Broken Matt Hardy Is Returning – But Is It Too Late?

Back at the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017, the most compelling and talked about figure in professional wrestling was not a character in New Japan, nor was it the latest signing in NXT – it was none other than one half of the famous Hardy Boyz tag team duo, Matt Hardy.

After over 20 years in the business, Matt Hardy was the wrestler on everyone’s minds when he reinvented himself in the most bizarre and strangely captivating way with his ‘Broken’ gimmick. This version of Matt was an obscure, mirror house reflection of the multiple time WWE Tag Team champion many used to know and love. With a streak of hair bleached blonde and his accent now an indefinable and warped British-like drawl, this was something both weird and wonderful, the Twin Peaks of wrestling creations.

This was ‘Broken’ Matt Hardy.

With his psyche fractured and desire to delete Jeff Hardy (now informally dubbed Brother Nero) bordering on obsession, this reignited feud between the brothers gave way to arguably the greatest, most mind-boggling and gif-worthy match in recent memory – The Final Deletion.

Hosting fireworks, violins, drones, dilapidated boats and The Lake of Reincarnation, this fever dream of a match drew many eyes to the reinvented Hardy brand, launching him into a God-like status in wrestling culture.

Quickly, chants of DELETE! would find themselves across all brands of professional wrestling, Hardy’s new-found influence as infectious and catchy as Daniel Bryan’s YES! chants. Matt was now critically acclaimed, selling more merch than ever before and one-half of the TNA Tag Team Champions with Brother Nero, bringing more viewers to the troubled brand than ever before.

In February of 2017, after much speculation and rumour, The Broken Hardys would leave TNA amid contract negotiations breaking down and management changes, vacating the tag titles in the process. A huge blow for Impact Wrestling, but a new freedom for the brothers – with this new success, the world would be their oyster. Or, at least it should have been. Their departure opened a new feud, but this time not in the confines of a wrestling ring, but a legal one.

Despite seemingly having creative control over the ‘Broken’ characters, Impact would claim otherwise. New management led to bad blood, with Impact challenging for the rights to the Broken universe, even going as far as to issue a cease-and-desist letter to Ring of Honor, stating the company could in no way acknowledge or mention anything regarding either of the Broken Hardys.

Custody of the gimmick would rage on for months, with sole ownership left in legal limbo for much of that time. The Hardys were free, but without their career refreshing angle to hand.

Some weeks passed, and during Wrestlemania 33, the brothers Hardy were announced as a last-minute surprise addition to the Raw Tag Team title ladder match, much to the roar of approval from the Florida crowd. However, something was different. These were not the Broken team the wrestling world had come to adore, but the Hardy Boyz of old, Team Xtreme, with only a minor arm wave/Delete! gesture to offer any hint of what had been before. The WWE crowd would have to fill in the Broken gaps now.

In promos, the voices were two natives of North Carolina, their words, apart from an occasional exaggerated WONDERFUL or DELIGHTFUL, was that of two normal people – Matt Hardy was for now, for all intents and purposes, cured of his peculiar affliction.

It looked like things would calm down for Matt. After Jeff was injured, the elder Hardy would find himself in lesser, unnoteworthy matches, enhancing other talents, as is often the expectation of the returning, older wrestler. Elias Sampson and Jason Jordan would receive the ‘rub’ from being in the ring and featured with a man of Matt’s experience.

Many fans craved the opportunity to see ‘Broken’ Matt in a WWE environment, the chance to see what would happen when this character transcended the boundaries of one promotion to another, should he be permitted the same creative liberties. But there would be no way that WWE would entangle themselves in a legal battle. After all, WWE wants nothing more than to be accepted in the pop culture mainstream, so would never dirty their hands and risk their reputation.

All things considered, as the ‘Broken’ ideals faded from the public consciousness, it seemed this idea too would be deleted.

And then, after months of teasing and maybes, there was finally a glimmer of hope. In November, Matt Hardy changed his Twitter handle to #WOKEN and Impact Wrestling had a sudden change of heart – they would now allow all talents, past and present, the right to retain ownership over intellectual properties, effectively giving up any hold they claimed over the ‘Broken’ Hardy name.

On Monday 27th November, Matt Hardy would be attacked by a returning Bray Wyatt, after which Hardy entered a fit of rage, swinging his arm back and forth in a very familiar fashion, uttering very familiar words: DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!

With all subtlety out the window, this was a bold declaration that Matt would no longer be treading water. He would be returning to a career peak, under the rebranded guise of ‘#Woken’ and vignettes of Hardy returning to his former demented self would quickly appear via his Twitter page.

But the question should be asked, is it all coming too late? Can WWE possible recapture that electricity that brought so many new fans to the product? Is the interest in this gimmick that shot him to be a top-seller on ProWrestlingTees.com still there?

Certainly loyalists will be delighted to see this return, and with a rivalry with Bray Wyatt that many clamoured for months prior. The concept of the already supernatural Wyatt versus the crazed brilliance of a Broken Hardy has all the ingredients to be a brilliant, deliriously surreal match-up. Wyatt has needed something like this for years (his House of Horrors match, while intriguing, ultimately was a laughable affair) and his career has been a frustrating stop/start journey worthy of an entire piece to itself.

Hardy and Wyatt need each other now more than they ever did when this pairing was on the tips of many a fan’s tongues before. Both of their singles careers in WWE have hit roadblocks and together, yet the chemistry and magic this could stir up is nothing but a positive. Plus, if given the same keys to the infectious madness of the ‘Broken’ era in TNA (and maybe even if they could hold off until a match a Wrestlemania 34) you better believe that WWE has huge dollar signs in their eyes right now.

So, is it too late for ‘broken’ brilliance to make a resurgence? I don’t think so. I believe that right here, right now, professional wrestling needs to be #WOKEN more than ever before, and it is going to be WONDERFUL!