Matt Hardy explains how he was inserted into a rivalry with Hangman Page in the place of Brodie Lee.
Matt Hardy and Brodie Lee debuted in AEW on the exact same day. Originally, when The Dark Order was teasing the arrival of an “Exalted One,” Matt Hardy was high on the list of potential names. Ultimately, Brodie Lee ended up being The Exalted One and Matt Hardy ended up debuting as “Broken” Matt Hardy.
The night of their debuts also coincided with the first night of AEW action during the global pandemic. Because the global pandemic did not allow for packed arenas that pro wrestling shows usually have, Matt Hardy ended a pivoting and switching to his greedy and nefarious “Big Money” Matt Hardy character.
One of the first major rivals for Matt Hardy in this heel role was Hangman Page. Page and Hardy ended up facing one-on-one in a “Big Money” match at Revolution 2021.
Matt Hardy is now explaining on hit the latest episode of his podcast, The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, that it was supposed to be Brodie Lee who ended up feuding with “Hangman” Adam Page but unfortunately, Brodie Lee passed away shortly after Christmas 2020.
"Yes, the plan was originally to do Adam Page vs. Brodie Lee. That was going to be the program. Then, when we knew Brodie was sick, obviously I ended up being plugged in there. We'd been through the pandemic, as I've mentioned in the past, 'Broken' Matt Hardy, a very, very fan-driven character, and it was just time for me to pivot for sure. So I pivoted into doing 'Big Money' Matt. Then, I was going to end up ultimately taking Brodie's place in this program of working with Adam and then giving him a big win over a known star to keep moving on for the World Title."
Speaking about the era without full crowds, Matt said it was an insane time, and it adversely can work against building a babyface like Adam Page without that instant barometer.
“It was an insane era of wrestling, having shows in front of no fans just feels wrong and as I’ve said in the past, it just doesn’t feel like pro wrestling. It’s one of those things where the show must go on and now we’re just playing to the TV audience and we’re doing all that we could to entertain them and have them keep up with our story and build sympathy for this Adam Page character but it’s hard because you couldn’t get an instant barometer, you couldn’t get an instant gauge.”
Speaking about the match, Matt Hardy would say that as time has gone by, he has enjoyed the match even more and also added a note that it was supposed to be Brodie Lee who was revealed as breaking up The Elite and Adam Page.
"I loved it. I feel like the further you get away from a match, if you're pretty happy with it, initially, the further you get away from it, you usually like it a little even more. One thing I want to add to this too, is that we also threw in on a BTE segment, which originally was going to be Brodie that sent the text from Hangman's phone to The Young Bucks, which kind of broke them up. But once again, I stepped into that role entirely and then I ended up being the guy revealed as the guy who sent him the text and took him away from The Young Bucks. Then that also gave me some great justification for breaking them up what I wanted to do get them to myself, whatever, and also helped me as a heel as well, because it was a real shitty act and people loved seeing those guys together. It played right into the story we were telling with Hangman as well."
These days, Adam Page is currently the World Champion and Matt Hardy continues to coach the Hardy Family Office. Recently, he has opened up to the idea of reuniting with his brother Jeff Hardy as they want to end their careers together. Learn more here.
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