In July, TNA had aired The Final Deletion , a segment which saw Broken Matt Hardy challenge his brother Jeff in the Hardy Compound. The production value, storytelling, comedy, and senselessness generated a huge buzz for TNA, which also led to a lot of eyes drawn to the product for the first time in years.
The Final Deletion became something of a cult classic quite fast. While the iron was still hot, WWE decided to utilize it and make their own version of it, “The Wyatt Compound”, that was in the feud between The Wyatt Family and The New Day.
This was considered a blatant rip-off of The Final Deletion, something that TNA had worked very hard for to create buzz about. However, that didn’t seem to bother a certain someone in TNA.
TNA's Jeremy Borash appeared on the Wrestling Observer Radio Live this week and said he watched WWE's segment with a smile on his face the entire time. Host Bryan Alvarez continued talking about the two matches and Borash added:
"Well I can't divulge what I actually know, but you're dead-on and the fact it was done, I actually know who suggested it and who got it on, who made it. If you compare the numbers in terms of budget and effectiveness or whatever, I'll just say I watched it with a smile on my face the entire time."
TNA have been improving their numbers lately, and it cannot be denied that Broken Matt Hardy is a huge draw for them.
You can see both the clips below:
The Final Deletion:
The Wyatt Family compound:
It is hard to imagine what the reaction of the rest of the TNA crew (and Matt, Jeff and Senõr Benjamin) would be. But from Jeremy Borash’s words, it seems like they were nothing more than amused. In fact, it could be said that they even felt a sense of triumph. WWE has a reputation of completely ignoring other brands, and none more so than TNA. So for them to acknowledge them by blatantly copying an original segment, definitely must not feel sour for TNA.
In fact, TNA has come up with a sequel called Delete Or Decay, where Broken Matt Hardy and Broken Brother Nero faced off against the TNA tag team champions, Decay (Abyss and Crazzy Steve) in the Hardy compound. It can be seen in the clip below:
