Matt Hardy gives his take on the comments that John Oliver made about WWE.
World Wrestling Entertainment was placed over the fire by 'Last Week Tonight' host John Oliver. Oliver described WWE Chairman Vince McMahon as an "as*hole" and brought up how WWE signs their talent as independent contractors instead of full-time employees to avoid having to provide health insurance. Oliver's comments led to WWE shares dropping 2.9 percent and that number eventually got back up but WWE issued a statement about Oliver's comments and noted that he ignored the facts and extended an invite to Oliver to come to WrestleMania 35 to see how they operate.
John Oliver's remarks sparked a debate amongst fellow in-ring performers on social media from various promotions and companies. WWE's talent did not comment on the matter but recently, during the WrestleMania media scrum, current SmackDown Live Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy gave his take on the situation and stated that some of Oliver's comments were outdated because WWE does take care of their talent in more ways that meets the public eye.
"When I first started here ... the locker room and everything was like the wild wild west then. The change that has happened in those 20-plus years has been unreal. I mean, now the drug testing is very stringent ... You have to be here, and you have to be good and you have to be on top of your game. You have to be a professional. The physicals they do as far as cardiovascular and just checking you over and over — [there have] been several guys they caught that have had serious [health] issues that could have been life threatening if they didn't catch it here, and just the way they take care of you." Hardy explained. "Every surgery I ever had, WWE has paid for. They're very faithful and very good about that. It's just some of the stuff that the John [Oliver] talked about was kind of passé, kind of outdated because now they really do [take care of wrestlers' health]. They take care of everything especially stuff that happens in house. As far as the whole health insurance thing, that's kind of a different argument, because we do a different gig in many many ways. But WWE has never done anything but be great to me. They’ve taken care of me in every capacity, every front, and they've given me a great life. I mean, one of the characters I play is Big Money Matt, who's like this millionaire that’s been around for a long time, and you know there's a lot of truth to it in some ways, and I wouldn't have that persona and I wouldn't have the great life that I have right now if it wasn't for WWE.
Matt and Jeff Hardy captured the SmackDown Tag Titles this past Tuesday and following their victory, they came to blows with "The Leviathan" Lars Sullivan and were laid out in the middle of the ring.
