Matt Hardy comments on MVP making his AEW debut.
MVP debuted in AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam on September 25, 2024. He confronted Prince Nana and made it clear that he was willing to take over the management of Swerve Strickland's career.
Matt Hardy has a history in AEW and ties to MVP's career. The two men were WWE Tag Team Champions in 2007 and became rivals the following year, competing for the WWE United States Title. On the most recent episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, "Version 1" said he was unsurprised to see MVP pop up and hopes his former tag partner has a fulfilling run in AEW.
"I wasn't overly surprised. I knew he had left WWE, he was gone from there. I think he's a really interesting personality, especially as a mouthpiece. Then he's doing his jiu-jitsu thing, and I know he's loving mastering these black belts over and over again, and we obviously have a very storied history. So yeah, I was happy to see him show up there. I hope he has a great run."
When asked about the idea of AEW bringing in older, more established stars, Hardy said that he sees great value in bringing in names that could attract casual fans.
"I mean, I don't know. I think it depends on what they can do, how well they perform, and just how the crowd reacts to them. I don't buy into that. I think if someone is a pro wrestler, and you're a star, your star wherever you go, especially if you're put in the best position to succeed in your strengths and what it is. So I wouldn't mind any of that. Do I think you push the button too much? I don't. I think if it's best for your business, if it's best for people to kind of know who these people are, I don't mind it at all."
Matt Hardy used Cody Rhodes' return to WWE and Ethan Page's finding success in NXT as examples to support his claims that sometimes, even though you need to build new stars, it's essential to rely on previously established ones.
"I mean, they do have a vast roster, no doubt about it. It's massive. They have such a huge roster, so deep," Hardy said of AEW. "No, I mean, I don't mind it. I think if you bring in people that have star power, that casual viewers are more familiar with, I think it's beneficial. Ir can put new eyes on your product, especially if there's, there's die-hard fans of most wrestlers who had good WWE runs, there's die-hard fans of most wrestlers who had great AEW runs, I think even with WWE, you've seen that, like Cody's reinvention and going back ended up being such a big deal. You have Ethan Page, who left AEW, and he's just been so successful at NXT.
"I love that, because that was really him betting on himself and going out on a limb and just seeing if he could make this happen," Hardy continued. "He really believed he had the talents to succeed there. He obviously did. So it's great for business when people switch one way or the other. With AEW, as you're saying, I get the idea that it is an alternative. It is presented as an alternative, but still, at the end of the day, you need stars and people that are going to put more eyeballs on their product."
Fans can read MVP's comments on his AEW debut here.
Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy are currently with TNA and they say they have creative plans with the organization through the end of the year. Read more here.
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