Matt Hardy Version 1 Was The Best Gimmick Any Hardy Ever Had
The Attitude Era’s tag team division was largely defined by the rivalry between Edge and Christian, The Dudley Boyz, and The Hardy Boyz. All three teams were talented and all three teams had chemistry with each other—particularly when plugged into three-way encounters that evolved into the original TLC Matches, that made everyone involved into stars. As WWE transitioned to its next stage, The Dudleys flirted with singles runs but ultimately remained a team. Edge and Jeff Hardy each made the transition to what were ultimately main event singles roles. Christian was a step behind but became an established mid-card act in WWE and legitimate main eventer elsewhere. Then there was Matt Hardy, whose career had its ups and downs. Coming out of the tag run, Matt made the most radical shift, launching the heel Matt Hardy Version 1 gimmick.
What Was The Matt Hardy Version 1 Gimmick?
In order to get over as a heel and compel fans to forget about his popular work as half of The Hardy Boyz, Matt Hardy was shrewd to espouse a truly divergent gimmick. Version 1 was a clever play on budding Internet culture. It felt like a piece of its time, complete with graphics on his entrance that mirrored the Internet aesthetic of the day. He also seemed to consciously tap into the budding annoyance with the Internet from an older demographic of fans. Hardy leaned into this heat with the arrogant use of random facts about him included in his entrance graphic, and silly insertion of “Mattitude” as a statement of his philosophy.
Hardy played the young, mid-card heel brilliantly, adding on Shannon Moore as his disciple, who did a particularly fun job of protecting Version 1 during the 2003 Royal Rumble. From there, Hardy engaged in one of the most enjoyable storylines in the checkered creative history of the Cruiserweight Championship, as he had to stay under 215 pounds to hold onto his title.
Matt Hardy’s Broken Universe
When fans think of the best Hardy gimmicks, one of the other top contenders is The Broken Universe. During his time with Impact Wrestling, Matt Hardy portrayed that he either had a mental break, or else truly tapped into his past lives and elements of magic. In either case, the result was the eccentric Broken Matt Hardy, which his brother Jeff was ultimately absorbed into, and which resulted in a number of cinematic-style matches from the Hardy Compound or other unconventional venues.
Related: Tony Khan Talks Why Broken Matt Hardy In AEW Was Cringe Worthy Creative
The question of how good the complicated history of the Broken Universe was ultimately comes down to aesthetics, but the concept grew a bit exposed when the Hardys returned to WWE. The Woken Matt Hardy gimmick was a watered down version of the original concept. It’s difficult to say how much fault lies with the gimmick versus WWE management’s resistance to go all in on it, but regardless, it failed to translate. From there, the failure of the Broken gimmick to connect to AEW fans seemed to suggest it was less a sensational idea with a capacity for real longevity than a fun concept for smaller stages with a limited shelf life.
The Other Hardy Boyz Gimmicks
Both Matt and Jeff Hardy are creative. Jeff has his bizarre Willow gimmick that he used before his mainstream wrestling career and briefly in TNA, and he espoused a villainous version of himself for a main event run with that promotion as well. Matt is currently playing a Money Matt Hardy, which is mostly noteworthy for demonstrating his ongoing creativity and adaptability, but the character hasn’t really connected with fans. He also made his resilience and persistence into a kind of gimmick of its own as he proclaimed “I will not die” opposite Edge.
In the end, The Hardys were probably at their best when they were being themselves as a tag team that with a cool look and daredevil offense, and Jeff succeeded when he held onto these aesthetics out on his own. But when it comes to truly taking on a gimmick, it’s difficult to argue they ever came up with anything better than Matt Hardy Version 1.
The Matt Hardy Version 1 gimmick demonstrated the performer at hand’s ability to reinvent himself, tap into the ethos of his era, and play a character. The character gets forgotten for lasting less than two years and never broaching main event status. Nonetheless, it was some of Matt’s best work, and the best of the off-beat gimmicks he and his brother developed.
