WEBVTT - Team Extreme Matt & Jeff Hardy 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:07.880 Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome back to another episode of Wrestling 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:12.800 with Freddy, and today I have not one, but two guests. 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:17.520 One I had the honor and privilege of working directly with, 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:20.200 and the other punched me in the eye for no reason. 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:24.360 Whatsolept stuffing up for the mic. The Hope of Wrestling 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:32.240 with Freddy Freddie Prince June. Yeah, ladies and gentlemen, Jeff 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:35.479 and Matt Hardy, welcome to Wrestling with Freddy. Welcome to 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:38.159 the show. Boys. How are you doing well? Man? And 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:39.800 I just want to say when it when it comes 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:41.839 to the scenario where I punched you in the eye, 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:43.760 I just want to say this, it couldn't happen to 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:48.280 a better guy. That's great to be here. I appreciate 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:51.319 you both. In truth, it was my fault. You were 0:00:51.320 --> 0:00:54.240 warming up and I was not looking, and I walked 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:58.320 right into your spinning arm that was taped to the gills, 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:02.840 and it am near gave me a black guy. My mom, 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:05.680 when I was a little kid, Legit used to read 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:10.679 me the Hardy Boys books. So the first time I 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:13.760 ever saw The Hardy Boys on TV and you guys 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.759 lost in the beginning, I was already kind of like 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:22.200 cued in and and locked into what you wanted to 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:25.759 do just on the name recognition alone, right, And so 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:29.560 then I started to watch what both of you did, 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:36.319 and you're so complete opposites as far as your presentation. Matt, 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:41.679 I've always found you to be more extroverted. Jeff's more introverted. Um, 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:47.200 Jeff's an expressionist. You're like this tech wizard. Like, so 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:50.640 you guys just have these like two little like you 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:53.840 were always thinking what's next. Jeff was always like, this 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.200 is who I am, this is what's right now. As 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:59.320 a as a fan member, that's that's that's what I saw. 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:05.040 And as I watched you guys grow from the dudes 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:09.880 that would lose, like, that's what guys like would say 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:14.440 to all of a sudden becoming one of the greatest 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:18.680 tag teams in the history of professional wrestling, and then 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:23.040 to be able to separate and have massive success in 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:27.000 solo careers at the same time and be able to 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:30.160 seamlessly sort of come back together and be great again. 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:33.239 I don't think anyone else has ever pulled this off. 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:36.440 And it may sound like I'm blowing smoke, but I 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:40.040 was just always so impressed by both of you before 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:43.919 I even got to the company. My question is, when 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.840 you guys got started, were you just happy to be 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:51.480 living the dream or did you guys legit see those 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:55.760 types of stories happening when we first started. I think 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:58.160 we're just very happy to be living the dream. And 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:00.000 I just want to say, as far as your description 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:02.240 of the two of us, we are are very different. 0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:04.600 We are very different souls and you knowed it, like 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:07.640 you can tell you know us well just from that description. 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:11.320 But yeah, our dream was just to to to wrestle, 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.440 you know, on the w WF at the time, and 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:17.240 and and and and make it. And our goal ultimately 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:19.720 was to win the world Tag team titles one time, 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:24.480 you know, the on the highest level obviously over so 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:25.840 so we did, Okay, that was our goal. If we 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:27.880 did one time and then we were good, it's a wrap. 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:31.040 And uh, I feel like once we were there, we 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:34.720 were just so humbled to be there and to get 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:36.200 the opportunity to be in the ring, even if we're 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:39.040 gonna aspet. I remember, our goal was like, hey, let's 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:40.960 figure out a real awesome bump we can take for 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:42.920 this guy, you know, so so it'll make him look 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:45.200 good if we do that they'll bring us back. That 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:48.360 was our secret. And Jeff was just such a Jeff 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:50.760 is he was and is such an incredible seller, like 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:53.040 he was awesome in that role. And and we believe 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:54.840 there were a lot of independent people who said, like, 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.320 if you guys keep doing this, if you keep doing jobs. 0:03:57.720 --> 0:03:59.960 There's a guy who told us that instead of doing 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:03.040 Carney and says, saying jazz obs, he just shortened his jobs. 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:05.200 He said, if you keep doing jobs, you guys are 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:06.960 gonna be labeled like that forever. I said, no, man, 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:08.760 I think we think we can make it if we 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:11.960 keep bust our asks and working hard on I guarantee it. 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:14.440 I believe we can make it. How old were you 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:18.160 when that conversation happened? How old were you when they 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:27.039 said you can't keep doing that? Jeff was six fifteen 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:31.720 years old, gidding there's tennis stars that have retired at 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:37.840 that age. Oh my gosh. Okay, So you come into 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:42.440 the wrestling company. I worked directly under Michael Hayes when 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:46.039 I when I started, And the way Michael speaks about 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:49.480 the two of you is the way a dad speaks 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:55.520 about his sons. He's our wrestling daddy. Well, That's how 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:58.520 he felt. When I was there and I had never 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:01.360 met either one of you, I was I was brand new. 