Back in September of last year, Wrestling DVD Network (the biggest resource on upcoming DVD releases on the internet) reported that WWE was planning a new career retrospective for the next Hardy Boyz DVD, now that both Matt and Jeff Hardy are fully back with the WWE. In early March of this year, they also revealed the near 30 matches that are planned to be included on the set, which will be released this May (pre-orders for the May 1 release date are already up on Amazon).
On the match listing for The Hardy Boyz DVD, there is an interesting chapter in between the last WWE match from 2009 and the return bout from WrestleMania 33 last year entitled simply “The Broken Universe”. Last night, the Twitter account WWE Home Video UK posted a Tweet reporting that WWE would indeed be using footage licensed from Impact Wrestling, which will undoubtedly be used within that chapter. Early this evening, Impact Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore confirmed the news (and the Tweet) with a Tweet of his own.
We keep saying it over and over, "when companies work together the fans win!"
Congrats to @wwe, @IMPACTWRESTLING, and @MATTHARDYBRAND for putting the fans 1st https://t.co/Zp4JxswgRj— Scott D'Amore (@ScottDAmore) April 12, 2018
There have been no details on what that footage is, but there’s a very good chance it could at least include the original Final Deletion, to offer WWE fans context for Matt’s recent Ultimate Deletion (the other Deletion shorts most likely will not appear due to the heavy appearances of so many non-WWE contracted talent). This will mark the first time in the history of TNA/Impact Wrestling that WWE has licensed footage from the company, coming hot off the heels of Kurt Angle‘s recent TNA mention on this past Monday when talking to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. It also follows the appearance of former Impact Wrestling owner Dixie Carter appearing on the WWE Network special on Kurt Angle’s WWE return last year, WWE 24 – Kurt Angle: Homecoming, as well as mentions of TNA in Straight Outta Dudleyville: The Legacy of the Dudley Boyz (2016) and on an October 2016 episode of Talking Smack, when Daniel Bryan mentions TNA in a conversation with AJ Styles. While TNA or Impact Wrestling have yet to be mentioned on television by the announcers, they have recognized Impact’s previous title holders, referring to Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe, Eric Young, and “Cowboy” James Storm as former World Champions when they debuted in NXT. When mentioning the Dudley Boyz combined reigns as tag team champions, the number Michael Cole stated could only be achieved if TNA’s tag team reigns were included.
While we’ll probably never get the kind of constant reference to a competitor brand like we did during the Monday Night War when WCW and WWE mentioned each other with great frequency, it appears that WWE is softening its stance on completely ignoring Impact Wrestling like it did for much of the company’s existence.
Here’s the latest trailer for the upcoming Hardy Boyz DVD, entitled Twist of Fate: The Best of The Hardy Boyz (not to be confused with the 2008 DVD of the same name).
