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What's the story?
In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Ed Nordholm, Executive Vice President of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, insisted that his company owned the rights to the Broken Gimmick. He said:
" I don’t know whether Jeff and Matt had some out-of-pocket expenses that they might have had on the volcano and the like, but that would not change, in any way, shape, or form, what their contracts say about who owns the IP."
Nordholm also refuted several reports which suggested that the Hardys were close to acquiring the Broken Gimmick.
In case you didn't know...
Matt Hardy recently had some less than flattering things to say about GFW. He stated that his family spent money from their own pockets to create the Final Deletion set without any support from GFW.
Hardy also claimed that WWE handled their business in a far more professional manner.
The heart of the matter
Apart from reiterating his stance that Anthem owned the rights to the Broken Gimmick, Nordholm also stated that the two parties never reached an agreement to transfer the IP to the Hardys. He said:
"I have made numerous efforts to make an arrangement with Matt Hardy to use the gimmick. Every time we have those conversations, they sort of start warm then end up not coming to fruition due to an inability to come to an agreement as to what basis I would confer those rates on him.”
What's next?
The Hardy Boyz have repeatedly made references to their Broken Characters on television, and this can only mean that they're still interested in acquiring the IP. Therefore, it's safe to say that isn't the last we've heard of this story.
Author's take
Ed Nordholm is simply posturing, and it is abundantly clear that he is just looking for more leverage.
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