Danny Stone of The Huffington Post in the UK recently spoke with Matt Hardy, talking about his return to TNA and what the future holds for him. Below are some of the highlights of that interview:
On his return to TNA and working with Jeff:
“It’s good fun! It’s like a time warp. It’s so strange. We’ve been separated and we haven’t been in the ring with those guys for about 12 years. You know as soon as we start working with them, we start having memories of old matches we had in Peoria Illinois – random cities across the world, it’s a great dose of nostalgia. I think it’s cool because we’re all at a point where we can still go pretty strong in the ring and have a great match and not disappoint the people. We don’t just get dressed up and come out as the Dudley’s and the Hardy boys and play around for a couple of minutes, we can actually get out there and do an older version of ourselves and still kick ass and that’s pretty cool.”
On what the future for Spike TV and TNA Holds:
“I’m really not sure. You know things came out and Spike have extended TNA and they’ll try and work it out but a part of me believes that similar to a relationship that comes through a turbulent period, it’s time to move on and look somewhere else. If the right scenario is found and they have a good TV partner, it could turn everything around for TNA. You have to wait and see and timing is everything, so we’re on Impact wrestling on Spike through the end of the year and we’ve got a few months until then and it’s going to be really interesting to see how things unfold. I think things are going to be fine here at Impact wrestling – and I don’t even have to say that because I’m not someone that’s under contract or a strict employee of the company. There’s so much speculation and conjuncture online but I think things are going to be absolutely fine here.”
On TNA compared to the Indy scene:
“When Jeff and I were first starting out and trying to make a name for ourselves, we were doing Indy shows and would take whatever we could get just to have as much in-ring time as we could. Once we got to WWE, obviously it was a dream come true and being on television on TNA is still living a childhood dream. It’s different now because I’m at a point where whenever I do the independents, I can kind of pick and choose what I want. I can go to the ones that I know are going to be good and take care of me. I also have a huge international merchandise line at shopmatthardy.com we ship over to Britain and those are some of the best, most loyal fans in the world. I enjoy doing independent shows now because they’re very laid back and I get to go out and be passionate about just doing what I love and that’s wrestling. There’s no pressure, no stress. When you’re doing a television production or you’re with a company, there is some stress, there is pressure to perform and it’s a little tougher but it also comes with the benefits of having huge television exposure and wrestling in front of a bigger crowd. So they both have their advantages and I think the bottom line is, if you love wrestling, they’re both great.”
