Impact President Claims He Hasn’t Avoided Lawyers, Shows Proof, Hardyz Respond

 

Nothing seems to ever go amicably between Impact Wrestling and The Hardyz as the latest influx of news confirms.

Pro Wrestling Sheet today confirmed via their website that Impact Wrestling president Ed Nordholm contacted them and sent them a lengthy email about the Hardyz and explains he hasn’t avoided any lawyers.

The Internet has gone wild with speculation about the case between Impact Wrestling and Hardyz, with many accusations or developments continuing to keep the case in the public eye. Up until recently, Impact appeared only to respond quietly to the issues at hand, until now. Nordholm finally contacted Pro Wrestling Sheet to get the word out and defend the company.

“In response to on-going speculation concerning our position with respect to the “Broken Brilliance” creative, I am providing this detailed log of our communications on the subject and the contractual structure of our relationship with Matt Hardy with respect to intellectual property matters (which is standard to our roster and in the industry).”

He would continue to explain that there is no debate that Hardyz helped create the characters and storyline but argues there was much more to it than what Hardyz have made it out to seem like.

“There has never been any argument from Impact Wrestling that the Hardy’s were key contributors to the development of the characters and story line, or that Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy executed on their roles in spectacular fashion. But the position taken by the Hardys is a massive disservice to the contributions of the rest of the creative team at Impact Wrestling, including Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagana, Matt Conway and Billy Corgan, and is totally at odds with the terms of their contracts.”

Nordholm would than send a log-line containing information on all contact he has had with Matt and his lawyers. They are as follows:

• March 10 – EBN speaks with executives at ROH about “Broken Brilliance” being used in ROH shows. I indicated willingness to provide an arrangement that would allow the creative to be used in ROH shows and encouraged ROH to have Matt speak with me if he wanted to pursue that discussion
• March 11 – EBN spoke at length with Matt by telephone about the structure of an amicable arrangement for use of the Broken Brilliance creative
• March 14 – Matt sent text message to Ed Nordholm at 4:05pm:

“Tried giving you a call, it rang & went busy. I’m open to working things out amicably as we spoke about. The lawyer who represent me is interested in seeing your offer. My lawyer’s email is {redacted} which you could send the offer to for review. Thanks.”

And I responded by text at 6:41 pm

“Thank you Matt. I was supposed to be [flying] into NYC today and am a little twisted. I will pull something together with [our] lawyers and try to get it over to your lawyer tomorrow or Thursday at latest“

• March 16 – At 8:25 pm I sent an update text to Matt:

“Hi Matt. My lawyer got me a draft too late to get reviewed for today. I will look at it in the morning. Sorry for the delay”

And he responded at 9:16 pm

“Ok, he’s ready for it. Thanks for the update.”

• March 17 – counsel for Anthem Wrestling delivered draft proposal to counsel for Matt Hardy
• March 24 – counsel for Anthem Wresting followed up with Matt Hardy counsel requesting comments on the proposal
• March 27 – counsel for Matt Hardy responds that they have been away and have not reviewed the proposal but will be back “in the next few days”.

It is at this point where Hardyz are said to have hired legal counsel. They claim they contacted Anthem’s lawyers but didn’t hear back for weeks. Nordholm says that this is incorrect and the Hardyz legal team didn’t contact him until April 18.

• April 18 – counsel for Matt Hardy leaves a voice mail message for counsel for Anthem Wrestling asking to arrange a meeting
• April 20 – EBN contacts WWE by email to determine veracity of internet rumours concerning WWE interest in Broken Brilliance
• April 21 — WWE respond by email that there “is no interest on our end” {redacted email exchange attached}
• April 21 – counsel for Matt Hardy sends a follow up message requesting a meeting
• April 27 – lawyers speak to arrange a meeting
• May 16 – lawyers meet but no agreement reached.

Nordholm also released information on Matt’s contract which pertains to intellectual property and a letter exchange with a WWE employee that we previously covered, as WWE does want the broken gimmick but does not want to be involved. You can view the contract here.

Reby Sky, the wife of Matt Hardy would take to Twitter to clarify the situation in her terms, and explain her thoughts on what Nordholm has said.

YALL ARE A JOKE & in that aspect alone, YOU ALREADY LOST. But we can – and will – make the L official, my dude.@EdNordholm #NoCredEd

— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 23, 2017

Long story short: TNA tried a literal sales pitch on WWE re: #BROKEN gimmick (which isn't legally theirs) & they said "LOLZ yeah no, thanks"

— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 23, 2017

Anthem mad because WWE didn't fall for their offensive money grab. That type of "business" is right on par with @RealJeffJarrett gold scam

— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 24, 2017

I just think it's cute that TNA feels the need to "prove" themselves to randoms on the internet. Know why we don't bother ?

— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 24, 2017

Because it's ALLLLLL coming out in court, honey. From the attorneys we hired back in MARCH. Where are those "logs" ? ??

— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 24, 2017

Oh. And you might want to try spamming dirtsheets with the ACTUAL final version of that contract if you're going to break confidentiality ??

— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 24, 2017

But hey, that's cool. Something else we'll add to the list of offenses. Thanks ! ?

— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 24, 2017

Should we release the phonecalls ? I kinda wanna release the phonecalls now… since we playin petty, apparently.

— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 24, 2017

This would ultimately lead to Matt Hardy responding to clarify his family’s response.

I tell the truth & I don't need to desperately overcompensate to prove my public credibility. My facts will be shared via the correct venue.

— The UNKILLABLE Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) May 24, 2017

The Hardyz are scheduled to face Sheamus & Cesaro in a Steel Cage match at WWE “Extreme Rules” on Sunday June 4. If any more information does come out on The Hardyz and Impact Wrestling, Wrestling Rumors will keep you updated.

Choose the Stipulation Match - Matt Hardy vs. Sheamus: Raw, May 22, 2017

Editor’s Note:

This is a massive story that doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. I can’t wait for it to finally come to a decision and we know if the ‘broken’ gimmick can and will be used in WWE. I don’t wish ill on Impact Wrestling, as I’ve found much of their content enjoyable. That said, I do want to see how a ‘Broken’ Matt and ‘Brother Nero’ work in WWE.

Which side are you on? Who do you believe? Sound off in the comments or on our Facebook page or Twitter account. You can also follow me over on Twitter at @SOSNH1995 if you’d like to talk more.