"Broken" Matt Hardy Files Trademark For His Name
Will Impact Wrestling Attempt To DELETE His Character From Existence?
It was reported here several days ago that TNA - now formally known as Impact Wrestling - will seek to dispute any usage of Matt Hardy continuing with the "Broken" name and gimmick now that he and his brother, Jeff have departed the company.
Matt took the first steps to ensure he would be able to work using the character that has made him one of the hottest and most talked about acts in the wrestling world by seeking to trademark it. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, he filed last week on “Broken Matt Hardy” for “Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer.”
Impact Wrestling's position is that they retain the rights to all to all intellectual property created under their umbrella, while Matt insists that his contract states he keeps ownership of his name and characters. We'll have to wait and see if Impact chooses to oppose the trademark and take this to the next level legally, or if they decide it's not worth the effort and resources to fight it.
Combating it would also carry with it the downside of creating bad blood between the two parties and effectively ruling out any chance of a Hardy comeback somewhere down the line.
The brothers made news when they surprised everyone who expected them to make an immediate return to WWE by showing up in Ring of Honor and winning their tag team championships. It was then reported that they had signed a contract with the independent promotion, although the specific amount of time has not been disclosed.
There's speculation it could be a short term deal, and discussions with WWE are ongoing, which means a rather imminent reunion with "MeekMahan" is still on the table.