AEW Superstar Matt Hardy has jumped across multiple promotions multiple times throughout his storied professional career, but perhaps no return was bigger than when he decided to return to WWE in 2017 after leaving the company in 2011.
Speaking on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Hardy went into greater detail about the end of his latest WWE run and how they rallied hard in an attempt to get him to stay with the company. Hardy also talked about why he decided to go back to the company in 2017. Check out the highlights of the conversation below.
On returning to WWE in 2017:
It was really important for me to go there and leave on a good note. When I left in 2011, I just wasn’t in a good place. I wanted to go back because I do owe all those guys. I have a great appreciation for WWE and Vince McMahon and all those people. I wouldn’t be who I am without him and I very openly acknowledge that and I am grateful for it.
On WWE rallying to get him to stay with the company in 2020:
I was talking with Vince and creative about different ideas and what I was going to do because they were trying to get me to re-sign. I had been very close with The Young Bucks for a while, especially since we worked with them. I met them originally back in Impact and then I had worked with them in Ring Of Honor. [WWE] offered some good deals and good money. But I said it’s important to me that I’m going to be treated appropriately as a wrestler. Because there’s this thing there with Vince and older wrestlers he just feels like they are done. Even if there’s things they could utilize. I think Tony Khan does a masterful job of putting older guys into certain positions where they can succeed and they can optimize their efforts and their talents.
On WWE wanting him to eventually work as a backstage producer:
Vince said, ‘I can see you transitioning to a producer behind the scenes.’ I know once he says that, that’s kind of what’s in his mind. If I can wrestle, I want to wrestle. I know I only have a few years left to do this plus I am going to make the most money there. And this is my dream, and my passion, and I love it, and it’s what I really want to do. So while I can do it, especially as my kids are getting a little bit older, for them to be able to see me wrestle is cool to me, so I definitely want to wrestle. So as time went on and I didn’t sign, they said to me, ‘we are going to take you off TV for a while.’ I said, ‘okay, cool, whatever, no big deal.’ Then it was, ‘okay, are you ready to sign yet? If you sign, you can come back to TV.
On WWE making a last-ditch ‘hail-mary’ attempt to extend his deal:
At the very end, they did a big hail Mary where I was going to work with Randy Orton and they had some things they were promising. And they had a big-money contract, which was really, really huge and would have been a great deal. I was appreciative of it, but I was like, I know Vince had seen me already transition into a producer role. So that is where I was going to end up. I spoke with The ‘Bucks and I talked with Tony. We talked about some things about having me wrestle on a limited schedule, whatever it may be. Even having me represent some guys. Tony was just amazing to talk to, he was so respectful. Tony Khan is just so respectful of guys who have contributed to this business.
You can listen to the entire interview below. Big thanks to Wrestling Inc. for providing transcriptions on the podcast.
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