Matt Hardy is a veteran who has been active since 1992. He stands out for his work in WWE, most notably in the tag team division alongside his brother Jeff Hardy, with whom he has won most of the acclaimed Tag Team Championships of WWE and other companies as well.

But when it comes to achieving stardom as a singles star, he failed to garner the same prestige. That was until during his time in TNA/Impact Wrestling when he was finally ‘Broken’. Despite murmurs of a return to WWE, the former AEW star has opted to walk a different path. And now he is Broken again with another singles run in TNA. But what is the Broken gimmick you may ask? Let’s find out.

The history of the Broken gimmick

While in the WWE, Matt Hardy tried to establish himself as a singles competitor. But he failed to get much traction until he was a part of the Edge-Lita-Hardy storyline. But that attention too faded once he came out as the losing one in the feud. So it wasn’t long before Hardy chose to leave the WWE because of creative differences, and join TNA. During his run in TNA, Matt Hardy developed a demented personality (or gimmick in wrestling) that led him to rebrand himself as Broken Matt. Creating his own family cult, using outlandish terms and gestures, to captivate the audience and take flight from a company that reeled hard after the departure of giants like AJ Styles. Samoa Joe or Bobby Roode. And what was the reason or motive behind the character? This gimmick was born out of Matt Hardy’s own reluctance at his brother Jeff’s accomplishments.

In fact, Jeff Hardy too joined his cult and he was called Brother Nero. This new universe created by The Hardyz became a resounding success and one of the few reasons why fans continued to give the WWE “competition” a chance. Matt turned heads by taking on a quirky role, with obvious airs of grandeur, who always speaks in the third person. And he also popularized phrases such as “Delete! Delete! Delete!”.

Much of his success can be explained by the “ridiculousness” of the character and his universe. Proof of this was, for example, the climax of the feud between the brothers, The Final Deletion, a completely atypical match that was on everyone’s lips for weeks and that even had a replica by the WWE; and, subsequently, the inexplicable tournament called Tag Team Apocalypto, which gave away indelible scenes.

The legal battle that was

When the Hardy Boyz made their return to WWE, the characters Broken Matt and Brother Nero could not be used. Why? Because TNA claimed the gimmick to be their intellectual property. As fans wanted to see him in that demented state, and Matt Hardy was clear that there was significant value in that character, a legal battle began. For months there was speculation about the possibility of a deal, which never came, and there was even the idea that the Hardy brothers would reinvent their characters. But everything remained in the realm of speculation.

That was until RAW saw the first sign that Broken Matt was finally coming. After losing to Bray Wyatt, the less extreme Hardy simply began to go crazy and make one of his most characteristic gestures: Delete, delete, delete. And before you know it, Matt Hardy was ‘Woken’. A new gimmick inspired by the ‘Broken’ one that ran till Hardy left for All Elite Wrestling. Nevertheless, Hardy aims to revisit the success he has had with the gimmick across wrestling promotions in TNA. Time will tell how the former TNA star will fare at familiar territory.