahon overlooking him.

"We were at the point where the Hardy's became super popular and we did so well. In the year 2000, we sold the most merchandise of any tag team in the history of WWE," he revealed. "Which is amazing and it is so cool that we were able to achieve that level of success. But as time went on, and obviously Jeff was like the standout guy.

"And Vince always chose Jeff over Matt in The Hardy Boyz, when it came to Edge and Christian, he always chose Edge over Christian. That's something myself and Christian always have in common, we were a little underrated. We never got all the credit we deserved sometimes, in his eye."

Matt Hardy admitted that becoming a singles star was something that he was excited about. That's because the daredevil persona wasn't something that played to his strength. For Matt, it was all about taking on over-the-top gimmicks.

"The Hardy Boyz persona of the adrenaline junkie or the daredevil, the guy whose the death-defying competitor, wasn't really my strength," he said. "Even though I played it and I could do that. My strength has always been, in my opinion, to play an over-the-top, larger-than-life character."

Matt Hardy then spoke about how he didn't need to compare himself with Jeff. That's because Matt understood that his brother is a beloved figure within the professional wrestling industry. Instead, he concentrated on telling his own stories.

"I think with me, realization of understanding that Jeff is one of the most beloved figures in all of wrestling, ever, in history. It's insane how beloved he is," Matt said. "So working on a scale with him, you have to be realistic and be like, hold up, you can still be magnificent and super popular, and people dig you, but you can't compare yourself to him.

"Everyone is different, once again your much better off when you don't feel like you're racing against somebody, but you're racing against yourself to do better, and improve upon yourself. I just wanted a chance to do my own, to tell my own stories."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the Wrestling Perspective Podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.