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Former WWE Superstar Matt Hardy has revealed why AEW has lost the goodwill of fans in the past few years after his contract with the Jacksonville-based company ended.
Matt Hardy made his AEW debut back in 2020. However, his contract with the Tony Khan-led promotion recently expired and he has reportedly not signed a new deal as of now. After the news broke, fans on the internet have been speculating about Hardy potentially returning to WWE.
Meanwhile, the former World Tag Team Champion had something to say regarding AEW after his reported departure from the company. Matt addressed the deteriorating goodwill of Tony Khan's promotion and how the fans' perception towards the promotion changed after a hot period a few years ago.
While speaking on his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast recently, Matt claimed that the backstage issues in AEW between CM Punk and The Young Bucks as well as Jack Perry have hurt some goodwill of the company.
"I think through some of the stuff with Punk and The Bucks and the fights and the backstage stuff and Jungle Boy all this stuff, this hurt some of that goodwill. I feel like that probably deterred some people from their support of the company at the end of the day," Matt Hardy said. [H/T SEScoops]
Which wrestling promotion Matt Hardy decides to sign with remains to be seen.
Matt Hardy suggested solutions to AEW's declining viewership
It is no secret that AEW has not been able to draw a larger audience to its product lately. Whether it was live attendance or the TV ratings, the Jacksonville-based promotion's audience is rapidly declining. Nonetheless, Matt Hardy addressed the issue and suggested some solutions to the problem as well.
"I think that you have to appeal to more casual fans. I feel like sometimes AEW plays and caters to too much of a niche audience sometimes and I think they just need to broaden who they play to sometimes," Matt Hardy said.
Only time will tell if Hardy re-signs with Tony Khan's promotion or returns to WWE.
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