Matt Hardy hopes people can see that The Briscoes and nZo and Cass have changed their respective lives for the better.
The latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy saw Matt and co-host Jon Alba reviewing some of the bigger stories of the week. One such headline was the tremendous response to FTR vs. The Briscoes at ROH Supercard Of Honor, and Hardy not only took time to praise the match itself, but followed up and said that he hopes people can also see that the Briscoes, namely Jay, has changed for the better.
“They really are great [FTR], I love how they incorporate old school aspects into a new school game, and The Briscoes are one of my favorite tag teams of all time. I want nothing but the best for those guys, I love both Jay and Mark, they’re both great guys. I know there’s a lot of people out there that are judgmental on them from stuff like 10, 12 years ago but I just feel like one thing in society that we have to learn how to do is forgive people when they legitimately change. There’s a lot of people, if they hadn’t forgiven me when I went through my tough period, my turbulent time, and hadn’t forgiven me, I wouldn’t be who I am now. So, I want just put this out now publicly, I would like people to embrace The Briscoes, especially Jay,” Hardy explained, “he’s not represented by that one tweet that stands out, he’s a much wiser, older, more mature person and I really want the best for those guys.”
The Briscoes were released by ROH in December, and a recent report said that the team was not expected in AEW any time soon, a decision that was said to be linked to Jay’s past homophobic Tweets. Jay has apologized for the remarks he made in 2013 several times, including in March when he told the Battleground Podcast that the incident came from immaturity and did not reflect who he was today.
Read More: Jay Briscoe Apologizes For Past Homophobic Remarks, Says The Briscoes ‘Love Everybody’
Hardy also spoke about nZo and Big Cass getting another chance, hoping that fans would also see the duo have also changed for the better. Hardy was reflecting on the WrestleMania 33 four-way match that also included nZo and Cass, and said that he was proud of the men they’d become since then.
“I wanna say this about nZo and Cass, I’m so proud of them, I just worked with them recently, in Northeast Wrestling. I feel like…it’s very hard, it happens to most people in the industry, especially in WWE…especially if you start in WWE, right from the jump. You almost see the lights too much, you almost buy into your own hype too much because that’s what they push, they push their athletes to believe they’re Superstars, you’re not a WWE wrestler, you’re a WWE Superstar. You have first-class service on everything, they drive you around in limos and they do it right, ya know? They do it big. I feel like they got a little caught up in the moment when they first got there, especially Cass and nZo,” Hardy explained, “but they’re both in such a good place now and sometimes leaving WWE and losing that superstardom and that feeling of being a superstar and coming back down to reality is sometimes what they need to say, ‘hold up’. Balance is what you need to be a pro wrestler and to be larger than life but you also have to be what your ‘shoot’ government name is, you gotta be them too and if you don’t have that balance, things are gonna go bad.
“So, nZo told us later, he grew up a huge Hardy Boyz fan, he said the only time he’s ever watched back the entrance of that match, is when I posted it before our match in NorthEast Wrestling just a few weeks back. He said that he was just so excited to be in the moment and he thanked me for allowing him to be a part of that moment, he and Cass were excited and they were so happy to be in that much,” Hardy explained. “I really hope nZo and Cass both get another shot to do it on the highest level because they’re both in really good places and they’re both deserving of another shot, right now.”
Big Cass has been a regular in IMPACT Wrestling under the name “W. Morrissey”, while nZo has been working the independent scene. The Briscoes recently appeared at the ROH and IMPACT Wrestling events in Dallas, and will be working an upcoming taping with the latter.
Read More: The Briscoes Advertised For Upcoming IMPACT TV Tapings
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