Few people in professional wrestling understand the importance of reinventing yourself more than Matt Hardy.
TNA Wrestling‘s Matt Hardy recently sat down with Denise Salcedo. When asked about being able to reinvent himself so many times throughout his career, Hardy explained the importance of being able to reinvent himself over the years.
“Yeah, I mean, in pro wrestling, things have to change,” Matt Hardy admitted. “Because, like, if you’re an actor and you play the same character, like even — I mean, there’s some shows like Breaking Bad that had five seasons, and I know the last season was broken into two pretty strong seasons, but they felt like they wrapped that up at just the right time.
“Dexter had been eight seasons, and the first time it ended, people weren’t very happy with the ending. And then they did Dexter: New Blood. They weren’t extremely happy with that ending as well. But it’s hard to have a character for eight years and still stay fresh, like you’re doing new stuff or breaking ground or blazing a new trail as far as the character goes, as far as the story and what the arc is. And I feel like in pro wrestling is just the same, and it’s even harder.
“We’re 32 years deep into this; you have to be able to change the character so that it’s different because just like one consistent character can’t really be interesting enough to tell this many different stories in this that and the other thing. They can have good matches and be good wrestlers, but I feel like the entertainment aspect which I’m a big fan of. I’m a big fan of that now more than in-ring wrestling, obviously.
Matt Hardy Version One and the Broken One
“And just being able to change and go in a different direction. It kind of gives you a refresh in many ways because Matt Hardy Version One was perfect for me because I was going in a different direction where I was going to be a heel. Then I just said like now you’re seeing the real, true Matt Hardy, the Matt Hardy Version One, not the extreme guy who wants to do stunts and be a daredevil.
“So then I integrated all the internet stuff like the Matt Facts and stuff. And then, the Broken Matt stuff once again was a throwback to go back in the day to like the Papa Shango stuff, and when he was doing the thing, and he was making Ultimate Warrior bleed from his head, and The Undertaker, the magic lightning all that Kane fire.
“It was really to try and do a supernatural over-the-top character that was almost supernatural if anything else. So yeah, it’s been fun doing that, and I like trying to relate things that I really love or things that I think I would be okay at and figuring out a way to take those to the extreme and whatever the character may be.”
READ MORE: David Penzer: Chris Jericho Is The GOAT Of Reinventing Himself Successfully
What do you make of Matt Hardy’s comments? What is your favorite iteration of Matt throughout the years? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of these quotes, please credit Denise Salcedo with a link to this article for the transcription.