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:04.640 I was not getting the what the writers would call 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:07.080 the good assignments. I was getting the ones that know, 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:10.200 the assignments that no one wanted. And as I started 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:12.960 getting a little better and and figuring stuff out while 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:15.520 still making a lot of mistakes, I started to have 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:19.479 a little bit more access. And I remember, Matt, when 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:22.080 you won the e c W Championship, when they changed 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:24.719 the belt that I loved the Some people didn't like it, 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:26.800 but I loved that big silver blon And it was 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:28.960 the first ever scramble match in W two B history, 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:31.320 So that that's a little piece of wrestling trivia that 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:33.479 always hold. I won the first ever scramble match, that 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:35.359 was the first one, and then they did it again 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:40.000 on SmackDown like a year later, right, So I remember 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:44.920 being in guerrilla position when you won that and came back. 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:46.919 And the reason this popped in my head was you 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.520 said something that you said the word humble or humility earlier, 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:54.440 and you walked back and Vince gave you the nod, 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:57.080 and you said, I just want to let you know 0:05:57.560 --> 0:05:59.840 I appreciate this so much and I won't let you down. 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:03.760 And it was such a humble moment for a champion, 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.040 and his head kind of cocked and he gave you 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:13.200 that like that grunt, right, that all right? And he walked, yeah, 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:15.280 and you walked backstage, and I was sitting and I 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.039 had never seen an instance like that before. I didn't 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:20.240 have access to grill a position. Before that moment. I 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:24.080 was just like, whoa that was? That was intense, and 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:28.320 it was my first kind of taste of what it 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:31.040 meant for a wrestler to be a champion in that company. 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:33.400 And before that, like I had made mistakes. I didn't 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:37.320 understand the value of the belt and what it truly 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:39.800 meant outside of a fan going hey, that's cool. So 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:42.520 I'm getting schooled up on there, like learning on the fly. 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:49.400 And then Michael comes in and he says Jeff had 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:52.920 a lot of momentum at the time, and he said, uh, 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:55.920 to the whole writing team, we're gonna try to make 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:59.240 Jeff chance. And I remember there was a guy named 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.680 christ to Joseph If and he was like hyped. He 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.839 was so excited, right, and some of the other Writersom 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:06.080 was like, how are we gonna how are we going 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:09.840 to do that? And for me it was an opportunity 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:12.239 to get a better assignment. And I had never even 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.280 met Jeff yet outside of maybe like a head nod 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:19.120 like that. That was all we did, and I wrote 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:23.000 up a story and Jeff, you had been going through 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:26.720 ship at the time, and I thought, instead of hiding 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:29.960 from that, we should kind of lean into it. And 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:34.120 my philosophy, you know, my dad struggled in the seventies 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:36.600 with a lot of different stuff, like when he died, 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:38.520 he had enough coludes in his system to kill a 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:41.400 damn horse. I had a lot of experience with that, 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:45.400 and I had gone through psychologist after psychologist and a 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:48.560 lot of it. They talked about, you know, the brain 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:51.840 knows when it needs help, it goes to whatever the 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:54.920 quickest route to that help is, right, And so I 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:57.480 tried to come up with this thing that you executed 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:02.200 so beautifully where we talked about the gray area and 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:05.160 the world's not just black and white. That just doesn't 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:08.720 exist in the real world, and there is a gray area. 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:11.920 And it's not about good people are bad people, because 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:14.240 there's good people that make bad choices every day, and 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:16.520 there's bad people to make good choices in their life 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:19.480 and the rest of us are in the middle and 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:22.040 we're all just trying to get by. And I thought 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:25.960 that could be a truthful and honest and this may 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:29.200 sound weird, but a beautiful way to tell your story. 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:32.800 I just didn't know if we could get it approved. 