In a recent episode of his podcast, ‘The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy,” former WWE and AEW star Matt Hardy offered insights about the operations of a WWE Draft. Specifically, he shed light on the secrecy surrounding draft developments and the challenges talent face when relocating between brands.
Here are some major takeaways from the podcast:
Matt Hardy on WWE keeping talent uninformed about events such as the Draft:
“In the later years, definitely. The first instance I recall the WWE effectively employing secrecy was during Taboo Tuesdays or Cyber Sundays. I can’t remember exactly which one, but it was a tag team match. My partner would be chosen based on votes and the chosen duo would face off against Edge and Snitsky. In fact, it ended up being me and Ray. However, we weren’t informed of this until 10 minutes before the match.”
On the challenges talent face when switching:
“It significantly alters your schedule and people are often unsettled by this. I remember when I was unexpectedly drafted to ECW as the US champion – my reaction was completely authentic. They managed to keep us unaware and sought to capture our natural reactions. While this is interesting, the negative aspect is that schedule changes can be difficult, especially for those with families. They need to rearrange their plans. However, if people can anticipate this and accept it, I am alright with it.
“But for those living the bachelor lifestyle, like I was at the time, just going with the flow… I frequently tell people, ‘I didn’t watch TV, or do anything else.’During my tenure with WWE from 1998 to 2010, it was all hustle. I missed lots of great TV shows, of course, watched them later, but my life was just about wrestling. I was a bachelor, living my life and wrestling. The only thing real was the money and the miles. That pretty much summarizes my mindset at the time. So if you’re one of those guys, bring it on. The schedule you’re on, you’re on. But, yes, the Draft was pretty serious. The WWE has always managed it rather discreetly.”
You can watch more of the discussion in the video below: