10 Wrestling Stars Who Reinvented Their Way To Longevity

4. Matt Hardy

The 'BROKEN' version of Matt Hardy has polarised the wrestling fandom.

Some perceive it and his feud with brother Jeff Nero as a disgrace to the industry, an embarrassing death knell of what little remains of kayfabe. Others find it mightily entertaining either in itself or on a so-bad-it's-good level.

In any event, the impact (sorry) it has had on TNA's TV ratings is indisputable. As silly and inexplicable as it might be, it's completely, hugely original, which is something of a calling card Matt has in his locker. Not content with reawakening the WWF's dormant tag team division in the Attitude Era, Matt in subsequent years has made a habit of rebranding and keeping himself relevant.

His Version 1 character was a riot, a bright spot in WWE's post-2001 comedown. He then went onto engineer an ultimately ill-fated run with a worked shoot real-life persona during his reality-infused run with Edge in 2005 - but he really came into his own following his real exit from Stamford.

Before becoming 'BROKEN', Hardy was fractured by the Ring Of Honor fanbase, who rejected his cloying babyface character with authority. The ever-enterprising Matt then parodied anti-bullying YouTube videos in one of the most unique wrestling promos of modern times. If he couldn't have their love, Hardy worked tirelessly to earn their respect.