What’s the story?
In professional wrestling, a handful of business relationships end amicably. In some instances, the talent is verbally buried by the company that they leave after the relationship is severed. An incredibly extreme instance of such a situation is currently going on between the Hardys and their former employer, Impact Wrestling.
During the most recent Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer went into some of the details about this situation.
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The Broken Hardys were one of the most wildly popular acts in professional wrestling over the past few years, revitalising the careers of Matt and Jeff Hardy. The Broken Universe was always thought to be exclusively Matt Hardy’s creation. However, when the Hardys left Impact Wrestling a few weeks ago due to feeling disrespected in contract negotiations, the ownership of the Broken Universe came into dispute.
Impact Wrestling sent out a cease-and-desist letter to the Hardys, as well as all pay-per-view providers prior to ROH’s 15th Anniversary Show on Friday Night. Dish Network, which was one of the providers that were going to broadcast the pay-per-view event, dropped the event entirely after receiving the communication from Impact Wrestling.
The heart of the matter
Meltzer stated that Impact Wrestling feels they are the rightful owners of the gimmick. There was reportedly a clause in the Hardys contract that stated that any intellectual property created during the time that they were under contract belonged to the company.
According to Meltzer, Impact doesn’t necessarily wish to stop the Hardys from using the Broken gimmick. They just want a percentage of any profits derived from the use of the gimmick.
In the simplest terms, Impact wants a cut of any royalties that the Hardys receive from using the gimmick as they proceed with their careers outside of the company.
What’s next?
The legal battle between the two sides continues to escalate. Meanwhile, the Hardys are scheduled to defend the ROH Tag Team Championships against the Young Bucks at Supercard of Honor XI.
Sportskeeda’s take
Although the gimmick was incredibly over with pro wrestling fans, it was doubtful that WWE would have used it anyway. The gimmick was very over the top, and we don’t know if Vince McMahon would care for it or not. The Hardys made their names in the WWE and we’re not sure that Vince would want to have to explain why the former Team Xtreme was now Broken.
If the Hardys do indeed end up in WWE, they don’t need the Broken gimmick. Fans will still chant, “Delete,” as much as possible, but the second the old Hardy Boyz music hits in whatever arena they’re in, the place will go nuts.
