During a recent appearance on the “Down for the Count” podcast, AEW Superstar Matt Hardy commented on working as a babyface vs. heel and what he prefers, the biggest differences in how WWE utilizes veterans, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On whether he prefers being a babyface or heel: “With the current audience, especially during the pandemic era, the majority of the feedback we could get from fans was across social media. It was more of the diehard fans. With those fans, I prefer being a heel just because I’m at a place in my career where physically, I try to minimize and work smarter and really streamline the things I do in the ring. AEW is filled with such an incredible roster, and most of them are young and can do all these amazing things. Being an older guy, I’m more about telling a story than displaying a ton of really exciting, high-flying moves. I think that puts me in a better category as a heel. So I prefer to be a heel and do that kind of work and also brag about my legacy. It’s very easy as a heel to tap into my some of my real life experiences and real life history and also my accomplishments of the past and brag about how great I am and how I’m still able to go almost 30 years into this run.”
On what other wrestling promotions can learn from AEW: “Tony Khan is very smart and very savvy in understanding how to utilize talent and get the most out of them. You see in WWE often, they take a guy who is established and coming towards the end of their career and they just use them to put over guys or have the younger guys beat them up and they hurt the equity or the value of that star. Tony, on the other hand, understands how to place that star in a position where he can still maintain his strength and help younger acts get over by defeating them, but they are still kept strong by still looking like an act that is adequate and powerful and dangerous and can knock anyone off at any time. That’s the key to it. When you look at AEW, one of the biggest lessons any promotion can learn is how to utilize guys who have name value that maybe are getting towards the end of their career and still keep them relevant and keep equity in them along with helping to build up young talent and the future of your promotion.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
