After a rollercoaster career spanning back to the mid 1990s, Matt Hardy has had one of the longest and storied runs in the history of wrestling. One half of the famed Hardy Boyz, alongside his brother Jeff Hardy, he has etched his name into the history books as one of the great tag teams of all time, wrestling in the WWE, TNA, ROH and now AEW.
However, tag team success does not solely define his legacy. He had a successful singles run in WWE in the 2000s, with runs with multiple championships. He most famously feuded with Edge after Hardy’s girlfriend Lita cheated on him with the Rated R Superstar, culminating in a huge cage match between the two men.
He also became a world champion multiple times. The first was in WWE, when he became the ECW Champion in 2008. He is also a two time world champion in TNA as well as holding championships such as the United States Championship and Cruiserweight Championship.
His crowning glory in wrestling was without doubt his incredible “Broken” character that was invented in TNA. The persona of the Broken Matt Hardy saw the former WWE star speak in a faux-British accent, speaking in riddles and calling people the wrong name. Joined by his incredible cast of characters, Broken Matt became one of the most popular wrestlers in the world, with his “Final Deletion” match in 2016 breaking the mould of what a wrestling match could be.
He brought the character to WWE and AEW after leaving Impact, but never reached the heights that he could have in the promotions. He entered into one last retirement run with his brother Jeff Hardy in AEW as “The Hardy Boyz” and were set to win the tag team titles in 2022, but a drunk driving charge on Jeff put their tag team to an end.
While he has tried to continue in AEW as a solos star, it’s clear that the money matches involve the Hardy Boys and not just one brother. With that in mind, Matt Hardy’s retirement could be coming sooner rather than later, especially being 48 years old and 30 years into a career of falling off ladders through tables.
Speaking about Matt Hardy, he himself sounds like he doesn’t want to end his career without his brother…
Matt Hardy’s Retirement
Matt Hardy’s retirement could not be long away, given his age, injury worries and the wear and tear he has suffered on his body. He and his brother Jeff Hardy debuted as teenagers in the WWE, as jobbers, in the 1990s and have wrestled almost nonstop since that day, growing from boys into World Champions.
However, the former ECW Champion revealed on a recent Twitch stream that he wants to retire with his last gimmick being as part of The Hardy Boyz. He made it clear that he wants to team with his brother and close out his career as a team, rather than in a solo run as “Big Money” Matt Hardy or one of his other many, many gimmicks.
“The gimmick I would like to end my career on, and I’m pretty confident in saying this, I would like to finish my career teaming with my brother as the Hardy Boyz.“
“Real life Matt and real life Jeff just doing our thing. That is, I feel like, a beautiful way to tie up a career. It’s probably going to be 30 years for both of us, probably over 30 years when it’s all said and done. To go out the way you came in, that’s super cool. I would like to finish my career with Jeff Hardy, my brother, as a team.”
He then went on to explain how he would love to have a rematch with the Young Bucks, which happened at Double or Nothing 2022. That was Jeff Hardy’s last match before he suffered an injury and got into a drink-driving accident which has ruled him out of the ring for the foreseeable future.
Matt Hardy also revealed in a separate interview that a dream match for his retirement bout would be against AEW superstar Kenny Omega. The former AEW Champion is considered one of the best wrestlers in the world and has held both the AEW Championship and the IWGP Heavyweight Championship – the only man to have held both titles.
He also noted that a Hardy Boyz vs The Young Bucks would be a dream match for his retirement and one that would be more apt to end their long careers on.
On AEW Unrestricted, Matt Hardy said about a potential retirement match against Kenny Omega;
“A dream retirement match would maybe be something against Kenny Omega. I can see that. I’ve never gotten to do a one on one with Kenny Omega and I think he is absolutely one of the most talented guys alive. Even more than that.”
“I would maybe even say a better retirement would be myself and my brother, if that works out in the future, verses like The [Young] Bucks or one of the current tag teams [in AEW]. I would definitely like to end on that note, for sure. That’s how we came in and [I] would kind of like to go out that way.”
However, with those two being the options for his final match, Matt Hardy may not be retiring anytime soon. Jeff Hardy is currently suspended by AEW pending his criminal proceedings, whilst Kenny Omega is currently suspended from AEW after a backstage fight with CM Punk, following All Out 2022.
It is likely that Matt Hardy will return to WWE once his career is over for a Hall of Fame induction alongside Jeff Hardy. The pair will likely be inducted as a team, with Jeff Hardy potentially getting in on his own as a solo inductee as was offered earlier this year.
Who would you like to see in Matt Hardy’s Retirement match? Let us know in the comments or click below to read about the Original AEW roster from their first show ever