Matt Hardy discusses the collective success of his storyline with The Firm.
Hardy and Private Party have been involved in a program with Ethan Page and Stokely Hathaway for the past few months. The Firm acquired the Hardy Party’s contracts, which led to Page and Hathaway mistreating the trio (from a storyline perspective). Despite this tension, Hardy and Page have gradually come together and formed an entertaining friendship in an engaging storyline that has played out on AEW Dark and Dark: Elevation. The program has garnered such a positive reception that it has become a recurring part of AEW TV.
Speaking on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, the veteran shared his thoughts on the way the group, and the storyline as a whole, has thrived. He emphasized that he enjoys working with Page and his other stablemates, and they’re constantly bouncing ideas off of each other. Hardy also called the stable a grassroots act, as they weren’t promised anything when it first started.
“When you work with people that you really enjoy being around and working with, you want to share ideas,” Hardy said. “We have this group chat that we’re constantly popping ideas in and this, that, and stuff is coming from all sides, and everybody takes that and we kind of forge it into what is the best package, and then we try to move forward with it. I feel like we’ve been a very grassroots act. We weren’t given anything, they weren’t dating, ‘Okay, we’re gonna give you this big opportunity to get on TV and do this, do whatever.’
Hardy then revealed that The Elite (Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks) wanted to work with them again after their trios match on the February 3 episode of AEW Rampage. He made it clear that he’s proud of the group’s success, as they made something out of nothing.
“After we worked with The Elite, there was a point where they wanted to work with us again because they had a couple ideas for some other stuff too,” Hardy said. “They wanted to work with us again because they really liked what we did in that match. Nick just said like the story that you guys have all together, the interaction, is so good, it’s great, which is a huge compliment.
“We were like this melting pot of misfit toys. We came together, and then we made something out of nothing, and now it’s something that is on TV, and it’s a story that people are emotionally invested in, and I take a lot of pride in that.”
Page was a guest on the show, and he described how The Firm has evolved, as the group had to deviate from the original plans. He noted that being featured on AEW Dark and Dark: Elevation gave them more freedom, and their segments started coming off more natural. Page also stated that they got to know each other better, so their chemistry improved as well.
“I don’t think that what the current iteration of The Firm is was the vision originally,” Page said. “I think there was an incident that changed things for that too. But I’m of the same thought process as Matt that you’ve gotta make the most of whatever you’re given, and kind of the direction of everything started changing, which is where we started leaning more into heavily telling a story, and maybe even a little bit of comedy, or entertainment.
“Then when we started getting our hands on everything that was airing on the YouTube shows, it gave us a big creative freedom, and there was no time restraints, so we could let things breathe and be more in the moment and less confined by a time or an editor. It came off a lot more natural. Also, we kind of got to know each other as performers and our cadence and our delivery, so if you watch them in order leading up to where we are now, our timing is so incredible, our chemistry is ten times better than it was when we first started. I would say we’re comfortable. I think that’s why everything is clicking and vibing.”
Hardy will face “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry on the March 29 episode of AEW Dynamite. WrestleZone will have coverage of the show as it airs.
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