5 ways to book Woken Matt Hardy’s retirement

He may be wonderful and he may be fantastic at deleting things, but at the age of 43, there’s no denying that Woken Matt Hardy is moving into the latter stages of his career. After over two decades of bumps and injuries, one has to question just how long Matt has left as a full-time in-ring competitor.

The current incarnation of his iconic Woken persona is finally starting to gain some traction, and because of that, we’re hoping that he has many more years left to come in this business. However, it’s no secret that Father Time is undefeated, and Matt’s in-ring work has already taken a noticeable hit in recent times.

Thankfully there are plenty of directions to go in when it comes to him eventually hanging up his boots, and we’ve decided to run down some of the best possible options.

With that being said, here are five ways to book Woken Matt Hardy’s retirement.

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#5 Brother vs Brother

Who would come out on top?

Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy have battled one another on many separate occasions throughout their careers, but in the present day, it would be even more special. The two men have gone through a lot over the years, from personal demons to in-ring storylines, and that could all come to the forefront if they were to have one final match against one another.

It doesn’t necessarily need to be at Mania, but either way, it’d be great if Matt was able to go out on his shield against his baby brother. We’d probably want Jeff to carry on for a few more years in order to really capitalize on some of the potential dream matches, whereas Matt can end his legendary career on a positive note.

#4 The Wyatt Effect

Wyatt needs a headline-making moment

There’s a very real possibility that Matt Hardy’s current feud with Bray Wyatt will lead to the last high profile match of his career, and we all need to prepare ourselves for that. These two men are incredibly similar when it comes to some of their weird personality traits, and we’ve seen that play out on WWE TV over the last several months.

Wyatt needs another feather in his cap at this stage in order to make him feel like a bonafide main eventer again, and retiring Woken Matt Hardy could launch him back onto that level. The fans would be outraged at not being able to give Matt a proper send-off, meanwhile, Wyatt would be portrayed as the unstoppable supervillain we’ve always hoped he would become.

#3 One Last Run

Their Orlando return was incredibly special

If you didn’t grow up loving The Hardy Boyz and pretending to be them, then can you really even call yourself a wrestling fan? Matt & Jeff have been able to maintain relevancy throughout the 90s, 00s, and 10s, all because of their addictive personas. They were the high-flying, risk-taking daredevils that were able to pop the crowd on any given night, and the proof of that lies within their WrestleMania 33 return.

So then, why not have Matt return to his roots for one final run. After all, the duo is most well known for being a tag team, and while Woken Matt is an incredibly fun character, it doesn’t have the same kind of lineage as his original gimmick. It’d be risky given their ages, but they managed to pull it off earlier this year so they should be fine.

#2 World Title Challenge

Could Matt become a world champion in his 40s?

When you consider the abundance of talent on Monday Night Raw, this one may seem a little bit far-fetched unless Hardy decides to jump ship to SmackDown Live. Nonetheless, it’d be really interesting to see Matt go after either the Universal or WWE Championship before he finally calls it a day.

It can get to the point where Matt puts his career on the line out of sheer desperation, as many fans are left to wonder whether or not WWE will actually pull the trigger on making him the champion. He could be used to elevate a current superstar, while also giving the fans one last interesting storyline in the process.

#1 Ride Into The Sunset

Goodbye, Woken Matt...

We aren’t entirely sure what this means, but one way or another, it’d be great to see Matt leave the business on his own terms. It could be through a Shawn Michaels/Ric Flair kind of promo, or it could be a simple backstage skit, but either way, we feel like his exit would need to be announced in advance.

After everything this guy has been through he deserves one hell of a send-off, and we all know just how emotional it’s going to be. Matt’s legacy in this business is severely underrated when you consider just how innovative he’s been over the years, and whether it’s as regular old Matt Hardy or it’s a little bit broken, we want to pay our respects.