Matt Hardy’s much sought after “broken” universe has finally made its way to the big time. This past week on RAW we saw our first glimpse of the newly Woken Matt Hardy, and I must say it reinvigorated my love for the broken gimmick. Even though I’m happy to have Woken Matt, many in the wrestling world think that the moment has passed and that WWE will ruin this run. To all the naysayers, I have a few points to bring to your attention.

The Absence of Brother Nero

Although it’s only been 8 months since the Hardy Boyz came back to a huge pop at WrestleMania 33, it’s felt like an eternity. The WrestleMania comeback set the bar high with “delete” chants and good times all around. However, Jeff recently sustained an injury that is reported to keep him out of action until at least WrestleMania season.

Since they returned as the Hardy Boyz and did not have adequate legal permission to use the “broken” gimmick, this left Matt Hardy with absolutely nothing to do. The recent result of Matt Hardy’s lawsuit though gave Matt a path to a new start. After all, jobbing to Elias and tag teaming with Jason Jordan do not seem so glamorous in the grand scheme of things. Though tragic, Jeff’s injury rightfully ended a nostalgic throw away tag team run that would have certainly lost it’s luster after less than a calendar year.

Staying WOKE

Good or bad, Jeff’s injury helped WWE pull the trigger on Woken Matt Hardy. Once again, Matt without Jeff reaches a selling point near zero in WWE’s atmosphere. When Matt came on screen as Woken, it set a completely new tone for how WWE and Vince McMahon see Matt Hardy. It went from “Jeff’s brother” to “the Woken Universe” and Matt’s own identity, which is a huge jump in status.

If anything, being Woken will help Matt’s career in such a way that just does not happen for competitors his age. Regardless of its successes or failures, this gimmick will elevate Matt Hardy and I’m sure we will all enjoy watching (at least me and my fellow marks will).

A primary complaint I hear about lately is that the gimmick is recycled and past its prime. Completely untrue. Matt Hardy created magic before by building interest in this gimmick from the ground up, and he can certainly do it again. The run in TNA was absolutely WONDERFUL, but a run in the WWE has much larger implications. If Matt can perfect his act for WWE, then we have only seen the very cusp of what he did in TNA and on the indie circuit. This run has all the potential to bring credibility to Matt Hardy as well as bring in more business for WWE.

Feuding with Bray

To be honest now, who else on WWE’s roster could have the supernatural prowess to illicit the awakening of this new side of Matt Hardy? I doubt there’s anyone better than Bray Wyatt to facilitate this introduction. Even though anyone involved with Bray in a feud recently has not benefited, I believe this time is different.

I think these two personalities could produce something great and elevate each other in the process. WWE desperately needs to salvage what’s left of Bray Wyatt, and a recharged Matt Hardy may be the thing to do it. Now it’s all in the booking. Do Matt and Bray end up bitter rivals, or do they end up tag team partners? Who knows.

The Verdict

Woken Matt Hardy can only do good for himself and WWE. Even if the gimmick flops, Matt will have something to do and focus on until Jeff returns. However, I believe it won’t flop. This gimmick rides the wave of cult classic films in that it has that “it’s so bad it’s good” mentality. If  Matt and WWE positions it that way, which they’ve already started to do, then there is simply no way for this to fail in the eyes of causal and hardcore fans alike. There is room for error here, but Matt Hardy has shown such creativity in the past that I believe he is ready for any WWE sized hurdles.

At the end of the day, to all those unsure of how WWE will handle this pot of gold, I only have two courses of action for you:

1. Wait
2. See