Booker T On Where The Hardys’ AEW Run Went Wrong

On the latest episode of the Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T talked about The Hardys’ run in AEW, Dijak’s WWE departure, and the possibility of him landing in AEW. You can check out some highlights below:

On Dijak going to AEW: “[He could be a] Stan Hansen type [in Japan]. I agree, 100%. I feel like Dijak, of course he’ll fit in AEW. Of course he will. Would that be a great spot for him to land and make some money? Of course it will. I’m not gonna sit here and say anything negative against them maybe moving to that route. But I do see Japan being a great spot for him to actually — I don’t know, press the reset button for Dijak. Really create that monster, and go on a hell of a run. And you know, I don’t know if he ever wants to be a part of WWE, be a part of that promotion ever again or anything like that. But it’s not impossible for Dijak to find his way back inside the WWE. Because I’m like you, I felt like Dijak was pulling everything together regarding his work. That’s one thing you didn’t have to worry about with Dijak.

“The only thing I worried about with Dijak more than anything was him getting hurt. But the dude seemed like he was indestructible. I saw him break his finger right in the ring, and you know, just put it right back in. That’s what kind dude — sick, as far as a pain threshold. But as far as a guy that was putting it all together, I really felt like Dijak is the guy that, he’ll make any roster better. He really would. He will make any roster that he works with better. But as you said, I wouldn’t want to see him get lost in the shuffle or anything like that.”

On The Hardy Boys returning to TNA after their AEW run: “They didn’t get a run — you know, if I’m gonna be critical of AEW, let me let me go ahead and just be real here for a second. I think they were mismanaged and misused in AEW. Because they brought The Hardys in, and they wanted to recreate the Hardys from when they first came into the WWE, and were having ladder matches with The Dudleys. And I just thought that was a bad move. The first thing Matt Hardy did was dive off a scaffold or something like that, a forklift, and damn near killed himself? I think the last thing Jeff Hardy was a part of was Sammy Guevara breaking his nose. And I’m gonna tell you right now, you don’t want a broken nose, bro. Those are very long, sleepless nights, not being able to breathe. That’s not a that’s not a good feeling at all.

“That experiment in AEW, it did not work out at all. It didn’t work out at all, because there again I thought they were mismanaged and misused in AEW. They just weren’t used properly. That’s all. And is that a knock? Yeah, it’s a knock. But it wasn’t a jab or anything like that. It’s a knock, because just like, say for instance, when Bret Hart came to WCW, he was misused. He was mismanaged. Am I right or wrong about that? So that’s the only thing I’m saying as far as that goes.”

On where things went wrong with the run: “Well, I think The Hardys… never really got a chance to get out of the blocks, just because they never got a chance to really gel as a tag team in AEW like that. Either one was hurt, the other one was working or Jeff was having some personal issues. A lot of things going on where those guys never really came together and got a chance to really get off the blocks and get running. So I think that’s what that was, more than anything.

“I do think if they would have had them together as a tag team — I could be wrong. I could be 100% wrong. But the way Tony Khan books matches, I would imagine Tony Khan was reliving a lot of those Hardy matches that they had had before like, ‘Man, we could do some really, really great stuff here with The Hardys.’ Expecting The Hardys to still be able to go out there and do it like they did it when they were in their prime. And nothing against The Hardys man, but Father Time waits for no man.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Hall of Fame with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.