Matt Hardy On How His Relationship Was With Triple H
During the latest episode of The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy, the wrestling legend spoke about his return to WWE. He discussed the deal that he and Jeff carved out. He also revealed the role Triple H played in them being able to go and work with Ring Of Honor.
"Then Triple H reached out, spoke to him. We talked about some terms, and how long we wanted to go, we said we didn't want to do this for five years, obviously. We don't know how much longer we've got left, we are obviously getting a little older, and we came out to a comfortable arrangement. They gave us an incredible offer," he said. "And we went back to WWE making the most money we ever made there, for a guarantee, so it was a good deal.
"I told Hunter, 'we spoke to The Young Bucks, and we had this thing worked out where we were going to do an inter-promotional angle between TNA and Ring Of Honor where we were going to work with one another. But, it's still on the table. We can go to ROH, and win the Tag Team Titles, and hold them throughout, we can drop them the night before WrestleMania.'
"Which is where they had already had in mind that we were going to kind of make our debut. A month out, they knew that's where they wanted us to start. I said, 'we can fill that time up, and we can kind of portray the image that we are going to be working with Ring Of Honor as a red herring to keep people guessing that we are not returning to WWE immediately.' And Hunter was down for it."
Triple H has recently retired from in-ring competition, which Matt Hardy also reflected on. He put over how talented the Game was inside the ring. While he also talked about the relationship that the two of them developed over time.
"It is what it is, we all have to retire one day," he pointed out. "I remember I reached out to him after I heard about his condition, and spoke to him briefly. Obviously, I have known Paul for a very long time, and worked with him many, many times, and had good experiences with him. He's incredible in the ring, one of the smoothest workers you'll ever be in the ring with. Really smart, a student of the game, loves the business. Obviously, I love this insane sh*t, so I really bond with anybody who has that much of a love for it.
"But, whenever I came back to WWE those last years, 2017 through 2020, I had a great relationship with him. I feel like once he retired from being a full-time wrestler, and he was more of an office person, and NXT was really like his huge passion, and he loved that so much with every iota of his heart. That was really special to him, building that from the ground up, and creating something special. I got along great with him."
Matt Hardy also reflected on when he returned to the company. He claimed that there were no trust issues regarding how he had departed WWE. This was because he was the most professional at the time, which was his goal upon returning.
"No, there wasn't," he revealed. "I was trusted at that time, because I had proven myself, I had street cred. Everybody knew I was in the best place, the most professional of any professional wrestler that there is. Sorry Brian Myers. I was really on top of my sh*t. Just coming back, that was never questioned. Which is cool.
"It was very important to me, personally, to go back there and be the most professional. I hated how I left in the end of 2010. As I have said about Jeff Jarrett, I am going to put myself in the same boat. I wasn't in the best place in my life. I wanted to go back and redeem myself, and be the most professional WWE employee possible, over those three years."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.