What's the story?
Despite the numerous stories on several internet wrestling news sites, including The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the pending Anthem lawsuit has absolutely nothing to do with why the WWE aren't using The Hardy Boyz with their Broken personas.
This story was broken on the “Dirty Sheets’ Podcast, via our “DS Breaking News” show. You can listen to the Podcast, below (length 7 minutes and 44 seconds).
In case you didn't know...
The Hardy Boyz developed the popular Broken Hardys gimmick in TNA (now Impact Wrestling). While in ROH, they were limited from using it, as ROH is not the super power that the WWE is, so they avoided any legal issues with Anthem Sports, Impact Wrestling’s owners.
The heart of the matter
The story about WWE being worried about being sued by Anthem Sports has zero merit whatsoever. Vince McMahon could probably pay off Impact Wrestling with the money he keeps in his wallet. I have been categorically told that the lawsuit has nothing to do it and that Dave Meltzer's story about the lawsuit being a factor is comedic.
The lawsuit has not come up once at any WWE meeting and is a complete non-factor.
The real reason the WWE aren't using the Broken Hardys gimmick is because Vince McMahon has chosen not to. Initially, McMahon was not a fan of the gimmick and just wanted to sign the Hardy Boyz to return as their previous WWE characters, despite his writing team being big fans of the Broken gimmick and pushing for it for several weeks.
However, after hearing the chants (which the writers predicted and told him to expect), McMahon is now open to using to the Broken gimmick once the current incarnation of The Hardy Boyz has run its course. Vince has told his writers to come up with ideas for the team to transition into their Broken Harry's personas and tell their own story on WWE TV.
However, nothing will happen until they drop the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships. The pair are likely to branch off into singles competitors, with the writers keen on a Bray Wyatt vs. Broken Matt program, whilst Vince McMahon sees Jeff Hardy as a top guy, as I outlined this here.
What's next?
The Hardy Boyz will defend their Raw Tag Team Championships against Sheamus and Cesaro at Raw's Payback PPV on Sunday 30th April.
Author's take
Vince McMahon has always hated pushing things he didn't create, just look at DDP's run in the WWE, Goldberg's first run in WWE or the way the WWE used Sting during his short stint. However, Vince McMahon also likes money and even he can't ignore the chants of "Delete" and "Brother Nero."
In addition to that, Vince knows that The Hardy Boyz were originally made in the WWE, so it shouldn't bruise his ego too much to have the Hardyz playing different characters, which were created by The Hardyz themselves, not TNA. Vince will probably try to convince himself that they developed their creativity by working for the WWE.
Be sure to check out my Podcast, “The Dirty Sheets” for the latest breaking news, along with rumours and in-depth analysis. It is available via iTunes.
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