Matt Hardy is officially a free agent after letting his WWE contract expire at midnight on Mar. 2. In his Thoughts From The Throne video where he made the announcement, Hardy cited being on a different page from WWE in terms of his creative role.
Appearing on Busted Open Radio, Hardy elaborated on the creative differences between him and the company, while also expressing his gratitude towards Vince McMahon.
"I am very grateful, if it wasn't for Vince McMahon giving me this opportunity 20+ years ago, I wouldn't have had this life that I have. I will always be grateful to him for that. Even if there are things later on that we didn't see eye to eye on, that's business. When it comes to Vince and WWE, I've kind of aged out. My brand of entertainment and the way I have to be utilized isn't one of their priorities and that's fine. I understand that and it's no issue. I don't have any resentment towards anyone. I've very happy with the time I've had there and happy I got to come back and leave WWE as an employee waving the flag. That WrestleMania 33 moment was amazing. I'm very happy that I got the opportunity to do a version of Broken Matt Hardy there. It wasn't all that I would have liked it to be. It would have been nice if I had more say in what I was doing, but it is what it is. They treated me great the whole time. I had great conversations with everyone, but creatively, we're just on different pages. Nothing against them, it was just time for me to go somewhere else to maximize and optimize my creativity, especially if I want to be in a prominent role for the last three or four years I have left to do this," he said.
When asked what he's looking for next, Hardy replied, "I'm looking to have a much bigger say in my creative process. I want to be utilized in a way I should be utilized for a 45-year-old that's been doing this for 20 years. Not wrestling every single night, your character takes the priority to your athletic performance. That's what I want. If I can find that atmosphere, I call that my Arcadia."
Hardy remains a free agent at the moment. AEW social media and The Dark Order have made multiple references to Hardy and his Broken character in recent weeks. The Young Bucks also made an appearance in part one of the Free The Delete finale.
Hardy stated earlier this week that he will watch wrestling from all over the world as he weighs his options.
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