{"id":192,"date":"2016-09-09T10:52:45","date_gmt":"2016-09-09T14:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=192"},"modified":"2020-03-25T00:20:24","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T04:20:24","slug":"broken-fall-rise-matt-hardy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2016\/09\/09\/broken-fall-rise-matt-hardy\/","title":{"rendered":"Broken: The Fall and Rise of Matt Hardy"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years now, Matt Hardy<\/strong> has been the laughing stock of the professional wrestling world. His departure from the WWE<\/strong> in 2010 was mired in sadness and controversy. The world lay witness to one of the industry’s most creative minds seemingly unraveling due to substance abuse problems and an unrelenting stream of videos that showed him in no state to wrestle or be productive in any fashion. While many mocked his situation, those closest feared for his life. It was sad to see someone who was so integral to the tag team revolution of the Attitude Era seem to lose the mental capacities and control over his own situation. The Dudley Boyz<\/strong> and Edge & Christian<\/strong> had mentioned in multiple interviews that it was Matt who worked out many of the three tag teams greatest encounters. He seemed to be the smarter brother, while his loose cannon younger brother Jeff Hardy<\/strong> continued to squander his golden goose opportunities on substance abuse issues. But when it happened to Matt, it was met with parts of disappointment and fear.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: TMZ.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It took years for Matt to rebuild his Matt Hardy brand after his release from the WWE in 2010. He quickly went to TNA<\/strong> in 2011, but again, issues with his abuse took hold and TNA ultimately released him six months into his tenure. Months later, Hardy would announce his retirement from full-time wrestling. As the months wore on, he would do sporadic indie dates, but in reality he began working on himself as a person. It seemed he finally began to realize the opportunities he was wasting and the dangers he was doing to himself.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: rohwrestling.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2012, Hardy emerged in Ring of Honor<\/strong> and for two years, devoted his career to reclaiming his spot in the history books, determined to show his passion and love for the industry and make the horrors of the past few years just a blip on the radar and not the final exclamation point of his own wrestling story. Inspired and re-energized, following programs with\u00a0The Briscoe Brothers, Kevin Owens\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Adam Cole<\/strong>, Hardy left ROH in 2014 and returned to TNA.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: impactwrestling.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And while his ascent back up the mountain of wrestling credibility was full of stops and starts, he finally achieved World Champion status in TNA by pinning Drew Galloway<\/strong> in a 3-way match that included TNA World Champion Ethan Carter III<\/strong> on October 4, 2015. Hardy developed an arrogant style character that drew mixed reviews, but Hardy was finally back in the main event. But it was the aftermath of losing his title (after his second reign as TNA World Champion), that Matt Hardy finally became a buzz name in the world of wrestling once again.<\/p>\n