Matt and Jeff Hardy have been back with the WWE nearly a month after spending a number of years in TNA Wrestling. Now going under Impact Wrestling, the Hardy brothers were able to have a massive 2016 that got them noticed big time. Both guys were well known in the pro-wrestling world for years before this; however, they were able to increase that audience big time last year. How did they do it? They became broken.
Matt Hardy apparently began to go crazy last year and made a character that was comical yet so freaking exciting. Fans did not know what to think about it at first, but they eventually saw it as appealing, and it made TNA worth investing time into when many thought there was nothing of note there.
This was big for them, as it indeed kept some money coming into the company when it desperately needed any positive revenue in that time. The brothers left TNA earlier this year, and now that they are part of the WWE, many want to see the "broken gimmick" come with them.
Broken Universe can equal significant money
There is a problem in this. Anthem Sports & Entertainment claims they own the broken universe, meaning Matt Hardy cannot be "Broken Matt Hardy" despite the fact that he came up with just about everything, especially the core character. The characters involved in it were his plan and everything done is his. However, Anthem feels that since it happened on TNA television, they own it. This is in spite of the fact that Hardy has already copyrighted the name of Broken Matt Hardy in the United States.
According to Ringside News, WWE is in discussions to buy the gimmick from Anthem. The thought is that they would be willing to give Anthem a huge lump sum for the gimmick rather than pay them royalties every year that the WWE uses it on their programming. If WWE buys it, this will help in merchandise and various other things.
WWE feels the gimmick could be a huge merch mover, so they want to get in on that for sure.
So when will the Broken Brothers return?
The report goes on to say that the plan is to have Matt and Jeff Hardy hold the WWE RAW Tag Team Championships for a while, and once they drop them, the broken gimmick will start up. Having the Hardy Boyz as a tag team in the WWE again is still quite useful to the brand, but the WWE does not need them badly as a tag team and could stand to split them if Matt Hardy goes into the broken world again.
There is already word that Jeff Hardy might be heading into the WWE Universal Title picture. If that is the case, Jeff will be in a good place despite not being broken like his brother. However, in TNA Jeff was initially not involved in it. He was actually at the top of the card and then changed over to the broken world after a while. That said, it is not unlikely that Brother Nero will return too. The question is, when will WWE secure the gimmick for the company to use it? We'll have to wait and see.