Will ‘Broken’ Matt Hardy Work Well with WWE Audiences?

Matt Hardy’s “Broken” gimmick was widely popular with TNA, but will it resonate with a WWE audience?

Unless you’ve lived under a rock or haven’t had internet access for the past few months, you’re likely well aware of the feud between Matt Hardy and Impact Wrestling. The two sides are fighting over ownership of the “Broken” gimmick, and the debate has only raged on with the Hardy’s arrival in WWE.

It seems as though Matt has a reasonable case to prove his ownership. And reports as of this morning note that the WWE is planning on using the gimmick at some point, as reported by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

That would mean WWE programming could become a bit more “broken” in the future. Although Matt and other WWE personnel have already hinted at the gimmick multiple times. In fact, the first commentary fans heard when the Hardy’s made their return at WrestleMania was, “things are about to be broken!”

But aside from “delete” chants from crowds, the WWE cannot go any further with the gimmick right now. However, let’s envision a world where they have the freedom to do so.

There’s no real need to explain why Broken Matt could work in the WWE. Full disclosure, I hadn’t watched one second of Impact Wrestling in my life prior to hearing about it.

The WWE has also been longing for a tag team to take on both a “comedy” and “champion” role simultaneously. The New Day somewhat fills that role at the moment, but they haven’t contended for a title in months. While teams like Breezango and The Shining Stars are booked as mid-carders at best.

The Hardy Boyz could easily take on that role. Broken Matt and Brother Nero would no doubt draw in more viewers, and the fact that current viewers haven’t seen them on WWE programming yet means that their eventual debut will be even sweeter.

But now let’s talk about possible issues.

The first being, would this style of comedy resonate with WWE viewers? And I’m not talking about just viewers who have Twitter accounts and write for blogs like this one. I’m talking all viewers, children included.

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WWE hasn’t presented anything like Broken Matt to its viewers in a long, long time, maybe they’ve never even done it. They’ve instead opted for more slapstick type humor in years past.

None of this is to say that WWE viewers wouldn’t “get” it. But it would certainly be a change of pace from what they’re used to seeing.

Now let’s assume that isn’t an issue. I see one more major problem being, would Matt get the same creative freedom that he got in TNA? That’s tough to say, but judging by how the company operates nowadays, I’d bet against it. Now the question becomes, will that dilute the act at all?

Until we actually see Broken Matt on WWE television, if we ever see him at all, it’ll be tough to give an answer to that question. To be honest, it’s tough to answer any of these questions at this moment in time.

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Will WWE be willing to take a chance and present something that its casual viewers have never seen before? Or will they keep the Hardy’s in the same role they played years ago with the company? One thing is for sure, it will be interesting to watch these future events unfold.