Matt Hardy comments on the future of the Hardys.
The Hardys (Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy) have been on and off AEW television throughout 2023, largely competing in one-off tag team matches. They've been on the wrong side of most of those matches, not having won a standard tag team match since Jeff returned in April.
Speaking on his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast with Jon Alba, Matt was asked about the Hardys current standing in AEW.
"The first thing I would say is that we're not going to be the Hardys of the 2000s. We're still very sold in-ring performers, there is no doubt about that. Especially me, is going to be a little more basic than [Jeff] is, but we're solid and we have a huge fanbase that supports us wherever we go and we go out there and we know how to do things the right way to help elevate other people. We still have to stay in a position of importance to a degree, and that's what's important. We're looking to get into that groove of maintaining a position of importance so that whenever we do want to elevate someone, it really means something," he said.
Asked if there were any frustrations with the creative, or where the frustration was coming from, Matt replied, "Frustration with the direction I would say more than anything else. There were a couple of times...we just want to have a direction and a story and be able to go down that path. There have been a couple things we've talked about doing the last few months and stuff has changed. That would be a frustration with creative. Obviously, things change, people get hurt, it is what it is, but that would be the main frustration. There is enough equity in us to invest a very solid direction and stick with with. That's what I would like to see happen and that's what we're going to be pushing for and what I would like to see happen."
Matt has always expressed his appreciation for Tony Khan and those in AEW for their work, and reiterated that appreciation when asked for a message to the locker room regarding the tag team division.
"I greatly appreciate everyone in AEW because they legitimately bust their ass. It is such a hard working locker room and they have set the standard so high for matches that it gets harder and tougher to top those things. It almost takes me back to the old days where we had the first tag team ladder match, then the tables match, triangle ladder match, and then the TLC matches. It was almost like a burden and it weighed on us to try and top it each and every time. These guys having such great matches week in and week out that it's tough to try and top this stuff over and over. I would like to see a little more story and entertainment based stuff, authentic characters and what not in AEW to continue to draw more casual fans in, not just hardcore wrestling fans. I feel like they are there and the wrestling is always going to be there, that's what Tony [Tony Khan] loves. He's a huge fan of great wrestling matches and that's not going to go away. I'm a huge fan of the Christian Cage-Adam Copeland storyline, it has been tremendous. I love what they're doing. I want us to get into that territory where we have an interesting journey of, 'what are these two living legends going through that is making them act this way, why are they being like this? What frustrations drove them to act like this?' I think there is something intriguing we can capitalize on," he said.
The Hardys teamed with Isiah Kassidy in a loss to Action Andretti & Top Flight (Dante Martin & Darius Martin) on AEW Dynamite.
They have not won a tag team match since defeating the Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) at AEW Double or Nothing 2022.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
