Matt Hardy On Drew McIntyre’s Royal Rumble Win, Criticism of Brock Lesnar’s Early Rumble Dominance

– On the latest episode of his Thoughts from the Throne, Matt Hardy weighed in on Drew McIntyre’s Royal Rumble win as well as criticism of Brock Lesnar’s dominance of the first half of the match. Lesnar was the big focus of the first half of the Rumble, eliminating the first 14 people before McIntyre tossed him on his way to winning the whole thing.

Hardy discussed why that didn’t bother him and how happy he was to see McIntyre win the whole thing. Highlights and the video are below:

On Brock Lesnar’s Royal Rumble performance: “I thought this year’s Royal Rumble was excellent. I thought it was really good from top to bottom. I really enjoyed it. Kudos, WWE. I give credit where credit is due. Great job with the Royal Rumble. Now I know there was some people online, some of the more critical fans that were upset that Brock Lesnar dominated the first half of the match. And looking back at that, I just think Brock Lesnar was being Brock Lesnar. And if they were going to make a big deal about the champion entering the match and being #1, he certainly had to be impactful. So that didn’t bother me at all.

“And the guys he eliminated, you know, when people were worried about them being ‘buried’ or whatever it was, I mean it doesn’t really do any damage to them. It wasn’t a scenario that buried them in any way, shape or form. And probably the biggest thing that happened out of all that is just, guys were upset that their favorites were in the match early and they got thrown out very shortly, and Brock Lesnar was the one that eliminated them. Which, when it was all said and done, that was the point. Because when it was all said and done, we had Drew McIntyre be the one to ultimately eliminate Brock Lesnar in a very star-making moment. And that was cool. That made the Brock build worth it, because it was passed off to Drew there.”

On McIntyre’s win: “The very end of the match was very cool how it was Edge, Roman [Reigns] and Drew. Ultimately ended up being Roman and Drew, and Drew eliminated him. And really like, Drew is a guy I have pushed for for a long time. You know, whenever he got released from the WWE, whenever it was, 2012, 2013 or whatever, I was blown away. Because he’s a guy that has so much potential and the ability to be a top guy for a long time to come. And then I got to work with him in different areas, in TNA. And I really pushed hard for him in TNA to be one of the guys to build the company around. And when he came back to WWE it was very great to see him back. And now it’s great to see him truly getting an opportunity to compete for the spot I thought he deserved. I think he’s a guy that would make a great champion, and he’s a guy the company can build around. I definitely think he’s a cornerstone of any company he’s in.”

On Edge’s return bringing up the question of returning veterans: “Edge coming back was a big deal, I know he’s an older guy. Something I’ve seen recently online, probably on wrestling Twitter more than anything else, [the question of] should old guys beat young guys? Or should the young guys, the young talent, always beat the older talent or the veterans? You know, it’s like a big debate that goes on. And it comes down to this: age is really irrelevant. If you can still go in the ring, if you’re still entertaining, and you’re still good and you have a lot to contribute to the show on a full-time basis, age is irrelevant. Talent is what’s relevant. If you’re talented, you should be utilized to the best of your ability.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Matt Hardy’s Thoughts From the Throne with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.