Matt Hardy Speaks Out - WWE Release, Lita-Edge, Tons More
AOL Fanhouse recently interviewed Matt Hardy, here is a recap of the interview?
Hardy said that over the last month since his release, he has been "hustling". He said he was working on doing his Hardy Show stuff.
He talked about the first time he was released by WWE and said he "was hired back three days later" and he was just kept off of TV. He was asked if he considered going to TNA and he said he did but their TV situation wasn't good then so he didn't go there. He later said he was actually hired back within 7 or 8 weeks, not three days. He said when he started burying WWE on the web was right around when he re-signed. He said Kevin Dunn told him to bury the company in the videos.
He said that he found out about Lita and Edge by listening to voicemails on her cell phone. He said Edge told Amy he loved her and wanted to be with her but they hadn't gotten "physical physical" yet. He said he kicked her out of his house when he heard the voicemails. She tried to call him for two weeks and he wouldn't talk to her so she started actually dating Edge then. It lasted for three weeks and then ended he said. He added that when he was on the road and she was home rehabbing he "was tempted" to have sex outside of their relationship, implying that he never swayed. He said that later they got back together as a couple behind the scenes while she and Edge were a couple on-screen. He said he wanted her to have creative break her and Edge up on-screen for the good of their relationship but instead they broke up off-screen.
He said that he started thinking of leaving WWE after Jeff left. He said that Jeff has restless leg syndrome even now and was beat up. He said that Jeff was ready to leave but was going to come back to WWE after a break. Matt thought that he wasn't respected after Jeff left, like he was being kept around to make sure Jeff would come back. Jeff then went to TNA. After that he thought that WWE turned on him and stopped pushing him because of it.
He said that if he ever gets to wrestle Jeff down the road, he wants it to be realistic, not how it was done in WWE. He didn't think brothers would ever really want to kill each other and Hardy fans wouldn't believe it. He said it has to be done on a real level, where people understand. He said that the Hardy fans out there wouldn't accept them in a blood feud, because brothers wouldn't fight that way (they wouldn't?).
He was asked why WWE wasn't the place for him now and he said it was basically because they booked poorly. Let's just say that in his world he would have been pushed a lot harder and better.
He was asked about being sent home from the show at White Plains, NY. He said that the morning before the show the flight and someone called Johnny Ace and said Matt had a problem, that he was in a weird, altered state. He said he knows who it was but wouldn't say who. He said when he got to White Plains the next day they had drug testing. He said that he was told that he couldn't wrestle until he gave a urine sample. He said that he had just peed before they asked. He said he couldn't pee before his match so he couldn't wrestle. He then said when he peed it passed the test.
Fritz asked about the UK show where he was sent back to the hotel. He said he would give Fritz and exclusive here because he liked him, but then went off on a tangent. He talked about going to TV in Baltimore. He said he was still mad about what happened in White Plains. He said he knew he was going to speak with Ace and was ready to ask for his release that day. He said when he met with Ace he told him that he was clean at White Plains and was pulled off of the show. He blamed the internet for taking a story and running with it. He said he told him maybe it was time to leave. He said, "If was messed up would airlines let me on a plane". It was kind of disjointed because he didn't answer what he was asked about the UK.
Fritz brought it back to the UK and the weird video Matt did. Matt said he got mad and did it because it was said he was sent home from TV and he wasn't. He answered by saying something about how he has to stretch because he has "anatomically wider hips" than most. Because of that, he took a muscle relaxer the way before. Someone said he was dozing off at the show the day before. He said he did doze off, but he wrestled and had a good match. He said he lost weight and the muscle relaxer hit him harder than expected. He said he did what his doctor said to do and he wrestled at the show he fell asleep at.
He said that he was sent back to hotel and he went there and checked his email and he saw reports he was sent home and that wasn't true (even though being "sent home" often means sending you back to the hotel rather that paying an exorbitant fee for a new airline ticket). He said he went home with the wrestlers on the same plane. So he took "sent home" to mean actually going to North Carolina, which wasn't true. Of course, he easily could have done a video saying "I was sent back to the hotel from TV, not home to NC" but of course he didn't.
He said at that point he was going to do whatever he had to do to get his release.
