Matt Hardy Speaks On Rehab, Lita, Edge, TNA, More

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Credit: James Caldwell, PWTorch.com

Recap of Matt Hardy speaking to Steve Gerweck of gerweck.net.

- Matt said rehab on his knee is going well and he feels like "a million bucks." Matt said his knee has been checked out and he's ready to get back in the ring, and with all the time off, he's been able to heal the rest of his body after taking bumps and bruises on the road for so long. Mentally, Matt said he isn’t quite on par with his improved physical condition.

- Matt said he thinks he was released from WWE because he had been off TV for a while – and considering that Edge is in the midst of a push, and Lita has been receiving a lot of TV time – Matt feels like it was a situation where WWE felt like taking the easy way out by getting rid of the easiest target.

- Matt said he believes in what he did by going public with the Edge/Lita situation. He said it didn't turn out that well, but he felt in the right for going public. Matt said it was a bad business decision on WWE's part by not sitting down to sort through the details of the situation, whereby making a hasty decision without considering all the parts of the story.

- Matt said he has no problem with Lita. When asked where he still would have been fired if he actually was on TV rather than sitting at home, Matt said he is confident WWE wouldn't have fired him. Matt said he learned about his release from John Laurenaitis, with the excuse being that they were looking at other talent. On how long he had left on the contract, Matt said he had about a year left from June.

- Matt said he didn't want to think of a potential "wrongful termination" lawsuit, because that's not what he's about. Matt said it was just a bad situation that was handled terribly. Matt admitted he didn't handle it perfectly, but WWE should have helped by allowing things to be talked out before everything got out of control and crazy. Matt said many of the issues could have been handled better. In addition, Matt said he did not speak with Vince McMahon about the release.

- On whether he would do the situation differently, Matt said he would have handled everything differently. Matt said the relationship was great and there didn't seem to be any problems, with both himself and Lita discussing marriage and long-term plans, with no hints being dropped that something wrong might have been going on. Matt said he had never been so deep in love with someone in such a long-term relationship, causing him to go down a path of feeling every deep and hurtful emotion that comes with a painful break up. Matt said he lost his dream girl and his dream job – working in WWE – causing him to experience many negative emotions.

- Matt said his return to WWE would not have come with backstage problems because he's a professional and wasn't going to take things out of hand if he was backstage with Edge and/or Lita. Matt said people care about seeing himself and the Hardy Boys, with a certain demographic willing to pay to see them wrestle and buy merchandise.

- Matt said he wasn't sure of any plans for Version 2.0, but thought it was a pretty cheesy idea anyways. Matt said he wanted to do something different by going in a different direction. Matt said he has a promo on www.thematthardy.com highlighting the different character approach he's looking at. Matt said he's not going to "curl up in a corner and die," but come back strong.

- Matt said there's still some tension between himself and Lita, but they are still on friendly speaking terms, with many feelings on both sides still up in the air. On whether he was supposed to be in the Money in the Bank Match at WrestleMania, Matt said it was merely an internet rumor. However, Matt said he was ready to wrestle at WrestleMania.

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- Matt said he feels flattered by the "You Screwed Matt" chants. Matt said he welcomes fan feedback from people who are in the same situation concerning break ups and unfortunate relationships, etc. The address to reach him at is [e-mail]. Matt said he feels really encouraged by all the feedback he's received from people relating to Matt's situation. Matt said he lost two of the most important things in life, but knows he has to move on without sulking in the corner. Matt said he was emotionally torn the past two weeks, but he's past it, and isn't going to resort to trash-talking Edge or Lita.

- Matt said he became so popular because he's always been positive, because that's what he's all about. Matt said he wants to "make good things happen again." Matt said people seem to sympathize with his situation because so many people have gone through the same situations and feel bad for someone in the public limelight who has to experience real-life hurt played out on camera. Matt said the situation has led to an outpouring of support from the fans because they can relate to his personal problems through their own.

- Matt said he wants to make a positive difference in people's lives and wants to get back to being a hero to people after fighting through such a tough situation. On the topic of the petition to bring Matt back to WWE, Matt said he wasn't even looking for people to start a petition, but felt very flattered by the support from people who believe in him and want to see him on WWE TV. Matt said that without the fans, he wouldn't have found so much success.

