WWE & Broken/Woken Matt Hardy

Lord TSC

So a few days ago, Anthem release a statement saying they won't be pursuing people who use characters after they leave TNA, a 180 from their previous stance. Pretty quick on Raw, Matt Hardy starts doing his Delete gesture.

And then, last night...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmF2Ae4Pf2o

https://twitter.com/BenjaminSenor/status/936442667205984256

So looks like the brakes are about to come off the train.

But is it too late? Will crowds still care? Is it a mistake to, as it seems they are doing, just jump straight into the middle of the mythos without re-breaking Matt?

Jerichoholic

Worth a shot, but that ship has sailed a long time ago.

J. Marston

Too late. Can't recapture lightning in a bottle.

With that said, he should still be the most entertaining thing on Raw now, Strowman aside.

Mr.Nice Guy

Definitely not too late. The character in TNA was a slow burner and it was really The Final Deletion that got the character over huge. If they can produce something akin to that in WWE then the interest will reignite.

It all comes down to how much support they are willing to give the character. Will they trust in Matt's creativity, or will they try and put their own stamp on it? My fear would be that they will try to dilute things too much and Vince and Kevin Dunn won't get the character.

I would give it a 50/50 chance of succeeding as things stand.

Agent Coulson

It may still work if Vince let's Matt run with it and not have his own writers sh1t all over the gimmick.

Jerichoholic

If wwe scripts it in any way, it's dead. They have no idea how to make anything look normal.

Rock Lesnar

Its to late unfortunately, just cant see that Vince wont try to put his idea's into the character, but i suppose since Matt has done nothing since Jeff got injured, its worth a shot

Cant wait for when Broken/Woken Matt meets Rebranded Bray....$$$$$

PTH2009

didn't watch TNA so unfamiliar with the broken character bar watching a few YouTube videos but looking forward to it and we must have a Bray Wyatt vs Broken Matt feud

wwe don't have a great record exceeding expectations these last few years though

have a feeling down the line they will do a multi personality storyline where the real Matt will try too escape from the broken persona

SureYWouldntYa

Jerichoholic wrote: »

no idea how to make anything look normal.

In what world is Broken Matt "normal"

Yeah there's no doubt WWE could ruin it but normal it is not

Jerichoholic

I mean in general, they have no idea. Two wrestlers speaking to each other backstage, have to both be facing the camera and not looking at each other while delivering dialogue that wouldn't be acceptable in Fair City. If they touch it at all and don't let Matt run with it, it will be horrendous.

Lithium93_

PTH2009 wrote: »

didn't watch TNA so unfamiliar with the broken character bar watching a few YouTube videos but looking forward to it and we must have a Bray Wyatt vs Broken Matt feud

wwe don't have a great record exceeding expectations these last few years though

have a feeling down the line they will do a multi personality storyline where the real Matt will try too escape from the broken persona

You're probably/definitely on your own wanting that feud.

sky88

The last thing the broken gimmick needs is bray he will be the kiss of death to matt or anyone else bray feuds with

Lord TSC

Well then, you'll enjoy this...

https://twitter.com/MATTHARDYBRAND/status/936671154122756097

HandsomeBob

It will fail.

The E aren't going to make the commitment that needs to be made to make it work. Getting the green light to say the word broken only to go with "woken" just sums up how much of an old **** Vince is.

Pentecost

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'll admit to not paying all that much attention really, but wasn't the whole of Matt's family key to much of the success of Broken Matt, i.e. Brother Nero, Reby and Maxel, Senor Benjamin etc.? Can't see Vince getting fully on board with all that.

riffmongous

Pentecost wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'll admit to not paying all that much attention really, but wasn't the whole of Matt's family key to much of the success of Broken Matt, i.e. Brother Nero, Reby and Maxel, Senor Benjamin etc.? Can't see Vince getting fully on board with all that.

And the Hardy Mansion

Mr.Nice Guy

Pentecost wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'll admit to not paying all that much attention really, but wasn't the whole of Matt's family key to much of the success of Broken Matt, i.e. Brother Nero, Reby and Maxel, Senor Benjamin etc.? Can't see Vince getting fully on board with all that.

I don't forsee Vince having an issue with those characters.

It's when they try to explain to Vince about Vanguard 1 and Skarsgard the dilapidated boat that I would be concerned. :pac:

Agent Coulson

The Demon vs Broken Matt.

hufpc8w3adnk65

Wonder will the story progress tonight?

Lithium93_

MrMac84 wrote: »

Wonder will the story progress tonight?

Slow burn, Matt starts hearing the voices of the 7 Deities. Turns the brokeness (is that a word?) up slowly to 11.. Proceeds to annihilate his opponents on a weekly basis until he finally breaks and...



In reality, WWE will blow their collective this evening/next week/month and then proceed to hammer home the wackiness of it, effectively burying it.

I'm hoping against hope it's Option #1

Loughc

It’s definitely going to end up being option 2.

CastorTroy

With him losing to Bray clean on a standard episode of Raw.

Loughc

CastorTroy wrote: »

With him losing to Bray clean on a standard episode of Raw.

But it’s ok he’ll get his win back by beating Bálor clean the following week on Raw.

A bit of a pointless win though as Bálor isn’t over though.