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:37.160 What was going through your head as I'm kind of 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:40.280 throwing these these weird o promos your way? I mean, 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:45.320 was it exciting? Was it? What the hell was this guy? Like? Whatever, 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:47.840 You're not gonna hurt my feelings, even if you're like, dude, 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:51.520 they suck, Like I loved it no matter what. So 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:54.079 I'm just curious as to what was going through your 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:56.280 heart and head at the time. It was crazy exciting 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:58.640 and thank you for helping me become the world champion 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:01.000 for the first time. Is that it's for wrestling. It's 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:03.800 it's an amazing craft and man, I'm just me like 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:06.320 what you see is what you get. And man, but 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:08.320 when that happened, I was like, oh, I do have 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:10.280 something special about me and I don't know what it is, 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:12.680 like the connection between me and the fans, but there's 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.280 something The energy I guess is oh my god, there's 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:17.040 no gravity and like we can just soar to the 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:21.120 stars and and and take over whatever when I see 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.440 these people. But there's just something special about me, and 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:27.320 I thank you for recognizing that within me, and pro 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.920 wrestling is a is a crazy world. Man. It's like 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:32.520 a circus, is like a side show, and um and 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:37.199 I'm just so proud to be a part of it. Jeff, 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:40.320 you talked about that energy, you know, for me, it 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:43.960 was always like when you're when you're not the cool 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:46.120 kid and you're not the popular kid in school, which 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:50.360 I was not, you feel like an outcast and you 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:52.880 try to seek out others that are like minded. But 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:57.000 before the Internet that was impossible, so you legitimately were 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:02.000 an outcast. You you felt ostracized, right, And that's I 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:06.440 think something that people saw and connected with your character 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:10.600 out there, because, like you said, it's you. The character 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:14.080 is you. It's not Jeff Hardy is not out there 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:17.760 faking it and putting on some persona. Is just this 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:20.560 is who I am right now, and I hope you 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:23.880 love me. And it's like you feel that every time 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:25.800 you can, you climb up to the top, right. So 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:30.000 I always felt that connection was Wrestling fans have always 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:34.040 been like those sports fan that has been disrespected the most, 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.439 the one that's like discounted the most. I remember calling 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:41.120 Cowherd used to call us mouth breathers, and and then 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:42.920 Fox bought it, and all of a sudden he was 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:46.920 so nice and polite and respectful. Um. But I always 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:50.080 felt those fans kind of felt that way. And so 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:52.960 when they have someone where they can go, that's our guy. 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:56.160 All of a sudden, that's their guy. And that crowd 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.960 was always willing to go up to the top and 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:01.960 jump with you if need be. And I remember you 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:06.120 said that energy. I remember when the crowd believed that 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:09.920 it was gonna happen. I didn't watch from Guerilla, even 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:12.040 though I was supposed to. I got yelled at. I 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:14.360 went out to one of the side hallways so I 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:16.560 could see it, you know, the way I the way 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:20.480 I would want to see it if I bought it. Yeah, 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:22.720 and uh, and my phone was going crab free bird. 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:24.120 I was like, get back and where are you. I 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:26.959 didn't even like answer it. I'm just there, like watching 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:30.160 from the wings. And that crowd all of a sudden 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:33.600 when they realized it was Hunter outside the ring and 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:38.160 not you, and that the finish was about to actually happen. 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:42.320 You said there was no gravity, Like I literally felt 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:46.960 like I was floating in that moment because their voices 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:51.079 and the sound like reverberated so damn much that it's 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:54.679 like lifting you up off of the ground. And then 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:58.320 they did the finish, and because you're beautifully insane, you 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:02.280 then climbed the entire scaffold of Armageddon all the way 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:06.040 to the top, which came up just gave me a 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:08.240 heart attack. I was a new father, so like all 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:11.040 my bravery just vanished. And all I'm thinking is I 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:22.880 hope he's okay. Talk about that moment, man, because you 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:26.000 talked about just the regular energy that you get from 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:28.920 a regular match, which sounds like winning a championship. So 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:32.200 what was it like when you actually did like a 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:34.320 little boy's dream come true? Man, like up on that 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:38.360 castle at Armageddon and Armageddon iss coming eventually maybe I'm 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:44.120 getting okay, could help you go, what did Jeffy? But no, uh, 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:46.440 it's such a crazy world. But yeah, it's a little 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.040 little boy's dream come true man and God, and then 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:50.440 to do it over and over again. One of my 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.600 favorite things, as far as being like world champion is 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.160 when Punk and it's so crazy. We're in the same 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:58.839 company now, and there's a huge moment between me and Punk. 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:03.520 Yeah it's gonna I'm sure, Uh it has to. He was. 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:07.280 I mean, I remember when he walked out to your music. 