- Matt said he would definitely go back to WWE if they called him up, admitted they made a mistake, and told him they wanted him back in the company. However, Matt doubts that WWE would really do that. Matt said he loved performing for WWE and hates to think that his WWE career ended in such a negative way. Matt said he just wants to get in the ring and do what he loves to do – wrestle in the ring, entertain, and inspire fans. Matt said he's using the personal turmoil from the situation as a personal lesson for life-long learning.

- On what Matt will miss most from WWE, Matt said he will miss the prestige that comes with wrestling for the largest wrestling company in the history of the business. Matt said he will miss being with his "family" of wrestlers who he used to be able to sit around and just talk to. Matt said he thinks "TNA has a good thing going," and sees a lot of guys busting their ass night in and night out. Matt said he wants to wrestle for TNA so he can just give back to the business without just taking, taking, taking.

- On who made the decision to have Matt fired, Matt said he doesn't want to speculate on who made the final firing decision, but he imagines John Laurenaitis had something to do with it. Matt said a possible grudge between himself and Laurenaitis could have played into the release, stemming from the different points of views between himself and Ace and Fit Finlay. However, Matt doesn't want to speculate as to whether that personal aspect played into the release.

- On whether Matt agreed with the comments made by Edge's wife's, Matt said he and Lisa (Edge's wife) are in the same boat, so they've discussed a lot of the hardships that have come over the course of the turmoil. Matt said Lisa was tired of being the nameless person in the situation and she wanted to have her say. Matt said he didn't know that Lisa posted her comments until some time afterwards, and didn't want to go into detail on the comments.

- On whether TNA is a solid lock as his next employer, Matt said nothing is a lock anymore after the Lita situation, but thinks TNA is a solid option. Matt said Jeff Hardy enjoys TNA a lot, and Jeff is quite optimistic about working together. Matt said the first thing Jeff said when they discussed Matt's firing was how excited he was to do all sorts of things together in TNA. Matt had to calm Jeff down before he got too excited. Matt said he really likes Jeff Jarrett, A.J. Styles, Abyss, Daniels, Raven, and other great talented wrestlers. Matt said he would really like to pursue some feuds and storylines with those guys.

- Matt said he wants to have an association with Jeff in TNA storylines, but doesn't necessarily want to team with him and reunite the Hardy Boys, because he feels as if there are many new singles feuds to pursue. Matt said he feels as if he's in the best shape of his career and wants to take a stab at a major singles push. Matt said he wants to be given the ball and allowed to run with it because, "I feel like I can score a touchdown."

- Matt said his greatest accomplishment in his career was signing a big contract with WWE and making a living performing and wrestling for the "dream" company. Matt said the contract gave Jeff and himself the reassurance that they were good enough to do what they do in the ring. Matt said he accomplished a lot in WWE including tag titles and singles titles.

- Matt said he liked this year's WrestleMania and thought it was pretty exciting all throughout. Matt said many of his friends succeeded on the big stage and was happy for them. Matt said the show didn't have that "WrestleMania feel" with a void of really special dream matches.

- Matt said his favorite TLC Match was TLC 2 because it was the best match from a psychological standpoint. The match also included a big run in from Lita, which was quite exciting. Matt said TLC 1 was awesome as well, because it was the very first TLC match, using a lot of innovate spots and moves. Matt said it stood out in his mind because fans were talking about the match quite a bit.

- Matt said he came up with the Version 1.0 concept. On whether he felt like he received a fair push in WWE, Matt questioned, "What is a fair push?" Matt said he certainly felt like there were times when he thought he could have been utilized better, but always tried to make the best out of his opportunities even if they didn't seem to be beneficial to him.

- On the release of Rhyno and Molly Holly, Matt said he doesn't know all the details of Rhyno's release, but feels bad because he's going through a divorce and has a child who he loves dearly. Matt said Rhyno is a nice guy and feels bad for Rhyno because of all the issues he's going through. Matt said he thinks Molly is extremely talented, but doesn't know all the details of her release to where he can speculate on exactly what happened.

[Y2J_Andy]

EUGENE said:

Matt said the first thing Jeff said when they discussed Matt's firing was how excited he was to do all sorts of things together in TNA. Matt had to calm Jeff down before he got too excited.

lol