Matt Hardy’s Latest Masterpiece Deserves Every Award

I really wanted to write about Total Nonstop Deletion, but how can words do justice to another Matt Hardy Masterpiece? So, I’m not going to write about Total Nonstop Deletion, I’m just going to write about Matt Hardy.

Can he win every award this year? Wrestler of the year, booker of the year, promoter of the year. Matt deserves it all.

There hasn’t been a better booked character and concept than Broken Matt Hardy and the Hardy Compound. From Matt’s first attack on Jeff to Thursday’s Final Deletion, everything has made sense and everything has felt different.

Matt Hardy made TNA fun in the second half of the year. It started out as just him and his brother, but they slowly began involving others, and on Thursday that built an entire episode around the Deletion concept. There was even a TNA World Title match that is still going on as I type this.

I don’t know if the Hardy brothers could book an entire promotion the way they book themselves, it would probably start to wear thin after awhile, but what they are doing right now should be applauded. They have created characters when everyone thought characters died in the mid-90s. They have created a universe that perfectly blends into the already wacky universe of professional wrestling.

It’s not meant to be taken serious, but there’s no denying that Hardy doesn’t take this concept serious. He does all of his interviews in this Broken character and truly lives the gimmick. But on-screen, you know it’s a character. It’s a blurred line between kayfabe and reality that doesn’t take itself serious.

Shooting fireworks, cutting people up with weed whackers, fighting on cherry pickers, exploding people out of volcanoes. None of it makes sense. And yet, somehow, it all makes sense. There are subtle nods and out right call outs to their past and wrestling history.

Do I want to see Total Nonstop Deletion every week? No. It would lose its appeal pretty quickly. But I do want to see what Matt and Jeff have provided every week. Entertainment and development. Matt and Jeff have given us something different every week. Something fresh. There is no denying their creativity and ability to put paint a broad and beautiful picture.

TNA has been in a free fall for years. Long gone are the days of AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Christopher Daniels. Ever since they thought they could compete with WWE by moving to Monday Night, they’ve tried to compete with WWE. And failed at every turn. They’ve brought in “big name” after “big name.” They’ve promised “industry changing announcements.” They tried to compete. And they’ve always failed. Miserably.

Matt and Jeff aren’t ushering in a new boom period. With limited resources, a barely visible medium, and even WWE struggling to grow their audience; I don’t know what it’s going to take for the next boom. Probably John Cena turning heel.

Matt and Jeff are providing a true alternative to all of the wrestling we are blessed with in 2016. Seriously. Do you see how many shows Larry Csonka reviews on this site? Take all of those shows, triple it, and that’s how much wrestling you can comfortably access today. With so much wrestling, it’s tough to stand out and be different. But the Hardy’s have managed to do just that.

Think of what they’re doing and compare it to what ECW did in the 90’s. They couldn’t compete with WWF and WCW in terms of production. But they told compelling stories, brought characters to life, and delivered alternative action. How is this any different? It’s just been updated for 2016. Hardcore wrestling isn’t unique and different anymore. But drones, fireworks, cherry pickers, battlefields, etc… is certainly different. Shooting pro wrestling like it’s a movie and not trying to pretend that it’s real is different.

Everyone says, “think of wrestling like a movie. We know it’s fake and that the actors are just playing characters. That the explosions aren’t real and that when the camera is rolling, they are completely different people. But we still love movies.” The Hardy’s are just following that line of thinking. Except Matt, much like Daniel Day-Lewis, doesn’t stop playing that character when the cameras stop rolling. That’s right, Matt Hardy is the Daniel Day-Lewis of pro wrestling.

And like Day-Lewis in 2008 and 2013; Matt Hardy deserves all of the awards.