Providence Peep
12-26-2010, 10:28 PM
Matt Hardy was interviewed on "Monday Night Mayhem" (wrestling radio) recently. He discussed why he felt he needed to break ties with WWE, his transition over the past two months, and where he feels he's at mentally/physically/emotionally.
He also discussed the "constant battle" he was facing creatively while at the WWE, how mental exhaustion factored into his decision to want to leave the company, and how Christian is "in the same boat" with him...
"It's a constant battle. To begin with, myself and Christian kind of sit in the same boat in a lot of ways. We're two guys who worked for a long time to earn the respect of the fans over the years. We can go out with pretty much anyone and figure out how a way to make the match good or entertaining. We're very reliable. The deal was actually myself & Christian were starting up a storyline, and we had both put in so much time, and thought, and effort.
We had given so many ideas and had written down ideas, storyline, and angles. We kept getting green lights, but then, just all of sudden, they just dropped it, and it stopped. When you have something like that, where they ask you to contribute, or they ask you to give ideas, and then when you take time when you only have a day & a half at home, and you spend your time all focused on that, and you really give your blood, sweat, and tears to it, and you're going to give them the best idea and the best storyline possible, and you're really emotionally attached to it, and you give it to them, and all of a sudden they just go 'OK, well this is great, but we're not going to do it.' That's very mentally & emotionally draining and fatiguing.
That happens all the time there, and it gets to the point where you just go 'Well ok, maybe it's just easiest for me to just show up, and do my job, and not care, and not be passionate'. They ask you to be passionate, but if you get that ripped out of your hands so many times when you had these great ideas, it's really easy for you to lose your passion...."
Regarding his in-ring future in 2011, he said, "Jeff's done well (in TNA) and had a lot of success, and ever since 2005, I've actually maintained a very good relationship with Dixie Carter, so that's a possibility, but who knows. I definitely haven't locked anything in stone yet... I think Cary (Silkin) does a great job with (Ring of Honor). He reminds me, on a smaller level and a smaller budget, like the old ECW crew, because he'll have guys that are really good, and then, all of sudden, TNA or WWE will suck up his top stars, and he'll have to build some more guys. I really appreciate that fact, and I appreciate that there are territories & smaller organizations out there that are still building talent for the future. It would be great if Ring of Honor could get a more prominent television following as they go."
Hardy also said the WWE is "going to find themselves in a really strange position" in the next several years, and spoke about "the changing of the guard" in the industry, as well as his take on the recent online debate/argument of the push of the WWE's recent "youth movement".
"The business is in a really weird position now, where there's really getting to be a changing of the guard. The Undertakers, the Triple H's, the Shawn Michaels, who's retired already, those guys are really & truly on their last legs. It has to be new guys that completely uprise and come around. The WWE is going to find themselves in a really strange position in the couple of years, because they have pushed this youth movement.
Kevin Nash made a statement saying 'Youth isn't what sells.' I think that myself & Christian were two guys who have gained the respect of the fans. People know us, and they respect us, and we're very believable in the ring. You have to take guys like that, and you have to utilize those guys and get the most out of them. You can't take new guys, just because they are fresh faces, and expect the fans to accept them, and appreciate them, and buy tickets for them overnight.
The WWE has tried to do that youth movement; you could do that, but there has to be a very fine line: a mixture of veterans & younger guys. It's funny, because I know Kevin Nash had one side & Chris Jericho had one side, and I kind of fell in the middle of both of those (to the argument/debate). I think you truly need a combination. I think the WWE is trying to push so many young guys at one time right now that they're going to find themselves in a really weird spot in a year or so, where all of their older stars that are extremely over, if you have an injury to a John Cena or a Randy Orton, you're in a tough situation."
He also discussed the "constant battle" he was facing creatively while at the WWE, how mental exhaustion factored into his decision to want to leave the company, and how Christian is "in the same boat" with him...
"It's a constant battle. To begin with, myself and Christian kind of sit in the same boat in a lot of ways. We're two guys who worked for a long time to earn the respect of the fans over the years. We can go out with pretty much anyone and figure out how a way to make the match good or entertaining. We're very reliable. The deal was actually myself & Christian were starting up a storyline, and we had both put in so much time, and thought, and effort.
We had given so many ideas and had written down ideas, storyline, and angles. We kept getting green lights, but then, just all of sudden, they just dropped it, and it stopped. When you have something like that, where they ask you to contribute, or they ask you to give ideas, and then when you take time when you only have a day & a half at home, and you spend your time all focused on that, and you really give your blood, sweat, and tears to it, and you're going to give them the best idea and the best storyline possible, and you're really emotionally attached to it, and you give it to them, and all of a sudden they just go 'OK, well this is great, but we're not going to do it.' That's very mentally & emotionally draining and fatiguing.
That happens all the time there, and it gets to the point where you just go 'Well ok, maybe it's just easiest for me to just show up, and do my job, and not care, and not be passionate'. They ask you to be passionate, but if you get that ripped out of your hands so many times when you had these great ideas, it's really easy for you to lose your passion...."
Regarding his in-ring future in 2011, he said, "Jeff's done well (in TNA) and had a lot of success, and ever since 2005, I've actually maintained a very good relationship with Dixie Carter, so that's a possibility, but who knows. I definitely haven't locked anything in stone yet... I think Cary (Silkin) does a great job with (Ring of Honor). He reminds me, on a smaller level and a smaller budget, like the old ECW crew, because he'll have guys that are really good, and then, all of sudden, TNA or WWE will suck up his top stars, and he'll have to build some more guys. I really appreciate that fact, and I appreciate that there are territories & smaller organizations out there that are still building talent for the future. It would be great if Ring of Honor could get a more prominent television following as they go."
Hardy also said the WWE is "going to find themselves in a really strange position" in the next several years, and spoke about "the changing of the guard" in the industry, as well as his take on the recent online debate/argument of the push of the WWE's recent "youth movement".
"The business is in a really weird position now, where there's really getting to be a changing of the guard. The Undertakers, the Triple H's, the Shawn Michaels, who's retired already, those guys are really & truly on their last legs. It has to be new guys that completely uprise and come around. The WWE is going to find themselves in a really strange position in the couple of years, because they have pushed this youth movement.
Kevin Nash made a statement saying 'Youth isn't what sells.' I think that myself & Christian were two guys who have gained the respect of the fans. People know us, and they respect us, and we're very believable in the ring. You have to take guys like that, and you have to utilize those guys and get the most out of them. You can't take new guys, just because they are fresh faces, and expect the fans to accept them, and appreciate them, and buy tickets for them overnight.
The WWE has tried to do that youth movement; you could do that, but there has to be a very fine line: a mixture of veterans & younger guys. It's funny, because I know Kevin Nash had one side & Chris Jericho had one side, and I kind of fell in the middle of both of those (to the argument/debate). I think you truly need a combination. I think the WWE is trying to push so many young guys at one time right now that they're going to find themselves in a really weird spot in a year or so, where all of their older stars that are extremely over, if you have an injury to a John Cena or a Randy Orton, you're in a tough situation."