What’s the story?
Matt Hardy has revealed that he believes he and his brother, Jeff, will eventually get singles runs with WWE after a different kind of break up it seems. The comments were made during a recent interview the Raw Tag Team Champions did with SPORTBible.
In case you didn’t know...
The Hardys returned to WWE at Wrestlemania 33 after being away from the company for almost seven years. They were added to the triple threat tag title match at Mania and won Raw’s Tag Titles by defeating Sheamus and Cesaro, Enzo and Big Cass, and The Club in a ladder match.
The next night on Raw, Matt and Jeff defended and retained their titles against former champs, The Club. After disposing of Gallows and Anderson, The Hardyz turned their focus to the new #1 contenders to their titles, Sheamus and Cesaro.
In the weeks leading up to Payback, Jeff and Matt would take on Sheamus and Cesaro in separate singles matches (Jeff faced Cesaro while Matt took on Sheamus). The Hardy Boyz came out on top in both singles matches and even received an ovation and mutual respect from their challengers. This led to their title match at Payback, that again saw them come out victorious.
However, after the match, Sheamus and Cesaro attacked Matt and Jeff instead of showing respect like they had the weeks before the PPV.
With Sheamus and Cesaro now heel, the Hardyz looked to confront their new rivals the next night on Raw, but the duo refused to battle with them. The following week, Cesaro and Sheamus won a tag team turmoil match that featured the entire tag division on Raw to become the #1 contender’s once again. Now the two teams are set to square off again, this time at Extreme Rules.
The heart of the matter
During their interview, Matt and Jeff answered an array of questions. However, the most interesting part of the interview came when the brothers were asked about a possible singles run with the company and/or feud with each other. Jeff was the first to respond:
“ I think the brotherly feuding might be over, I don’t think people really want to see us fight each other.....but it’s inevitable that we’ll go do our solo things before we’re done...”
Matt then explained why it was necessary to return as a tag team but that eventually he could see he and his brother doing their own thing:
“I think right now our goal, especially starting, coming back, being re-introduced to the WWE Universe after being away for a substantial amount of time, really was to be a tag team. I think down the road there will be potential for both of us doing our own things; we’re both strong singles personalities in many ways, and I think as performers we’ve grown as we’ve got older, we’ve got smarter.”
What’s next?
With their title rematch set for Extreme Rules, The Hardy Boyz will look to successfully retain their titles again against Sheamus and Cesaro. However, this time they will be dealing with a new attitude from the challengers.
It will be interesting to see if the attitude change from Sheamus and Cesaro could lead to The Hardy Boyz becoming the “Broken” versions of themselves.
Author’s Take
There is no doubt that the return of The Hardy Boyz has elevated the tag team division, not only on Raw but in the entire company. However, there is absolutely no question that WWE would be foolish not to capitalise on the “Broken” characters of Matt and Jeff.
Also, from the time The Hardy Boyz debuted to now, we have seen some of the “Broken” characteristics come out in both brothers, especially on Twitter.
In my opinion, it’s only a matter of time before Matt and Jeff turn into their broken characters. Given the amount of singles matches Vince and Co. have already scheduled for The Hardyz, it’s no secret that Vince sees the potential in both brothers going their separate ways, especially since the company has a perfect way to make that happen with the brand split and superstar shake-ups.
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