On a recent edition of his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, TNA veteran Matt Hardy spoke about the meeting he and his brother Jeff had with WWE over SummerSlam 2024 weekend, which included filming content for the company.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his meeting with WWE: “As soon as we got to Cleveland, we were met by a WWE driver who picked us up to the WWE TV hotel, where we went, and we recorded some media, some digital, for those guys, which is going to air on some other platforms coming up in the future. It was very cool. It was very cool to interact with a lot of the guys when we walked in. First we saw was Jey Uso, which was cool. Saw a couple of the other boys, saw a lot of the office and interacted with them some, and we filmed this bit. And we’ve got some really neat stuff that’s going to be coming out on WWE digital here over the course of probably the next 3-4-5 months.”
On it only being a friendly meeting: “I like to describe it as a friendly visit. But it was something where we spoke to people in production, and they said they would like to do more of this going forward. And I said we would love to as well. And I think for Jeff, it was a real big deal to be there and talk to some of the people because he felt bad about the way he left. He felt bad about stuff he’d done at AEW when he got in trouble, and just to kind of clear the air and let them see where he’s at in life right now, that was a big deal to him, I think so that was really cool, and I was really happy that he got that. But it was great. We had a great time there. We left on great terms, and everything was cool, and we told them we talked to him in the future, and we’ll do something a little bit later down the road.”
On possible WWE return: “The WWE was our birthplace. Without the WWE, we wouldn’t have become who we ultimately became, you know, these tag team legends, whatever, however people view us. The worst tag team ever. Whatever you think our legacy is. That happened because WWE gave us an opportunity, obviously, so that will always be viewed as our home. And we’ve said this before. I’ve said this on this podcast, we want to finish in WWE now because that is our home, and that seems like the right way to do it. I mean, there was a time with AEW where I would have been cool doing it there and just finishing up there, but I think now to really come full circle and come back around to where we were and the people that first gave us our opportunity to become stars and achieve this dream that we aspired to do. I think we want to finish our deal at WWE in her careers there, do a Hall of Fame thing, and, you know, we’ll see. It was a very positive start to the weekend, though.”
On possible WWE Hall of Fame induction without having to retire: “That’s true. It is. It’s different. It has a different feel to it. I think it’s almost like a bit of a different structure just because there have been so many changes. And I think the new regime is kind of wanting to put their fingerprints on what they’re doing going forward. And it kind of equates to a new formula for the way to do business going forward, especially with people that aren’t necessarily like a full-time, you know, performer, or someone who isn’t even the Dudleys for instance, the Dudleys are doing legends deals, which are a little different, and they’re both very happy with it, which means they interact. And sometimes they do stuff on TV. We’ve seen Bubba do it a few times. So it’s very cool, man, and it’s very cool that we’re doing the deal with TNA right now. I love the TNA-NXT crossover. I think it’s very beneficial for the entire business. I’m glad NXT and TNA are doing that. And, you know, more or less, they just said, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing, you know, and we’ll talk to you.’ We want to do more stuff. We are WWE legacy performers. So I think it is just fitting at the end of the day. That is where we end up finishing our careers.”
