12 Wrestlers Who Looked COMPLETELY Out Of Place In Other Promotions

11. The Hardys In AEW

The Hardys Matt Jeff Isiah Kassidy
AEW

This was doomed to fail from the beginning.

Matt Hardy jumped to AEW first back in 2020. His 'Broken' character did turn some heads during the closed door pandemic days, but the whole 'Big Money Matt' idea fell flat as a pancake after that. Then, in March 2022, his brother Jeff offered a reprieve by signing on the dotted line with Tony Khan to become #AllElite himself.

Suddenly, The Hardy Boyz had reunited, and all was right with the world. Memories of their cracking return at WrestleMania 33 in 2017 were still relatively fresh in fan minds, and now the pair would be able to rock the house over on AEW's side in blistering tag-team bouts vs. The Young Bucks, FTR, Private Party and more.

There was just one problem: These weren't the same Hardys who'd worked classic TLC bouts with Edge, Christian, Bubba Ray and D-Von. Hell, they weren't even the same guys who been protected during that aforementioned 'Mania 33 stunt show either. In AEW, Matt and Jeff moved like they were at half speed.

Being fair, they'd been putting their bodies through the wringer since the mid-90s, and it was unrealistic to expect them to hit the same heights (sometimes literally). Even so, nothing about Khan's attempted Hardy reboot felt natural or like it was ever going to work.

AEW's tags moved at a fair clip, and The Hardys just couldn't be expected to keep up. By 2024, various personal issues and disgruntlement behind the scenes pushed them out of the company. They were never a tidy fit anyway.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.