Matt Hardy shared his candid thoughts on the current direction of All Elite Wrestling following the Dynasty pay-per-view, expressing on his “Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast that while Jon Moxley works incredibly hard, his current storyline as leader of the Death Riders feels stale and the company needs a creative shift.
While Hardy hadn’t watched the full Dynamite episode featuring the Dynasty fallout, he reacted to the main event where The Young Bucks returned to help Jon Moxley retain the AEW World Championship over Swerve Strickland. “As I’d said last week before we ever got to the Pay Per View event… I feel it’s one of those times where, you know, the Death Riders thing, it has pretty much run its course,” Hardy stated bluntly.
He offered high praise for Moxley’s dedication but felt the current angle wasn’t working. “I love Jon Moxley. I think in many ways, Jon Moxley is the heart and soul of AEW. I think he busts his busted his ass for AEW,” Hardy said. “He takes these crazy risk and he puts it on the line for AEW week in and week out, no doubt, but I think it is time to go a different direction and try and start something new that could possibly catch fire.” He added, “AEW really, really, really needs something to get hot and catch fire to kind of get their momentum back, I think so.”
Hardy questioned the group’s overall mission: “I don’t necessarily understand their whole mission at AEW, what are they trying to accomplish?” He suggested other top stars like Will Ospreay could potentially take the title but also questioned Ospreay’s character depth beyond being technically gifted: “Besides being the greatest wrestler in the world, like I’m just curious of what story they will create.” He believes WWE would handle Ospreay differently: “I think WWE, they would definitely change his presentation. They would try and sink their teeth into him and give him more substance than he has as a character.” However, Hardy later acknowledged Ospreay’s potential for growth: “I don’t think Will Ospreay has got as big as he can get… There’s going to be just like, one more layer of something… that is going to help really catapult him to the next level.”
Regarding The Young Bucks’ return and interference, Hardy expressed intrigue mixed with skepticism: “You said, you know, the Bucks coming back and helping Jon Moxley. It’s gonna be really interesting… I want to see how they explain that. I’m really curious of how they’re going to tell this story… It was an interesting choice.” He agreed with host Jon Alba that it appears to set up a Bucks vs. Swerve & Hangman Page match.
He also touched on FTR’s recent heel turn on Adam Copeland: “I feel pretty confident saying I think FTR is at their best when they are the bad guys,” and predicted an eventual Copeland and Christian Cage reunion: “I think everybody sees the writing on the wall that we’re eventually going to get a Cope and Christian reunion in some capacity.”
Finally, Hardy addressed potential fan fatigue, suggesting the lengthy AEW PPV runtime might contribute to negative reactions or people leaving early. “That’s a long time to keep an audience captivated,” he said regarding shows extending past midnight Eastern. While dismissing the idea of specific “go away heat” for Moxley (“I don’t think Jon Moxley, as a performer, has go away heat”), he felt fans might be “past” or “frustrated with” the current Death Riders storyline itself.
Matt Hardy’s podcast drops every Friday at ExtremeHardy.com. If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit ExtremeHardy.com with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
