Matt Hardy has praised WWE’s current handling of Danhausen, telling The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy listeners that the company is doing exactly the right thing using Danhausen as a multi-platform attraction rather than burning him out as an in-ring regular.
Danhausen has been one of the breakout WWE TV stars this year, with Triple H and Nick Khan personally praising his merchandise success at the WWE Town Hall this week. Danhausen is the No. 2 merchandise seller in the entire company and has three current shirt designs in the WWE top 5 best-sellers. He has also been featured on ESPN cross-promotional content tied to the NBA playoffs.
“You got to get it while it’s hot, man. Who knows how long his run is, but the most important thing is that they’re not burning him out in a capacity of being in the ring, where he’s being forced to wrestle over and over. He’s an attraction, he’s a novelty, and use him as such. Myself and Bray, we were fighting to be used more like novelties and do shit like Danhausen is doing right now, when we were the Eaters of Worlds, but then, like, ‘Well, you guys are both big stars, I need you on TV. Go wrestle, go wrestle, go wrestle, go wrestle.’ And honestly, they have nailed the Danhausen news right now, and the way he’s a big star and got everybody talking. His stocks are rising, his equity is growing every single week, and they’re doing the right thing.”
He noted the Knicks crossover with the New York Knicks’ epic comeback as a happy accident that legitimized Danhausen’s curse-and-uncurse gimmick.
“Lucky for him, you know, the Knicks dropped the ball, and they helped bring legitimacy to his curse. So, yeah, it’s okay, especially this crossover stuff, that is what you want a character like that to do, especially someone who is so gimmicky like Danhausen.”
Hardy also went deep on his frustration that AEW did not figure out how to use Danhausen during his time with the company.
“I’m super happy for him that he is succeeding so much, especially, I’m still blown away. I said this; I was preaching to the choir when he was in AEW. I was like, ‘How do you not figure out a way to utilize this guy who’s entertaining as hell on your show? It doesn’t even have to be in a wrestling way, you know? How do you not utilize him? Like, wrestling is a variety. It is best when it is a variety show.’ I say that over and over, and Danhausen, he’s not going to be fucking five-star fucking banger main event guy, that is not his role, his role is different, but that does not mean he’s not contributing. That does not mean people are going to watch and they’re going to see Danhausen go, ‘Wow, this guy’s fucking really interesting. What does he do? Oh, WWE? I’d like to see if he’s on it. Let me check it out.'”
Asked whether Danhausen needs a title at some point, Hardy thinks it’s possible.
“I don’t think he needs to. You could do something down the road where maybe he teams up with someone who is like more of a legit wrestler, and there’s some sort of arc where they have been wronged by the tag champions, and they win it for a little while. But once again, he’s not a character that needs to keep a title up because he’s not a serious wrestler. When it’s all said and done, he’s not a serious wrestler. He is a character on a TV show. And hello, world, all wrestlers are characters on TV shows, just in case you haven’t caught on about it. That’s why these people that are so obsessed with the five-star matches, and this and that, money is made getting characters over.”
If you use quotes from this article, please credit The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy and include a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