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:12.320 I'm rocked out like jazz. Oh my god. The crowd 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:15.559 got so angry, like bro, you you guys gotta get 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:19.040 it on again, you gotta get I mean you you 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:20.880 tell me, man, And I think there's a huge moment, 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:24.320 like just in the hallway, like me and Matt beat 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:27.120 the Young Bucks or whatever it uh whatever pay per 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:30.280 views coming up or whatever happens. But then we were 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:32.319 me and Punk just have a face off. I love 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:37.280 faceoffs first of all, big hug, you know, but also 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:43.960 let him know, Yeah, I'm gonna see you though, Matt, 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:46.480 I've always had a question for this, and I guess 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:48.200 I could have asked Freebird over the years, but I 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:53.800 just I wanted to ask you. During Jeff's run, there 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:56.600 was this sneaky little thing that you and Freebird did 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:02.280 where Matt hard He's coming out to help his brother, 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:06.440 but Jeff gets hurt and we didn't show it at 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:10.079 that pay per view, we revealed it. I believe at 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:13.240 the next pay per view, But the Matt Hardy character 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:18.000 smiled and wasn't necessarily out there to help his brother. 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:22.320 Is what it seemed was this and this eventually led 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:25.160 to you turning on Jeff. Was this something that you 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:27.160 came up with, Michael came up with. The two of 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:29.560 you sat together and and came Because I wasn't even 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:31.560 aware of it until after it happened in Free Bird, 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:34.440 was like, well, that's just a little extra touch. Um, 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:36.680 so I know they pitched it to me, and it's 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:40.200 so funny. There was like these old rumors that float 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:41.840 around like, oh my god, it was supposed to be Christian, 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:43.640 but then they changed it. They made it mad. It 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.480 was always gonna be me, and they just I feel 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:49.480 like they felt the best path forward for me because always, 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:52.640 historically Jeff has always been more popular, probably always will 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.360 be more popular. I just want to tack on something 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.040 to what you're saying earlier. We do these massive autograph 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:00.680 signings now that we're back, you know the parties, you 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.640 know whenever we go to these uh you know, autograph 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:05.400 signings are like four hours four and a half hours 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:07.280 are long and massive, and there's so many people that 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:09.400 have watched us for so long in October of this year, 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:12.120 We've been doing this for thirty years, and you know, 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:14.320 we've been doing it like on the highest level now 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:17.680 for almost almost twenty five years, which is crazy and 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:19.760 and and like you said, is it's very special that 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:22.640 we can be a tag team and win multiple world 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:25.120 tag team titles together and then split off and when 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:27.680 other titles and come out the other one titles again, Like, 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:29.320 I don't think there's ever been a team that has 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:32.040 had that sort of success as as a team and 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:34.280 uh singles, you know when it when it when you 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.200 think about the big scheme of things. The only person 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:38.720 I can really think that's close is Edging Christian. But 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:41.040 they both had to take off, like you know, seven 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:44.000 to nine years because of their severe injuries and whatnot. 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:47.560 So Jeff has this thing about him. Whenever we're doing 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:49.640 these signings, people come up to all the time they go, oh, 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:52.440 my god, you inspired me to be me because you 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:55.440 were just someone who like this is who you are. 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:58.120 If you like me, great, if you don't, great, I 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:00.880 don't care. I'm me and I'm happy this moment. I'm 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:02.600 doing what I love in this moment, and I'm living 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:04.440 my life to the fullest in this moment, and I 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:06.560 don't care what anybody else says. And that's a huge 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:08.800 inspiration to him, and people all the time come and 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:11.000 say thank you so much. You helped me during a 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:13.760 tough period of my childhood or whatever, like you made 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:16.240 me not afraid to be myself. So I think that's 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:18.880 one of the very special things that goes along with him, 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.600 and that leads, I think to him being historically the 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:23.840 most popular of the two of us. And then Michael 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:26.120 Hayes had pitches. I think the best way forward for you, 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:28.160 Matt is now that you're the c c W champion 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:30.640 and he's the w B champion, if we did a 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:32.640 thing where like you were almost jealous, you know, he's 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:34.640 getting all the you know, he's getting all the light 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:37.440 shined on him right now as being the big champion, 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:39.760 and you've been a big champion even longer. Like, what 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:41.720 if we do a thing where you get so frustrated 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:43.840 and ultimately you turn on him and we do a 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:46.440 big match at WrestleMania and you guys can face one 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:49.760 another on the you know, the the biggest platform possible. 