Matt Hardy Talks Leaving WWE And His Future

Source: Monday Night Mayhem

Why he felt he needed to break ties with the WWE, his transition over the past two months, & where he feels he's at mentally/physically/emotionally right now: "It's been nice for me, because I needed to get away. One, my body was just so beat up and so abused. One thing with Jeff was that he took some time off during his run with WWE. I never did. The only time I was out was when I was injured, and during that time, I was doing intense rehab, so I had twelve and a half years straight that I worked everyday. I missed one day during that whole while, and that was when my girlfriend at the time was having neck surgery. Besides that, I never missed a show. I never asked off for a day. I worked hurt, I worked through injuries, and it just came to a point that I felt like between where I was at being utilized on TV, and the injuries catching up with me, and me not being in the top condition I needed to be at that I needed to take time off or get away. I started talking about possibly getting some time off or getting a release, and I eventually did what I had to do to get a break. I'm happy about it, I'm been happier & healthier physically, mentally, & emotionally than I've been in a long, long time. I've really enjoyed just having my own schedule. It's been a blast. I've just been loving life. The last couple of months have been two of the greatest months of my life."

The "constant battle" he was facing creatively while at the WWE, how mental exhaustion factored into his decision to want to leave the company, how Christian is "in the same boat" with him, & why he passionately feels that "if you don't love the business, you will not last there" (the WWE): "It's a constant battle. To begin with, myself & Christian kind of sit in the same boat in a lot of ways. We're two guys who worked for a long time to earn the respect of the fans over the years. We can go out with pretty much anyone and figure out how a way to make the match good or entertaining. We're very reliable. The deal was actually myself & Christian were starting up a storyline, and we had both put in so much time, and thought, & effort. We had given so many ideas and had written down ideas, storyline, & angles. We kept getting green lights, but then, just all of sudden, they just dropped it, and it stopped. When you have something like that, where they ask you to contribute, or they ask you to give ideas, and then when you take time when you only have a day & a half at home, and you spend your time all focused on that, and you really give your blood, sweat, & tears to it, and you're going to give them the best idea & the best storyline possible, and you're really emotionally attached to it, and you give it to them, and all of a sudden they just go 'OK, well this is great, but we're not going to do it.' That's very mentally & emotionally draining and fatiguing. That happens all the time there, and it gets to the point where you just go 'Well ok, maybe it's just easiest for me to just show up, and do my job, and not care, and not be passionate'. They ask you to be passionate, but if you get that ripped out of your hands so many times when you had these great ideas, it's really easy for you to lose your passion. If you don't love the business, you will not last there. That's one thing I can tell you."

His in-ring future in 2011: Whether him showing up in TNA alongside his brother (Jeff Hardy) is a foregone conclusion and/or if he would consider exploring the opportunity to work with Ring of Honor in the new year: "Obviously, that's naturally where people's thoughts are going to go, and you can't blame them for that. Obviously, that's not something I would say that isn't crazy or isn't out of the question at all. Jeff's done well there and had a lot of success, and ever since 2005, I've actually maintained a very good relationship with Dixie Carter, so that's a possibility, but who knows. I definitely haven't locked anything in stone yet. You also mentioned Ring of Honor. I think Cary (Silkin) does a great job with those guys. He reminds me, on a smaller level & a smaller budget, like the old ECW crew, because he'll have guys that are really good, and then, all of sudden, TNA or WWE will suck up his top stars, and he'll have to build some more guys. I really appreciate that fact, and I appreciate that there are territories & smaller organizations out there that are still building talent for the future. It would be great if Ring of Honor could get a more prominent television following as they go."