Matt Hardy Explains Why Tony Khan Moved Away From 'Broken Matt' Gimmick In AEW

Former AEW star Matt Hardy has revealed why he shelved the "Broken" gimmick during his AEW run and transitioned to the "Big Money" character.

Hardy's AEW career featured a lot of moments that will be ingrained in the minds of AEW fans, none more so than his debut on the first episode of "AEW Dynamite" that took place at Daily's Place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hardy revived his infamous "Broken" Matt Hardy gimmick in the build-up to the first-ever Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing 2020. The "Broken" gimmick, though, didn't last long as he reverted to his "Big Money" Matt persona when his feud with Sammy Guevara ended and his feud with Hangman Page began. He explained the reasons for the change on his "Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" podcast.

"'Broken' Matt Hardy wasn't Tony Khan's cup of tea any way as it was," Hardy said. "I think 'Big Money Matt,' a guy who's out there bragging about his wealth and status and how much money he's made in this industry, whatever, because if you notice immediately after we do The Elite Deletion, you see me doing promos on TV kind of boasting about how I destroyed Sammy and it was the best thing on the pay-per-view. The wheels were already in motion to do 'Big Money' Matt."

Once both the personas ran their course, Hardy was joined by his brother Jeff Hardy in AEW in the hopes of solidifying their status as one of the greatest tag teams of all time. Despite vowing to end their careers with an AEW Tag Team Championship run under their belts, The Hardys never won the titles and eventually left the company in 2024. 

Please credit "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.