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:51.360 And I was all down for it and said, yeah, 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:53.920 that sounds good, and I didn't disagree, so they started 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:55.800 planning those seeds. I want to say. The first thing 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:59.680 was like you were found like uh out in a stairwell, 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:01.680 and it was almost like a play in real life, like, 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:04.240 oh my god, was was Jeff Hardy messed up? We 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:06.080 know he's had his demons and we know he has 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.840 had his issues, but it turns out in the backstory 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:10.480 that I was the one that did that to him. 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:12.639 There was a deal where there was a car crash 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:14.840 and remember the film that you some girl like as 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.280 your wife is bed and and and I ended up 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:19.160 being me as well. And then the Pyro thing, which 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:20.879 is one of my favorite deals because he made it 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:23.320 look so amazing the way he sold it. And then 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:26.159 ultimately ended up where my worst enemy, a guy that 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:29.200 I have historically hated Edge. You know, he is wrestling 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.359 Jeff and I screwed Jeff out of the match and 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:34.240 allow Edge to win, which really solidified that I was 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:37.600 a real piece of ship. Terrible bad guy. That's long 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:41.080 term storytelling that doesn't get done as much anymore. I 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.399 miss it, man, and that was done really well. I 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:45.639 feel like at that point, if we would have just 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:49.120 focused on me being jealous and my envy of him 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.320 being so popular when he has the title. The thing 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:53.160 I think where we we went a little too far 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:56.639 is because his house legitimately did burn down. Whenever I 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:58.520 burned down his house and killed his dog, I felt 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:00.240 like a lot of people say, I, I mean kind 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:02.200 of in on him being joles, but that's that's a 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:04.359 little too much, and I remember that became part of 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:06.800 the story. Yeah, I remember that too. I feel like 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:09.040 fans disconnected there a little bit, and that that was 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:11.920 my feeling from reading the crowd as well. Well. When 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:15.320 that's well, let's talk about that reading the crowd and that. Okay, 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:20.280 So to me, professional wrestling and stand up comedy are 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:24.520 the two most brutal forms of art. Okay. The crowd 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:27.880 lets you know right away if they don't like your joke, 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:31.040 because they don't laugh. They let you know right away 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:33.520 if they don't like your work in the ring, and 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:37.200 they'll scream at you, they'll start you suck chance, not 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:41.840 because you're the heel, because they genuinely hate you. So 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:46.480 when you talk about feeling that in the crowd, how 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:50.199 do you communicate that to creative Have you ever been 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:52.920 able to communicate that successfully is it? Does it fall 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:55.600 on deaf ears? What to talk about that real quick 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:57.840 if you could. There was one moment like before I 0:18:57.880 --> 0:18:59.720 went out and the like I think Michael Hays is 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:03.720 up and advance and you know everybody, uh man, And 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:06.320 they played the video package and like Jack are dog 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:09.399 that died in the fire was the last visual of 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:12.000 that almost like broke down there. You gotta be fired 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:17.639 up that that was right before. I'm not getting fired up. 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:21.440 I'm going to have a stone cold because man, that 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.320 ship had really happened. This ship is fake. You know 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:26.359 what we're doing now, it's just an act, you know, 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:29.639 so to speak. And that was one I just went 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:31.520 on like just stone called us and I'm not I'm 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:33.600 not getting fired up at all. I I feel like 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:37.680 inserting reality in the storylines. It's important and it needs 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:40.280 to be done, especially now in the age of the 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:43.200 Internet and the age of information, because everybody knows everything. 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:45.400 I think you do. But there there's also some things 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:47.399 and I think we were right on the cusp of 0:19:47.440 --> 0:19:49.440 this period of this time. That was an event that 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:52.159 was so tragic and so sad that it literally his 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:55.160 house burned out, you know, all the old tits, all 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:59.280 this old gear, his his dog died. I mean, it 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:02.800 was a really traumatic event on him, and just for 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:04.520 for them to put that in their storyline was almost 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:06.920 like where it was bad taste and that that's what 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:10.359 I felt whenever I see that, especially in high whenever 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:11.840 they had me come out and they had like a 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:15.120 I'll never forget them burning a dog collar and then 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.480 I held the dog collar like you know, the guy 0:20:17.520 --> 0:20:19.160 who did the props, he was like, Okay, well he's 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:21.920 burning more sho. I said, I think it's fine. It's 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:24.959 like I remember saying like I don't know. I mean, 0:20:25.000 --> 0:20:26.520 i'll do it. This is what you guys want me 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:27.919 to do. I'll do it, but like this could be 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:29.880 too much, and I could just feel like you guys 0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:32.760 weren't alone the air. The air came out of the crowd. 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:36.560 They're like, it's not like we're not mad at you 0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:38.920 because you're playing the bad guy in the story. We're 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:42.000 mad at you because this is a poor taste. So 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:43.600