At WWE NXT’s Halloween Havoc, a match will be held for the NXT Tag Team Championships. The Hardy Boyz are defending the belts against DarkState. However, that isn’t exactly what the match is going to be on Saturday. On the October 21, 2025 episode of NXT, a vignette aired featuring DarkState. The previous week, the group laid out Jeff and Matt on the floor, which could’ve severely injured them. They gloated about that and how they were going to take back their championships.
However, the vignette got interrupted by Jeff and Matt. They were at the Hardy Compound talking about how they knew DarkState wasn’t going to leave them alone. The two men went into their “Lake of Reincarnation” and came out as Broken Matt and Brother Nero. This transformation may seem like it was done for nostalgia purposes, but it’s a necessary tactic to keep their championships.
Broken Matt and Brother Nero Were Formed in TNA
The NXT and TNA partnership has so far been a mixed bag. We’ve had many debuts and returns made possible by TNA loaning their talent. But NXT wrestlers winning multiple TNA belts has made people sour on the partnership. To even the odds, the reverse was going to have to happen. At NXT vs. TNA Showdown, The Hardy Boyz won the NXT Tag Team Championships.
In an effort to represent TNA and introduce these characters to the NXT audience, the Broken Hardys were brought back. As those characters, they were TNA World Tag Team Champions from late 2016 to early 2017. TNA fans have known about those characters for nearly a decade now. Bringing a gimmick from that promotion to NXT is a positive beneficiary of the partnership. Allowing this to happen will definitely give fans optimism on the partnership’s future.
They Know How Dangerous DarkState Can Be
Jeff and Matt Hardy won the NXT Tag Team Championships against DarkState. The problem is that the two of them were attacked by them, signaling they know they’ll get their championships back. But they’ve never encountered Broken Matt and Brother Nero before. Talking about how another clash with them is inevitable, they had to change themselves to prevent them from a brutal beatdown in the ring.
This change made TNA fans happy, but they didn’t do it for the fans. To keep a championship, wrestlers do whatever they need to in order to get the advantage. The Broken Hardys are entirely different than the Hardy Boyz. A Broken Rules match was necessary given how much of a threat DarkState is to them. The ball is in their court now. Will they use this familiarity to their advantage, or will DarkState figure them out and take back their championships?
The Broken Hardys’ Return was Inevitable
When DarkState look at Jeff and Matt Hardy, they see a lot of things. They see two men nearly and over double their age. Legends that are easy targets that can be disposed of easily. In their vignette, they bragged about how they took them out backstage. If it was that easy to do that, then they would’ve easily taken back their NXT Tag Team Championships.
But being in the wrestling business for 30 years is an advantage for the Hardys. They know what’s coming before their opposition springs their trap. That’s why they transformed into the Broken Hardys. Jeff and Matt Hardy have already been beaten down by DarkState. Broken Matt and Brother Nero have never met them in or out of the ring. In an effort to keep their championships, they had to become familiar characters that are unfamiliar to their opposition.
OH. MY. GOD.
DarkState have awoken Broken Matt Hardy and Brother Nero, and we’re getting a Broken Rules Match at Halloween Havoc!! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Zmsrp3uXbe
— WWE (@WWE) October 22, 2025
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