Matt Hardy discusses the decline of managers in wrestling and wrestlers of today's era being able to make it big without having the best microphone skills.
Today's professional wrestling leans heavily into in-ring ability and spectacle as opposed to the need to "talk fans into the building," such as in days gone by.
Matt Hardy is one of the professional wrestlers that helped change the industry into more of what it is today. Speaking on a recent Q&A episode of his podcast, The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion detailed his feelings on why wrestlers are able to succeed today without managers.
"I think in this day and age [wrestlers who aren't known for their promos can succeed without managers] because wrestling has changed so much," Hardy said. "I feel like back in the day, it was much more important to have a personality, and you had to really care emotionally about the performer. That was the character, in general. You had to kind of care about that person to really be invested in them. I think now the wrestling fans have just changed a lot; where if someone can go out and they can do a kick-ass match. They have a 'high work rate,' you know, if those guys can come out and put on a fiver or five-star match, as all these young kids talk about, I think people are excited and seeing them."
Using Jerry Lynn as an example, Hardy explained why he thinks wrestlers who were known for their in-ring ability, as opposed to their promo skills, did not succeed in WWE. Hardy also said that if Jerry Lynn were in his prime and placed in today's free agency market, he would succeed greatly.
"I think in this day and age, if you would have taken Jerry Lynn from WWE, who Jerry Lynn is actually a very funny guy and he's very enjoyable got a great personality, but [Vince McMahon], I don't think Vince saw a lot of personality in him. Vince was like, 'Oh, there's really not much I can do with him.' So he didn't do much with him," said Hardy. "If you had Jerry Lynn in his prime in the 2023 wrestling talent pool, it would be very different. Jerry Lynn would be one of the most over guys on the entire show, and there's a few other guys I can think about that would kind of fall in that category."
Today, Lynn works behind the scenes in AEW. Matt Hardy is a veteran in the ring for All Elite Wrestling and has taken it upon himself to work with the younger stars of the industry.
Jerry Lynn is also an on-screen authority figure in ROH. Elsewhere in this podcast, Hardy spoke about the potential of him and his brother Jeff Hardy working for Ring of Honor in the near future. Read more here.
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