AEW's Matt Hardy Teases New 'Broken' Character Change
Are we about to see another new version of Matt Hardy?
His latest promo on the YouTube show "Being The Elite" certainly seemed to indicate as much. The scene involved Hardy sitting by himself, reflecting over what has been an unexpected and unfortunate several weeks for him and his brother Jeff — from getting removed from an AEW Tag Team Title ladder match due to injury to Jeff dealing with the latest in a long history of substance abuse issues. Hardy decided to incorporate a bit of reality into his promo:
"Ever since I've come to AEW, I have went on and on and on, probably at nauseum to most folks, about cementing the legacy of the Hardys," Matt began. "About really cementing our legacy, and proving that we are one of the greatest tag teams of all time. Maybe I have an obsession with it. Even when I look back to those situations, I was so down, and I was broken, but in a fantasy world. Broken in a fun way, and I ended up finding success out of all that. And then we came to AEW together, finally, and we were really set to cement our legacy as the greatest of all time."
All that changed due to Jeff's situation, however, and that opportunity is currently gone.
"I don't put that on Jeff," Matt said. "I don't blame Jeff for that. I look in the mirror and go, 'I'm the one that keeps bringing him back. I'm the one that is obsessed with this legacy of proving ourselves as one of the greatest tag teams ever! Maybe it's on me!' One thing I can say with clarity is that not winning the AEW World Tag Team titles has left me broken. But not broken in the fun, fantastical way, not at all. It's left me broken in reality. So why do I give a sh*t about anything anymore?" Matt then walks off-screen. Hardy went on to elaborate about that promo on the most recent episode of his podcast "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy."
"It was very heartfelt," Hardy said. "It was kind of based in a lot of reality, and I kind of tried to toe the line a little bit on it, but I have some different ideas about a new direction, obviously, with Jeff being gone for who knows how long."
"I would like to go in a new direction," he continued. "Start a new version of Matt Hardy and build it off of a real-life scenario."
According to Hardy, we may see a more "conflicted" Matt Hardy as time goes on, and indeed, he tweeted the word "CONFLICTED" early today, along with a video of the "Being the Elite" promo. For the sharp-eyed, one thing that could indicate some aspect of this new direction is the shirt Hardy is wearing in that segment, which bore the words "Yellow Kings" and "Carcosa." Both are references to the works of 19th-century horror writer Robert M. Chambers, who was best known for a book of short stories titled "The King In Yellow." In one of the stories, "The Repairer of Reputations," an unreliable narrator suffering from a head injury tells a "broken" story that includes the following excerpt:
"I am broken down — I was in a madhouse, and now — when all was coming right — when I had forgotten the King — the King in Yellow, and — but I shall go mad again — I shall go mad —"
Carcosa, meanwhile, is a dark, mysterious city featured in Chambers' work that is perhaps cursed, and has been referenced in, among numerous other things, H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos and the HBO series "True Detective."
Hardy has remained active since his brother's arrest, competing at AAA TripleMania down in Tijuana, but hasn't competed in an AEW since Double Or Nothing, when he and Jeff defeated reigning AEW Tag Team Champions the Young Bucks.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Being The Elite" and "Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy." Provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription