{"id":144586,"date":"2025-10-22T17:34:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=144586"},"modified":"2025-10-22T17:34:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T21:34:29","slug":"why-the-broken-hardys-are-returning-at-wwe-nxt-halloween-havoc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/10\/22\/why-the-broken-hardys-are-returning-at-wwe-nxt-halloween-havoc\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Broken Hardys are Returning at WWE NXT Halloween Havoc"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At WWE NXT&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/10\/22\/wwe-nxt-halloween-havoc-preview-10-25-25-will-we-see-new-champions-crowned\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Halloween Havoc<\/a>, a match will be held for the NXT Tag Team Championships. The Hardy Boyz are defending the belts against DarkState. However, that isn\u2019t exactly what the match is going to be on Saturday. On the October 21, 2025 episode of NXT, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3yHbPjewYew\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a vignette<\/a> aired featuring DarkState. The previous week, the group laid out Jeff and Matt on the floor, which could\u2019ve severely injured them. They gloated about that and how they were going to take back their championships.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the vignette got interrupted by Jeff and Matt. They were at the Hardy Compound talking about how they knew DarkState wasn\u2019t going to leave them alone. The two men went into their \u201cLake of Reincarnation\u201d and came out as Broken Matt and Brother Nero. This transformation may seem like it was done for nostalgia purposes, but it\u2019s a necessary tactic to keep their championships.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Broken Matt and Brother Nero Were Formed in TNA<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NXT and TNA partnership has so far been a mixed bag. We\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_144598\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-144598\" style=\"width: 449px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-144598\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/Halloween-Havoc-Tag-Team-Championships-240x300.jpeg\" alt=\"WWE NXT Graphic for Halloween Havoc The Hardy Boyz vs. DarkState\" width=\"449\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/Halloween-Havoc-Tag-Team-Championships-240x300.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/Halloween-Havoc-Tag-Team-Championships-819x1024.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/Halloween-Havoc-Tag-Team-Championships-768x960.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/Halloween-Havoc-Tag-Team-Championships-1229x1536.jpeg 1229w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/Halloween-Havoc-Tag-Team-Championships.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 449px) 100vw, 449px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-144598\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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 <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xy475fs0d80\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TNA World Tag Team Champions<\/a> 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\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>They Know How Dangerous DarkState Can Be<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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\u2019ll get their championships back. But they\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This change made TNA fans happy, but they didn\u2019t 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?<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>The Broken Hardys\u2019 Return was Inevitable<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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\u2019ve easily taken back their NXT Tag Team Championships.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But being in the wrestling business for 30 years is an advantage for the Hardys. They know what\u2019s coming before their opposition springs their trap. That\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">OH. MY. GOD.<\/p>\n<p>DarkState have awoken Broken Matt Hardy and Brother Nero, and we&#8217;re getting a Broken Rules Match at Halloween Havoc!! \ud83e\udd2f <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Zmsrp3uXbe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Zmsrp3uXbe<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 WWE (@WWE) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE\/status\/1980800121936691706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 22, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><b>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Header photo \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Hardys_Raw_Tag_Champions.jpg#\/media\/File:Hardys_Raw_Tag_Champions.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WikiMedia Creative Commons<\/a> \u2013 Stay tuned to the <\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\"><em><u><i>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i> for more on The Hardy Boyz and other news stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81788927\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Netflix<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usanetwork.com\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>USA Network<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cwtv.com\/shows\/wwe-nxt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>The CW<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/tubitv.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Tubi<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetv.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>A&amp;E<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments), and\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Peacock<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Main Event as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>YouTube<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/events\/1773457579022155776?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>WWE Speed<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>).<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At WWE NXT&#8217;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\u2019t 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5338,"featured_media":144597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[1828,257,128,9283,8161,9018],"class_list":["post-144586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nxt","category-wwe-universe","tag-broken-hardys","tag-broken-matt-hardy","tag-brother-nero","tag-darkstate","tag-the-hardy-boyz","tag-wwe-nxt-halloween-havoc"],"modified_by":"Laci Schlatz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5338"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144586"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144599,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144586\/revisions\/144599"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}