Rock Lesnar

If he's "woken" matt hardy instead of broken, because of wwe then he's already done, they'll go with it til vince gets bored and then he's back to mid card matt hardy

PTH2009

Rock Lesnar wrote: »

If he's "woken" matt hardy instead of broken, because of wwe then he's already done, they'll go with it til vince gets bored and then he's back to mid card matt hardy

and using his persona in comedic angles with R Truth, Goldust and the likes

Furious-Red

Rock Lesnar wrote: »

If he's "woken" matt hardy instead of broken, because of wwe then he's already done, they'll go with it til vince gets bored and then he's back to mid card matt hardy

which will lead to him turning on Jeff (once again) and we get another Hardy vs Hardy rivalry :pac::pac:

Rock Lesnar

Furious-Red wrote: »

which will lead to him turning on Jeff (once again) and we get another Hardy vs Hardy rivalry :pac::pac:

Doubt it, Jeff will already have been pushed to the main event, then matt will be broken, ha

gerrybbadd

So looks like it's a Matt v Bray feud. That laugh off was awesome though. DELIGHTFUL even

DM_7

Can we delete this thread?

The negativity is not delightful.

gerrybbadd

DM_7 wrote: »

Can we delete this thread?

The negativity is not delightful.

Rjd2

Matt was great fun in that segment and it was lovely to see the crowd loving it. Bray though is the concern, the man has been death all year, hopefully he doesn't ruin the fun for all for once.

PTH2009

come on guys when Matt was in TNA/Indies we all wanted him to come to WWE and do broken Matt vs Bray Wyatt now we seem too have it and a lot of people are still not happy

this could be good

Rjd2

Bray has been so bad over the last 12 months though, genuine channel changer, that's the concern.

I did enjoy the promo last night tbf.

ricero

I look forward to the reactions when vince buries woken matt hardy

The White Feather

I had only seen clips here and there of Broken Matt in TNA but I loved Woken Matt. Hopefully it keeps going well.

I have watched that Woken Matt clip loads of times on youtube! I only just now got that when Matt says "The consumer of Terrestrial Entities" He meant the "Eater of Worlds" as Bray often says!! :pac:

Lord TSC

Ya know, I was trying to decipher that all evening but you're right :P

J. Marston

"Due to my conDEEshun..."

I love how he says that.

99 Bortles of Beer

I've barely watched wrestling in years, certainly never watched TNA, but I like to keep up to date through here and r/SquaredCircle. Though I'm more interested in wrestling as a business and the behind the scenes stuff than I am with storylines.

Can someone explain the Broken gimmick and how it started? I've only seen clips, and it looks outlandishly cartoonish. Not being familiar with it, I've struggled to see how hes so over with the gimmick. Or is this just a reaction to what has been a poor decade in terms of gimmicks, where most wrestlers are now just FirstName LastName in one of 3 costumes - and fans embracing something different?

CastorTroy

I'd say it's a combination of things. The fact it's the Hardys helps. But then with how over the top it is. And the spectacle that was The Final Deletion just sold everyone. It's a fun character. Matt seems to enjoy it and the fans enjoy it

A Rogue Hobo

The best thing i can compare to is The Room, it's so bad it's good. But it's very self aware at how bad it is.

Agent Coulson

So reading this morning that Vince has given Matt full creative control over this.


If true we as fans could be onto a winner.

Lithium93_

Agent Coulson wrote: »

So reading this morning that Vince has given Matt full creative control over this.


If true we as fans could be onto a winner.

This is DELIGHTFUL news

Mr.Nice Guy

99 Bortles of Beer wrote: »

I've barely watched wrestling in years, certainly never watched TNA, but I like to keep up to date through here and r/SquaredCircle. Though I'm more interested in wrestling as a business and the behind the scenes stuff than I am with storylines.

Can someone explain the Broken gimmick and how it started? I've only seen clips, and it looks outlandishly cartoonish. Not being familiar with it, I've struggled to see how hes so over with the gimmick. Or is this just a reaction to what has been a poor decade in terms of gimmicks, where most wrestlers are now just FirstName LastName in one of 3 costumes - and fans embracing something different?

Here's a cut and paste of an answer I gave to someone a few months back:

Basically he became 'broken' as a result of a feud with Jeff and began to act like a crazy person, bleaching part of his hair blonde and talking in a strange British-type accent. He vowed to delete Jeff, or Brother Nero as he calls him (Nero is Jeff's middle name and he tends to refer to people by their middle names) and claimed to be in touch with 7 deities who had given him powers.

He did a match called The Final Deletion with Jeff at the Hardy home which was a cinematic-style match with special effects and whatnot that got over huge and created more buzz for TNA than they've had in years. Certain 'characters' began to get over from these videos too like Senor Benjamin, the gardener of Matt (played by Matt's real life father-in-law) as well as a drone, Vanguard 1, and a dilapidated boat, Skarsgard, amongst other things.

As whacky as it all sounds, it got over so big that soon Broken Matt and Jeff - who later embraced the Brother Nero persona - both became huge babyfaces and it's become a cult sensation amongst fans.

For a more in-depth explanation I'd recommend listening to a podcast Matt did with Chris Jericho just after The Final Deletion while he was feuding with his brother - staying entirely in character throughout - which I think is hilarious (Jericho plays along with it). I can't imagine how many times these guys cracked up whilst making this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf_4_CKCz0s