Matt Hardy feels AEW-TNA matches ‘probably shouldn’t have ever been cleared’ due to WWE partnership
WWE veteran Matt Hardy has shared his ‘honest thoughts’ on the AEW-TNA situation.
Earlier this month, during the WWE WrestleMania 42 weekend, fans saw several AEW vs. TNA matches get booked. However, the matches were soon scrapped after TNA President Carlos Silva called back his talent, thus effectively pulling them out of competition.
Recently, speaking to Ariel Helwani, a WWE veteran, Hardy opened up and claimed that those matches should not have been cleared in the first place. Hardy, who has wrestled across WWE, TNA, and AEW claimed, “In my honest opinion, I think if we are partners with WWE, and WWE has kind of laid it out how ‘we’re working together with TNA,’ and AEW is kind of its own entity, we probably from that point on should’ve said, ‘If you’re doing any bookings, we probably shouldn’t do TNA, AEW things.’
“That would have been my guess. These things happen, and I think in these finishes, they had things that were going to work for both parties when it was all said and done. It probably should have never been set is what I would say from the beginning. I think going forward, that would be the case now,” he said.
“If these things could have happened and all parties could have been happy, it would have been great if it could have continued and just let it go, especially because it was advertised. But what should have happened most likely is that because we are partners with WWE, and AEW is this own entity that is a competing force, these matches probably shouldn’t have ever been cleared in the beginning.”
The matches were booked across different promotions, and once they were pulled, the card was improvised with other matches.
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
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