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When Matt Hardy arrived in AEW in March, it was as his arguably all-time most popular incarnation in "Broken" Matt Hardy.
Wrestling fans expected a lot from Hardy's broken brilliance in 2020. However, due to a series of mishaps with Sammy Guevara, the vision for that character in eyes of the fans and Hardy was never fully realized.
After the Elite Deletion match at AEW Full Gear where Hardy defeated Guevara for presumably the final time. Both men went their separate ways in storylines within the company. Hardy's new direction was a surprise to many, as a slow burn heel turn officially began on both AEW Dynamite and Being The Elite on YouTube.
Matt Hardy explains his recent AEW character change on Being The Elite
Today's episode of Being The Elite, titled "A Christmas, Carol?", featured a segment where Private Party and the Young Bucks confronted Hardy about his actions as of late. What they got was a very passionate promo-like response from Hardy, explaining his recent change of heart in AEW.
Hardy blames the reaction from the fans stemming from his match at All Out against Guevara as the culprit to this character change.
"I'll tell you why. Because of September the fifth, 2020. If you don't know what the date is, it was All Out. All Out is when I got injured. And you know what happened? I have given every fiber, every iota of my body to wrestling fans for twenty-eight years, and all they did was s*** on me after that. I came to AEW, originally, to bring this broken brilliance and creative genius and entertain the fans and create my masterpiece here. But that's not what I got.
"They're going, 'Oh, he's the old guy. We want him out. We want the young guys highlighted on TV. We want these guys...we want these guys' and then I had to let people remember who exactly I am. I'm an iconic performer, and that day I was trying to do everything in my ability to give the audience the greatest match I could possibly give them and because I got hurt, they were upset with me and I didn't get hurt. But you know what happened? I died on the inside."
Hardy then proclaimed that he was tired of giving back to the business and that he was going to leech off of AEW as the business has leeched off of him.
"All of my life, all of my career. I've been so selfless. I've always put other people first. My brother, my partners, when I was "Broken" Matt Hardy, I put my family on the screen, it was always about them. I was always worried about taking care of other people and not just me. What did people do? They s*** on me, they don't respect me. After everything I've done after everything I've given, I'm tired of giving. I've given and given and given, and now I'm going to take. You [The Young Bucks] brought me here, and that was your decision. This business has leeched off me for twenty-eight years and now I'm going to leech off this business like it's leeched off me.”
So there you have it, what do you make of Hardy's explanation? Are you excited to see what happens next with Hardy in AEW? Let us know by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Being The Elite with a h/t to Sportskeeda for the transcription.
