It was announced by PWInsider earlier in the day that GFW’s attempts to trademark the “Broken” gimmick that Matt Hardy used last year were denied by the United States Trademark and Patent Office. Prior to this new development, Reby Hardy did an interview with The Sheet Podcast and discussed some of the negotiations that took place recently with Anthem president Ed Nordholm. She claimed that the reason for the recent deal not being signed was due to the following: “They just kept dodging it, kept dodging it, kept pushing things. And then it got back to us that Jeff Jarrett had said, my favorite person Jeff Jarrett, ‘Well yeah, just keep dragging it out. They’ll get tired of spending money.’ Really? Because I might get tired of it, but it’s not going to stop, I’ll tell you that.” Before adding, “It’s never even been about money, it’s more about the principle of things. And I think on their end it’s more about ego. And for me personally, I don’t know about Matt, it’s more about doing the right thing really.”
Also, you may remember Ed Nordholm claiming in an interview with Sports Illustrated that Matt Hardy reportedly asked for an extra $100,000 dollars when his contract came up for expiration earlier this year. This is a story that both Reby and Matt Hardy have denied. Reby also stated on the podcast, “That was absolutely not what was said, and my favorite part is that we have it on record. Over and over and over, Matt going over things with Ed Nordholm saying that he’s willing to work things out with him, saying the actual amount that they were negotiating in order for him to resign. So just the fact that he has this nerve to tell Sports Illustrated, ‘Oh yeah, he’s holding me up for money.’ He’s not holding anybody up for money. What would he be holding up anyway? It’s his contract. It’s a matter a resigning, he’s not holding up anybody.”
As far as the story regarding Matt holding up Nordholm for extra cash, it appears that multiple pro wrestling sources have been debunking his claim. PWInsider claims that they have spoken with sources close to the Hardy family about the issue. Their side of the story is that Matt warned Nordholm that he was willing to explore offers from WWE since the company took too long to offer him a new Impact contract in February. Nordholm then confessed that they wouldn’t be able to match a WWE offer, but according to those sources, there was no “If you give me X, I will stay” type of scenario. PWInsider also states that the Hardys seem to be preparing a lawsuit against Anthem.