Matt Hardy Assesses Which Among Recent WWE Releases He Could See In AEW

The release of over 20 WWE talents this week has fueled speculation among fans on which wrestlers might join AEW. Considering that the list includes veteran stalwarts such as Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin, and Emma, talented and arguably underutilized names such as Elias and Mustafa Ali, and promising up-and-comers such as Riddick Moss, Rick Boogs, and Alexis Gray, Tony Khan could have his hands full deciding which wrestlers to bring onboard.

On the latest episode of "The Extreme Life," Matt Hardy implored the released WWE superstars to heed Matt Cardona's advice and make a name for themselves on the indie circuit, thereby creating buzz for themselves and possibly landing a contract with a bigger promotion such as AEW.  

"He [Cardona] is the living, breathing example of it [making a name on the indies]," Hardy said. "...He's just killing it on every level, and he's willing to bust his a**, put in the work, and put in the sacrifices [to] do it yourself. And you really have to be a kind of a DIY guy to really be able to do that — but it's out there if you want it. Especially names like Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin, or Mustafa Ali  — there are a lot of guys who had a lot of TV time and people will pay to see them. You go out, bust your ass, and you can do whatever."

Hardy then predicted the former WWE superstars likely to end up in an AEW locker room, "I could see Shelton Benjamin, Dolph Ziggler, Mustafa Ali [in AEW]."  

It's worth noting that Hardy recorded the podcast when news hadn't broken of Matt Riddle's WWE release. According to several reports, most of the released wrestlers will serve standard 90-day non-competes in their WWE contracts, meaning AEW fans would have to wait until late December to get a glimpse of them.