Matt Hardy Say AEW Would NEVER Book WWE's "Bad Taste" Angles
AEW man Matt Hardy didn't like what WWE did to his brother Jeff's character.
Matt Hardy says AEW boss Tony Khan would "never" book storylines like the one WWE did for his brother Jeff in 2020.
That year, WWE decided to capitalise on Jeff's real-life problems by having heels attack him for going through substance abuse issues. This, rather memorably, led to the derided 'p*ss test' angle with Sheamus on SmackDown - there was also another angle that implied an under-the-influence Hardy had crashed his car.
Matt told Busted Open Radio that he doesn't think Khan would be interested in that sort of thing, then went on to call the AEW chief "very forward-thinking" and "very progressive". Hardy believes Tony knows you "need to separate" real-life drug/alcohol problems (especially ones that are ongoing) from a kayfabe TV product.
Hardy went on to claim that Jeff could've said "no" to the story. However, he added that this wasn't ever something that was "truly encouraged" in WWE circles. "They want you to go with the flow" and give everything a try.
The AEW star called this period of his sibling's career "bad taste", and he's glad to see the back of it.