Impact Relinquish 'Broken' Character To WWE's Matt Hardy

Change to new gimmick began on Monday.

by Benjamin Richardson

We thought this day would never come.

According to PWInsider, Impact Wrestling's owners Anthem Entertainment have reached the decision not to contest ownership of Matt Hardy's "Broken" gimmick, granting the persona to its creator for whatever purpose he wishes.

The bitter dispute between Hardy and Anthem has rumbled on for the best part of the year, and as the calidity Matt brought to WWE thanks to the 'Broken' persona rapidly faded, so too did hopes of ever seeing the character in the company.

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This past week on Raw, eyebrows were raised when Hardy - who has been occupying a preliminary position for some weeks now - began chanting 'Delete!' repeatedly following the frustration of a defeat to Bray Wyatt. When asked by Sports Illustrated if this meant the legal dispute had finally been settled, Anthem's Ed Nordholm magnanimously conceded:

We have seen the character development and will be interested to see where they take the concept. Our new talent agreements all incorporate language that allow talent to continue to use their IMPACT persona after they leave the company. We are working with our legal team to amend our existing agreements to extend this to all of our current and former talent.

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Sports Illustrated's article further noted that this statement isn't the result of any fresh developments in court between the parties, and that Impact won't earn royalties from WWE's use of the gimmick. They also mentioned that WWE will not be using the term 'Broken', but will instead adopt their own phrasing - presumably to disassociate themselves from TNA. We'll see how that one goes.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.