Matt Hardy: Vince McMahon Said Matt, Bray Wyatt Laughing Was 'Funny S--t'
Former WWE Superstar Matt Hardy said Vince McMahon only enjoyed one aspect of his feud with Bray Wyatt, which ended with an Ultimate Deletion match: the laughing.
Hardy explained on the Talk Is Jericho podcast (via Jason Ounpraseuth of Wrestling Inc.) he struggled to push certain elements of his Broken and Woken characters through the creative process, but the WWE chairman took a liking to the dueling laughs.
"There was a point where I did the Broken Matt Hardy laugh and then Bray had laughed too, and when Vince heard the laughs together, he's like, 'this is, this is funny s--t, let's roll with this,' and then it was every week, it was laughing at the end, over and over to overkill," Hardy said.
The 45-year-old longtime fan favorite said McMahon didn't fully understand the direction of his character, which forced him to adjust key elements of the gimmick that prevented it from reaching full potential:
"So I guess it was like, IP's that he would own whatever it was Woken Matt Hardy, but it was just so watered down from what we're doing originally, and I don't think he understood the concept of it. I mean, I think one of the things that was like so beloved by Broken Matt is like he would wink at the audience and kind of break the fourth wall and make jokes that would make the smart fans, the die-hard fanbase, pop. And I don't think Vince totally understood that and I don't think he got it and I don't think he would even want to play to those people."
In turn, the Broken gimmick that brought him back to prominence while with TNA didn't receive the necessary support to truly thrive in WWE.
Hardy said he was still happy with the storyline he was able to develop with Wyatt, per Ounpraseuth:
"I really enjoyed the stuff that I did do as Woken Matt and just the fact that I was able to convince Vince and company to do that Ultimate Deletion and have that fight with Bray. It wasn't all that I wanted to be, but I am very proud that that got accomplished.
"He watched it in the production meeting and a few people in there had watched already, but after it was over and ended, everybody like clapped and stood up. And he was just kind of looking around and he told a couple people, 'I just I don't get it. I just I don't get it. I mean if it was good, if it does the number, then I'm truly out of touch.' I think he said that. It kept the audience over three million viewers, which was cool."
Hardy signed with All Elite Wrestling after leaving WWE and made his television debut last week on AEW Dynamite with the Broken gimmick back in place.
He was scheduled to take part in the AEW Blood and Guts special event Wednesday, but that's been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
