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The long anticipated yet surprise return of the Hardys at WrestleMania garnered a significant applause from the fans. With Matt Hardy's appearance in Bleached hair that was characteristic of his 'Broken' look in Impact Wrestling, it seemed the arrival of the gimmick wasn't far behind. However, just when copyright issues made it seem like it was something that wouldn't happen, Impact Wrestling gave up the rights of the gimmick thus allowing it to be used in the WWE. Although Hardy has been using the gimmick since then, it hasn't been as successful as it was in its earlier incarnation.
The WWE has had a long relationship with Impact Wrestling with the two creating inspired storylines and often at times, straightaway lifting gimmicks. While imitation is oftentimes considered to be the 'sincerest form of flattery', we often wish someone came up with original ideas instead of using the same gimmick on the same superstar. When you come to think of it, Impact Wrestling's rendition of 'Broken' Matt Hardy was one of the best Gimmicks in recent memory of wrestling fans. However, the gimmick hasn't been able to capture the fancy of the WWE universe.
In this article, we take a look at five reasons which did not allow the gimmick to be as successful in the WWE as it was in Impact Wrestling.
Lack of a proper Background pilot
The introduction of the 'Broken' gimmick was a well-planned decision that had time to evolve into the character that we know today. If we look at it closely, Jeff's Willow gimmick was pretty over with the fans as well. Matt Hardy turning broken was leveraged well when he attacked Jeff disguised as an imposter Willow.
Coming to the introduction of the 'Woken' gimmick in the WWE, it seemed rather forced as well as rushed. The 'Woken' persona getting 'triggered' in a confrontation with Bray Wyatt seemed rather out of context. It seemed like WWE was desperate to get the gimmick in action as soon as Matt gained the rights to use it.
Lack of Proper Feuds
Let's face it, the initial feud of 'Woken' Matt Hardy with Bray Wyatt was a desperate attempt by the WWE to recreate the feud with Jeff Hardy resulting into his transformation into 'Brother Nero'. Challenging his nemesis to a match for the 'Ultimate Deletion', winning the match and throwing the defeated challenger into the 'Lake of Reincarnation', the reincarnation as an ally of Matt Hardy. Speaking of this match, let us not forget how this also ruined Bray Wyatt. While Bray Wyatt has been entertaining so far in the 'Deleter of Worlds' gimmick alongside Matt, we would all agree that Bray Wyatt is better as a heel in his current gimmick.
Speaking of feuds let us not forget the fact that it is not just one feud that defines an entire gimmick but the consecutive feuds that take place. While the team of 'Broken' Matt Hardy and Brother Nero had quite interesting feuds in Impact Wrestling, they did not have such feuds in the WWE. 'Decay' proved to be a worthy opponent as they represented similarly deranged characters as the Hardys. The feud between Decay and the Broken Hardys had an air of mysticism around it which lent an edgy nature to the characters. However, if we look at what the WWE is offering them in the name of feuds, it is the 'B-Team'. While Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel have recently proved to be extremely entertaining, they do not possess as much of a weight of character as the opponents did in Impact Wrestling.
Lack of a 'Brother Nero'
Whenever we think of 'Broken' Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy as Brother Nero immediately comes to our mind. If it weren't for him, Matt Hardy wouldn't have garnered so much success in this gimmick. However, Jeff Hardy being out of action during the period of transformation and his subsequent draft to SmackDown created a void and WWE, in an attempt to fill that void, Utilized Bray Wyatt in that position. Although Bray Wyatt has delivered a considerable performance, we would agree once again that he is more suited to a heel character and he hasn't been especially over with the WWE universe in his new gimmick.
Repetitive sequences with Bray Wyatt
Speaking of Bray Wyatt, we would like to take a look at his transformation as well. Bray Wyatt in his gimmick after his reappearance from the 'Lake of Reincarnation' wasn't just as good as he was in his earlier gimmick. While the 'Deleter of Worlds' have been entertaining for sure, the character of Wyatt seemed rather forced and the entire events seemed to be an attempt by the WWE to bring the gimmick over in a hurried fashion.
In the end, it is not original!
At the end of the day, we would all agree to the fact that while the 'Broken' gimmick was an extremely popular and one of the best gimmicks of Matt Hardy, it was meant for Impact Wrestling. While WWE has always made things better, this wasn't the case here. And as much as we loved the gimmick, we hoped WWE would have at least put some original twist in it and not just lift the idea straight away.
