Dwayne Johnson has captured the attention of the wrestling world with his surprise comeback. Collapse, and while we wait to see what’s next for his future, there’s never a bad time for someone to celebrate important moments from the past. AEW’s Matt Hardy recently went on his podcast to discuss the influence of “The Great One” on the early days of his career and brother Jeff Hardy in WWE.
On my podcast The Extreme Life of Matt HardyThe legendary tag team wrestler is known for sharing funny and insightful anecdotes about his past, and he recently dedicated an episode to former fellow superstar The Rock. As WWE fans wonder if Dwayne Johnson will return to wrestling part-time for WrestleMania 40, Hardy spoke about his early days as an extra in WWE alongside his brother Jeff and how Johnson helped them rise before than they turned into “. well known.” According to him:
(WWE) saw us every few weeks, every couple of months, when we were trying to find work, trying to find work ourselves, but he was always so sweet. I’ll never forget… there was a time when we were driving to State College, and I remember we were driving and we didn’t know where the building was, and we pulled up to a traffic light and there he was. Like, “Hey, what’s going on, Hardis, how are you?”… He said, “Follow me, I know where I’m going, I’ve been here before.” We followed him and he came up and said, “Yeah, the guys behind me, they’re booked here too.” They are here to fight.” Sometimes it was hard for us to get in because we weren’t household names… and we were like, man, what a cool dude.
It’s hard to imagine today, but there was a point in the last 30 years of professional wrestling when Jeff and Matt Hardy were “nobodies” in the business. Luckily, they had someone like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the business to watch their back and ensure they could skate and do shows without fear of security trouble. And even if he wasn’t yet at the height of his fame, Johnson’s family and wrestling legacy were undoubtedly great assets to him and those he cared about.
At the end of the day, The Hardy Boyz are legends in their own right, and while I don’t think anyone would put them in the same territory as a heavyweight like The Rock, they are definitely recognized by the majority of fans who follow wrestling today. However, Matt Hardy is currently with AEW, so I wouldn’t expect to see him at any upcoming WWE events to support Dwayne Johnson for his good death that day.
Matt Hardy may not be appearing in WWE again anytime soon, but he shares a lot of great stories about the organization on his podcast. The superstar recently released an episode in which he recalled his experiences with the company during the 9/11 attacks, as well as Vince McMahon’s decision to hold one of the first televised mass meetings following the attacks.
As mentioned, Dwayne Johnson hinted that he would be available at WrestleMania 40, but also recently explained that he was all but locked out of WrestleMania 39 before he had to pull out. He was stunned by the response to his Collapse will return, but who knows if his schedule will be expanded with the possible end of the SAG-AFTRA strike in the coming months and the announcement of new films with Johnson.
Obviously, the wrestling world is excited about the possibility of Dwayne Johnson returning to WWE, but we’ll just have to keep watching. Collapse on Fridays on Fox at 8:00 pm ET to see if he will appear again in the near future and to confirm his WrestleMania 40 appearance.