The second Matt and Jeff Hardy returned to WWE, fans started getting excited about seeing their Broken personas. Due to some legal issues, that took a while but there's since been some disappointment about the fact we haven't seen Brother Nero and Matt's Woken persona appears to have been watered down.
Now, Matt has addressed what's happened with that, confirming that he hasn't had creative control over the character and changes had to be made to fit the vision of WWE (and, surprisingly, its sponsors).
"First and foremost I want to say this, when you work for the WWE, a massive enormous, vast, global corporation. No one - as a performer - has full creative control. That's a myth, it's not true, it doesn't happen. There is a big difference between 'Broken' Matt Hardy and 'Woken' Matt Hardy. 'Broken' Matt Hardy has never been in WWE, for sure. When I did 'Broken' Matt Hardy at Impact Wrestling / ROH, I was in control of everything I wanted to do and I didn't have to meet any standards, such as a rating for children and worry about people that were sponsors for the programming being offended because of whatever I did or how controversial it was, and that was really cool when it was creatively liberating, no doubt about it.
"At WWE, it's very different and a lot of wrestling fans - especially, the frustrated internet fan - they don't understand WWE has these strict parameters they have to work around, too. They can't annoy or offend certain sponsors or whatever, they have to stay in this weird lane, you know? Sure, WWE isn't perfect, they don't make perfect decisions, and they put out so much content, it's truly impressive that they are able to put out as much content."
As for how he feels about being Woken in WWE, Matt explained that while it probably could have been handled better, he doesn't really have too many regrets and is glad he came back to the company.
"There's a lot of things I did as 'Broken' Matt Hardy that I'm really proud of and was really, really fun. There's a ton of stuff I've done as 'Woken' Matt Hardy that I'm extremely proud of and I liked. Could it have been better? Maybe so, but I understand the scenario, I'm working for a big corporation that has parameters and you don't always get what you want. That's just the truth of the matter, but the fact is when you come to the WWE, you get so much more exposure globally and you also make more money, I mean that's just another fact. At the end of the day, whenever you go to a job and you want to work and bring home money for your family. I think the majority of people would agree that a job is supposed to be based on making as much money as possible to give you and your family the best life possible."
Are you disappointed with how Broken Matt Hardy was handled in WWE? Do you think Matt should have stayed on the independents? As always, share your thoughts with us in the usual place.