Matt Hardy says he had this year’s Righteous storyline planned out through July before January was over, and that the freedom to do that is why he is where he is.
The subject came up on the latest episode of The Extreme Life while discussing Adam Copeland taking a booking with Maple Leaf Pro, his first match outside WWE or AEW since 2001. Hardy said working outside the biggest companies gives a performer something they cannot get inside them.
“You kind of get to dictate your terms. That’s one of the cooler things about doing those shows, is you’re in charge. It’s very different from being at the machine of TKO slash WWE, where they kind of control everything that you’re doing.”
“You get a lot of say in what you’re doing, and that’s one of the reasons I enjoy TNA so much, is because we get so much say in what we’re doing. By the beginning of January, I had everything mapped out in this Righteous storyline, all the way through now, through July, and it’s very enjoyable. It’s very cool to be kind of in control of your own destiny.”
Hardy’s co-host warned him on air that the quote would generate headlines and comparisons to other talent who have talked about creative control. Hardy did not flinch.
“Give me the headlines. Give me the heat.”
“I am very comfortable with my standing, because there’s going to be a segment of some of the fan bases, specific fan bases, they’re going to say, oh, Matt Hardy shut the f*** up, nobody cares what you say, you’re irrelevant, whatever. And that’s fine. I understand the gig. I understand what’s going on. But you talk to people who have worked with me and been with me personally, and they will sing my praises, no doubt.”
Why he still takes the dates
Hardy said the motivation for him and his brother is not financial.
“Jeff and I, I think our motivation more than anything else is we’re very passionate and we do love this. We’re both pretty good financially, but we enjoy doing it. And while we’re healthy and we can do this, we want to do it as much as we can.”
He said the one thing driving him is his children.
“The biggest thing I’ve always wanted to do is give my kids a big head start. That’s my main thing, because we didn’t have that. We grew up in a very poor family with our dad, and he busted his a** to raise us as a single parent after our mom died. My goal is, by the time my kids are 18, I have a good starting point for all those guys to be successful.”
On giving back
Hardy said working outside the major companies also lets veterans do something for younger talent, and that his generation is better at it than the one that trained him.
“You can go out and you can make money, and you can also give back, and you can work with younger guys. You can give them rubs by doing whatever, even at appearances and different things. It’s something to me that also feels very worthwhile.”
“There’s a lot of guys, especially when we were coming up in the nineties, guys didn’t want to share their secrets. They didn’t want to give people rubs necessarily. It was very hard to get those guys to help you. And now I feel like our generation are more willing to help the younger generations than any other generation that’s ever been.”
