What’s the story?
After yesterday’s fairly public war of words between GFW and the Hardy party, PWInsider is reporting yet another development regarding the rights to the “Broken” gimmick.
A deal has indeed allegedly been reached, but while Ed Nordholm—Executive Vice President of Anthem Media—has received the agreement in writing, he’s yet to officially sign off on it. Should Nordholm refuse to sign off on the terms, the Hardys “will have no last recourse but to file a lawsuit seeking ownership of the gimmick.”
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It had been a quiet few weeks on the “Broken” gimmick front, but things kicked off again yesterday off the back of a GFW conference call. On the call, Jarrett had claimed that the Hardys do not have the rights from GFW to use the “Broken” gimmick, which soon prompted a backlash from Reby Hardy on Twitter.
She called Jarrett a liar and referenced an agreement that had allegedly been reached as early as last week. But as PWInsider have since confirmed, while the terms have indeed been presented to Nordholm, he’s yet to officially agree to them. Basically, we’re still at a stand-off.
Going in depth
Nordholm may well still sign off on the deal, in which case the drama will most likely come to an end. But it’s those comments from Jarrett on the GFW conference call that suggests Anthem may well be remaining resolute on the matter and therefore might not agree to the deal Reby alluded to.
Also, on a side note, you may be wondering why we haven’t mentioned WWE yet. That’s because they’re technically not involved in the deal, meaning this agreement is exclusively between the Hardys and Anthem.
Presumably, that means that if the Hardys were to leave WWE, they’d still have the right to the “Broken” gimmick and would be able to take it wherever they please.
What’s next?
It seems we’re at something of a fork in the road. Either Nordholm signs off on the agreement and the Hardys are free to use the “Broken” gimmick—in line with the terms of the deal, of course. Or failing that, it looks like the Hardys are not only willing but fully prepared to file an official lawsuit seeking ownership of the gimmick.
And just to further stir the old pot, Matt Hardy himself chimed in on Twitter on Tuesday—the day before Jarrett’s conference call—with a word of warning for Nordholm and Jarrett.
Author’s take
Truth be told, it seems Jarrett may actually have been telling the truth when he said that the Hardys don’t have the rights to the gimmick just yet. If Nordholm really hasn’t signed off, then despite what Reby says about the agreement being in place, technically the Hardys don’t quite have the rights yet.
Still, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before either Nordholm signs or the Hardys push ahead with more severe legal action. Plus, in the Hardys promo on Raw this past week, WWE dropped its strongest hint yet that a potential “Broken” angle could be on the horizon.
So don’t be at all surprised to see those hints become something a little more concrete in the coming weeks or months.
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