What’s the story?
The WWE has recently applied for a trademark on the term Hardy Boyz.
In case you didn’t know...
The Hardy Boyz, often referred to as Team Xtreme, is a pro-wrestling stable that consisted of Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy and Lita (Amy Dumas). They rose to prominence during the height of the WWE’s Attitude Era back in the late 1990s with their Team Xtreme gimmick.
Matt and Jeff parted ways with the WWE back in 2010 and had several stints on the independent pro-wrestling circuit when they weren’t performing as one of TNA/Impact Wrestling’s biggest stars. The entire Hardy family, including Matt, Jeff, Reby Hardy as well as her son Maxel, got wildly popular last year owing to their Broken gimmick that was reportedly conceptualised by Matt. The Hardys recently parted ways with Impact Wrestling and have been embroiled in a legal battle with the company’s new owners over the usage rights of the Broken gimmick.
The heart of the matter:
After making a surprise return to the WWE at Wrestlemania 33 earlier this month, winning the RAW Tag Team titles, the Hardys have reverted back to their Hardy Boyz/Team Xtreme gimmick in their performances with WWE. The brothers have refrained from going all-out and using their Broken personas in the WWE, owing to legal threats by Impact Wrestling.
Reports have now emerged that the WWE has applied for a trademark on the term Hardy Boyz, although the promotion hasn’t applied for a trademark over the highly-coveted Broken gimmick as of yet. Furthermore, Impact Wrestling, on its part, has been using the ™ sign on the videos featuring the Hardys on Impact’s official YouTube channel.
What’s next?
More details regarding the WWE’s trademark of the Hardy Boyz will be revealed in the weeks to come.
Author’s take:
WWE appears to be playing it safe amidst the entire Anthem Sports and Entertainment vs Hardys court battle. The world’s premier pro-wrestling organisation seems to be tying up loose ends here by applying for exclusive rights over the term Hardy Boyz, that’ll most definitely include any and all merchandise as well as profitable advert-content usage rights related to the term Hardy Boyz.
As for Impact Wrestling’s vain attempts to stop the Broken Hardys, thou shall not challenge the reign of King Maxel Impact!