Fritz went back to the video saying he looked out of sorts and glassy-eyed and people were concerned about him. He said it was because it was shot in the middle of the night, after saying he checked his email when he first got back to the hotel. He said he wanted to set the story straight (which of course the video didn't do) but he belied his earlier timeline in his statements.
Fritz asked about the goofy video he did where he was eating grapes. He said that was Matthew, a character. He did it to mock the perception that he was whacked out. He stopped doing the videos like that when he was released.
Fritz asked if he has ever had any issues with somas. He said "Zero". Fritz said that right after his incident WWE changed the Wellness Policy concerning somas. Matt said that somas was what his prescription was for and he never failed a drug test but that is probably why WWE made the change to the policy. I can't make this stuff up.
He said he has never been "dangerous" or taken anything past what he was prescribed. He said he only started taking somas when he had his abdominal surgery. He then went off on a tangent about his intestine problems.
He asked if he asked for a release from WWE after the European incident and he said yes. He said that due to the youth movement and the company wanting to punish him for Jeff leaving, he knew it was time to go. He said he was told that they wanted to keep him working for them and one day to be an agent. He didn't want that.
Fritz asked him if it was a good idea to do the public videos. He said that it's just him and how he is.
He said he makes 100 bucks a day in advertising from YouTube for his videos and could get by with his other ventures if he didn't return to wrestling. He also said he made a lot and implied he has saved it.
He said that he thinks Vince McMahon liked Edge and Jeff Hardy as "the" guys on their team while he and Christian were just never thought of by the boss the way that their partners were.
Fritz asked him if he lost Vince's confidence when he botched the promo he did on Edge when he returned. He said "possibly" and said that they can do what they want and with practice they can help guys get better. But he needs to be him in promos, not read what they write for him. Unless he is Matthew I guess. He even said Jeff isn't a great promo either.
He said that some guys get away with things that others don't in WWE. He said that guys fly coach now on overseas flights instead of business class. For the record, when I flew to Scotland last month there was no business class on the plane so that could have something to do with it. Anyway, he pointed out the rigors of life on the road. He said that John Laurinaitis oversees everything with the talent now too, including ring outfits. He said that you have to let people be themselves and learn on their feet and it's too hard now in WWE.
He was asked what his future is and he said implied he would be working for TNA. Fritz asked him if TNA is a natural fit and he said yes it's a possibility. He said he got some interesting calls last week. He again said TNA was a viable option.
He also stated that he only had about 75 days on his no-compete. He said he was actually released a few weeks before WWE posted it on their website. He said that they were trying to get him to stay around.
He said he gets fired up when his image is impugned. He said that Dave Meltzer reported a while back that he was suspended for steroid use. He said it never happened and he was fired up and had a mutual friend call Meltzer and say if there wasn't a retraction he would take action and Meltzer retracted it.
He said he would consider going back to WWE some day but he would need days off in his deal. He said he isn't talking an Undertaker schedule, but some time off so his body could be healthy and not need to take things to relax his muscles.
He was asked if he ever wanted to team with Jeff again and he said that they were both singles stars now. He said he and Edge pitched the two of them being a power group and WWE creative turned it down.
He was asked if he gets treated fairly by the wrestling media. He said it's cyclical. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
He was asked if anyone in the company leaked information about him and if they were out to get him. He said there were people that leak but he doesn't know if they were out to get him.
Fritz said that there were reports of him having heat with CM Punk and he said no, he doesn't. He said he thinks it may have started because Punk dated Lita "for a short while". He did say he really disagreed with Punk when he made comments about Jeff after Jeff's arrest went down. He said it probably wasn't Punk's call but that Punk didn't mind doing it either.
He was asked if Jeff would go back to WWE after them doing that and he said he didn't think Jeff would.
Fritz asked what else is left in wrestling for Matt and he said he wanted to run shows and run a wrestling school. He thinks he has a lot more to offer in that vein than he does as a worker. He said he is good at a lot of things but not great at any. He said he wants to give back to the business. He expects to doing a school and/or run shows in the next six months. He said he may do a reality show about post-WWE.
Matt closed the interview by pushing www.TheHardyShow.com.