Bray Wyatt looks to finish off “Woken” Matt Hardy in the confines of the Hardy Compound with The Ultimate Deletion.
November 27, 2017 – After a hard defeat to Bray Wyatt, Matt Hardy would sit in the corner in pain, screaming “delete” in a forward arm motion hinting the return of the “Broken” character made famous on Impact Wrestling.
A week later, on the December 4th edition of Monday Night Raw, Hardy would debut the “Woken” character in a unique back and forth promo between him and Wyatt stating his intentions to sentence Wyatt to “Deletion.”
Throughout the months Wyatt and Hardy would go head to head in many vignettes and matches. Wyatt would win the Raw 25 Match, Hardy and Wyatt would eliminate each other at the Royal Rumble match and the “Woken” one would get his win back in 50-50 fashion against Wyatt at Elimination Chamber.
On the March 5th edition of Raw, Wyatt would challenge Hardy to a rematch in order to settle the score. Hardy would then accept on the catch of it being in the “Hardy Compound.” The following week, Hardy would give the WWE Universe a look at his “humble abode.” In the vignette, it showed the debut on WWE television the likes of Reby Hardy, Senior Benjamin (Reby’s Father), King Maxel & Lord Wolfgang (Matt’s sons), as well as Vanguard 1.
A History of Deletion
Matt Hardy’s History of Deletion really comes from the Impact Wrestling during his feud with brother Jeff Hardy during the Spring and early summer of 2016. After a Swanson Bomb through a table by Jeff on the April 19th 2016 edition of Impact Wrestling leaving them both injured. Matt was considered a “broken man.” Jeff and Matt would feud with Jeff getting a few wins in matches like Full Metal Mayhem and Six Sides of Steel until “The Final Deletion.”
On the July 5th 2016 edition of Impact, “The Final Deletion” would premiere to the world, giving Impact Wrestling a buzz that hadn’t been seen in a very long time. In what was a short film of sorts seeing the Hardy brothers going to the extreme, Matt would be the victor as Jeff’s high risk style of offense would fail him.
Following that, the Jeff would be considered an “Obsolete Mule,” constantly being ridiculed by Matt until he would be “broken” himself. With the two broken minds as one, Jeff and Matt looks towards the Impact Tag Team Championships and the rising tag team Decay by defeating The Tribunal & The Helms Dynasty in a ladder match for the right to face Decay. On the September 5th 2016 edition of Impact, “Delete or Decay” the sequel to “The Final Deletion” saw the Hardy family go against Decay as Rosemary would attempt to kidnap Maxel. Although unsuccessful and Rosemary getting her most reversed, Decay left Vanguard One shut down, Brother Nero mutilated and Senior Benjamin kidnapped. Their rivalry would continue until Bound for Glory 2016 as the Broken Hardy’s successfully won the Tag Team Championships against Decay in “The Great War.”
The last Impact Wrestling event of “Final Deletion” proportions was “Total Nonstop Deletion” that was hosted by The Hardy’s at Matt’s home where the tag team won the theme “Tag Team Apocalypto.”
Review:
The match was a whirlwind of comedic timing, serious rivalry and deeper meaning with its use of clever Easter eggs. The “City of Deletion” brought out memories of Wyatt’s “home” being burned down last year by Randy Orton. Some of the comedic spots like the “Chair of Wheels” or “The Mower of Lawns” contemplation by Hardy was goofy and it went back on the to the roots of what made the “Deletion Series” so memorable. Even the clever use of Wyatt’s “The Whole World In His Hands” gimmick as Senior Benjamin gave him the globe as he and Brother Nero sing the song as a reminder of Wyatt having the world in his hands and amounting to absolutely nothing, a play on what was the fans consider Bray Wyatt to be.
The Ultimate Deletion was witty, fun and one of the best things that WWE has done in a long time. It really proved a lot of the doubters wrong as the match trended worldwide on Twitter as the #1 trending hashtag. It was a wonderful sight to see and it was a great change of pace from the same formulaic Raw main event.
Grade: B
