Hello and welcome to the WrestleTalk News!
I’m Oli Davis, and I’ll be replying to as many comments on this video as I can.
The Hardy Boyz might be taking on Sheamus and Cesaro at Payback, but first, Matt must
defeat Karl Ander Son - that is to say, the son of Karl Anderson - for the tag team titles,
as the Good Brother tweeted: “My 5 year old trying to steal the tag title
back from @MATTHARDYBRAND .. "I'll get it Daddy since you couldn't reach it on the ladder"
With an image of Matt engaged in a DELIGHTFUL tug of war with the next addition to The Club.
But the tag team title belt isn’t the only thing being pulled in two different directions.
Matt and Jeff Hardy’s WWE return, while super nostalgic, has been slightly awkward.
After completely reinventing his career in TNA with the wildly successful Broken gimmick,
Matt hasn’t been able to continue his BRILLIANCE in WWE because of a legal dispute over who
actually owns the character: Matt or Impact Wrestling?
Even their merchandise appears confused, with their new t-shirt seemingly referencing the
Broken gimmick’s recurring ‘rebirth’ theme.
But nothing is more conflicted than Matt’s Twitter account.
Ever since the Hardys’ WWE return, he’s been cycling through his previous gimmicks
there, sometimes tweeting normally, others with his Broken Brilliance, and now resurrecting
his old Matt Hardy Version 1.0 character: “MATT FACT Matt regularly engages in combat
training with Smokin' Joe the boxing kangaroo.”
None of this has helped us answer the all-important question, though: does Vince McMahon actually
want Broken Matt in WWE?
Dave Meltzer has now revealed on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE are indeed planning
on bringing the Broken Hardy characters to Raw, and their legal team are working with
Impact Wrestling owners Anthem Sports and Entertainment about acquiring rights to the
gimmick.
Vince is aware that the Team Xtreme nostalgia pop will soon wear off, so he wants to transition
Matt and Jeff into their newer characters.
There’s also the other obvious upside of selling loads of merchandise.
Wrestling News World are reporting that WWE don’t want to give Anthem any royalties
or a long-term percentage deal on merchandise, and are instead offering a lump sum amount
to take full control of the gimmick.
Once that’s settled, then the Broken Hardys storyline can begin on WWE TV.
Of course, the unfortunate consequence of this is that WWE will most likely end up owning
the Broken gimmick, not its main creator Matt Hardy - which has been one of the major friction
points since he left TNA.
This week’s episode of Raw might not have had Broken Hardys, but it sure as hell had
a broken ring - helping the show continue its post-Wrestlemania ratings momentum with
an average of 3.35 million.
Your ratings thought it equally impressive, with 49% voting for Cor, while 39% agreed
with me at AvRAWge.
Last night’s episode of Smackdown Live opened with a graphic remembering Matthew ‘Rosey’
Anoa’i, who has sadly passed away age 47.
Rosey debuted for WWE in 2002 with his real-life cousin Jamal as Eric Bischoff’s enforcer
team 3-Minute Warning, and later became The Hurricane Shane Helms’ storyline protegee,
called ‘The Super Hero In Training’ or ‘The S.H.I.T.’
for hilarious acronym points.
The two would later win the World Tag Team Championships.
Rosey is part of the professional wrestling dynasty The Anoa’i Family, and was the son
of WWE Hall of Famer Sika and, of course, the older brother of Roman Reigns.
Start a ‘Thank You Rosey’ chant in the comments below.
Exciting news, WrestleTalk people - IPW: UK Supershow 8 is coming to this channel next
Tuesday at 7pm.
And on that show, you’ll get to see Penta El Zero M & Ray Fenix vs Jimmy Havoc & Zack
Sabre Jr. and my favourite wrestler in the world Marty Scurll taking on Lucha Underground’s
Angelico.
Subscribe right now so you don’t miss all the fantastic action from IPW: UK Supershow
8 right here on WrestleTalk next Tuesday.
But in the meantime, watch my review of this week’s episode of Raw, where Braun Strowman
beat up several wrestlers and an actual wrestling ring, and find out which WWE star will be
out until the Summer with injury by clicking the videos to the left and subscribe.
I’ve been Oli Davis, and that was wrestling.