Credit: WWE.com
Matt Hardy recently opened up about a unique storyline concept he pitched to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon that was inspired by the hit TV show Dexter. The idea, developed during the height of the Hardys’ “Broken” (later “Woken”) Matt Hardy run, involved a supernatural and psychological angle featuring his brother Jeff Hardy as a ghostly apparition a storyline McMahon ultimately “hated” and rejected.
The Origin of the Pitch: Keeping Jeff Hardy on WWE TV Despite Injury
In 2017, Jeff Hardy was sidelined with a significant shoulder injury expected to keep him out for five to six months, shortly after the Hardy Boyz had made a highly anticipated return to WWE. During this time, Matt was deeply entrenched in his “Woken” Matt Hardy persona, which embraced bizarre, surreal, and supernatural elements.
Matt’s pitch aimed to keep Jeff involved on television in a meaningful way, despite his injury. Drawing inspiration from the psychological drama Dexter, Matt suggested that Jeff could appear as a spectral figure only visible and audible to Matt. This ghostly Jeff would serve as a conscience or guide, interacting with Matt’s character during his internal struggles:
“What if we do a thing where Broken Matt’s here, he’s in this dilemma… and then all of a sudden, Jeff is there, and he’s talking to him, and he’s hurt, you know, he has the shoulder sling on whatever else,” Matt explained in his podcast The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy with Jon Alba.
“Someone walks in the room and they see me talking to someone, but there’s no one there, and Jeff is just a figment of my imagination”.
Vince McMahon’s Reaction: Unfamiliar and Uninterested
Despite Matt’s enthusiasm and belief in the concept’s potential, Vince McMahon was not receptive. McMahon’s unfamiliarity with Dexter and discomfort with supernatural angles that featured characters interacting with unseen entities led to a strong dislike for the idea.
Matt recalled bluntly:
“Vince hated it. Vince was not a fan… I could tell that it just wasn’t, it wasn’t his cup of tea”.
This rejection highlights the long-standing tension between creative risks in WWE storylines and McMahon’s more traditional approach to character presentation and storytelling. The idea never progressed beyond this initial pitch and was ultimately scrapped.
Context: The Creative Climate in WWE and the “Broken” Era
The “Broken” or “Woken” Matt Hardy character marked one of the most daring and unconventional personas in modern WWE history, embracing surrealism, wild promos, and complex storytelling. Matt had significant creative freedom at times but still faced constraints imposed by WWE’s overarching creative policies and McMahon’s vision.
This rejected pitch came amid attempts to capitalize on Matt’s innovative style while accommodating Jeff’s real-life injury. It sheds light on WWE’s internal handling of supernatural or fantasy elements often sparking debate about appropriate creative directions.
A WWE insider with knowledge of the creative process at the time noted:
“Vince has always had limits on how far fantasy and supernatural elements could play out, especially when it involved showing something like an internal vision or ghostly interaction. Matt’s pitch was too out-there for Vince’s tastes, even though the ‘Broken’ character thrived on weirdness”[source close to WWE creative].
Matt Hardy’s Continued Innovation and Current Status
Despite this rejection, Matt Hardy has remained a highly creative and influential figure in professional wrestling. He continues to push boundaries in his work outside WWE, especially with Impact Wrestling (formerly TNA), where he and Jeff Hardy currently hold the Impact World Tag Team Championships.
Matt’s interviews and podcast appearances have shed light on many behind-the-scenes stories from his career, including more outlandish pitches and concepts that WWE passed on. For instance, he also recounted a bizarre idea McMahon had for the “Ultimate Deletion” match featuring Bray Wyatt a proposal involving a fish-wielding horror emergence from a lake, which underscored how unusual some creative discussions can get in WWE.
What This Means for WWE Storytelling
Matt Hardy’s Dexter-inspired pitch reflects the challenges wrestlers and creative teams face when trying to balance innovation and corporate approval in WWE storytelling. While Vince McMahon has historically made WWE the global leader in sports entertainment, his creative conservatism can sometimes stifle unconventional ideas.
As WWE continues evolving under new leadership and with changing audience tastes, such boundary-pushing concepts might find more fertile ground in the future. But for now, the story of Matt Hardy’s rejected Jeff-as-a-ghost idea remains a fascinating glimpse into the backstage creative struggles of WWE’s modern era.