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THROW IN THE TOWEL: IT IS TIME FOR EVERYONE TO GIVE UP THE 'BROKEN' BATTLE

By Mike Johnson on 2017-07-31 09:53:00

B-R-O-K-E-N.

Six letters.

Impact Wrestling and The Hardys are fighting over those six letters.

It's being going on for months.

Enough is enough.   It's time to call a cease-fire.

Since Matt and Jeff Hardy have departed Impact Wrestling at the onset of 2017, the back and forth battle over the "Broken Brilliance" and all related material has been one long battle of attrition online, using trademark filings, emails, Tweets, leaked contract clauses and interviews to fight back and forth over the rights to a gimmick that quite frankly, no one needs to be fighting over. 

Speaking for the world at large, we get it.  We really get it.   We may not agree who is right, but we get it.

We get that Matt Hardy created the material, bouncing it off others and Impact utilized it.  We get that Impact produced it on their television show and it became the hottest thing on that show.  We get that at the time, Matt and his family were able to take that momentum and make a good amount of money off merchandise and independent bookings, in part because Impact was completely inept and unable to produce their own live shows and lost that opportunity at the time.  We get that Matt intended on taking on a larger role in Impact going forward, including creative and agenting roles, but then the company was sold to Anthem Media.

Under Anthem, Jeff Jarrett was returned to power and the company.  As is the norm when a new studio head takes over a movie studio, one thing is guaranteed to happen.  Everything from before that can be stopped, is stopped - after all, the new head can't take credit for what came before but he can sure as hell take the blame for what now fails. 

Under Jarrett's watch, a new creative team was installed and plans for Hardy to take a greater role were stifled.  Impact attempted to sign Matt and Jeff Hardy, but the contracts took too long to arrive (and to be fair, Anthem was setting up a new company, so we have to give them at least a minor pass here) and in the end, the Hardys walked, seeking to see what WWE would offer them on the free market, as did Drew McIntyre.  It didn't matter that the Hardys were being offered a great sum of money by Anthem - in the end, their Spidey-sense went off and they sought to ply their trade elsewhere.

One can't blame the Hardys for that.  Whether you love the WWE product or not, everyone knows that's the place where you can make the most money as a performer.  So, the Hardys played super kayfabe with everyone, which was easy given their characters, and poof!  Instant Wrestlemania return.  Off they go to the races, except, Impact says they own the "Broken" gimmick...which is what has led us to where we are today.

As I have written ALL along, the proof of who owns what, where, why and how they murdered Professor Plum in the library is all contained in the language of the Hardy family contracts.  Legally, that's where it will all be decided, but that hasn't stopped Anthem from leaking portions of Matt's contract, Reby Hardy from going on the attack (and let the record show, if that woman is ever attacking me, I am leaving town), Jeff Jarrett giving explanations as to why Anthem owns the gimmick, etc.

As someone who covers professional wrestling, certainly the back and forth is good for business, but as someone who loves professional wrestling, I am so tired of the entire thing.   

I actually feel bad for Ed Nordholm as he inherited this entire mess because Dixie Carter allowed it to fester.  Had it not been for the circumstances Carter allowed due to Impact's own financial instability under her ownership, none of this would have happened.  Had Carter not gotten the company to that state, Matt and Jeff Hardy never would have needed to step in with their own money to finance the segments that got people talking and paying attention - and even if you hated the entire "Broken Brilliance" deal, it got people talking in a positive light about Impact, when most of the talk among die-hard fans prior to that was centered around when it was finally going to die.  If anyone is to blame for this mess, it's Dixie Carter.

But, Dixie Carter is no longer involved and the responsibility for this now falls on Nordholm's shoulders.  No matter who else is in charge of other aspects of the company, the final responsibility comes to Nordholm, so he has to take some blame in how all of this has transpired. 

The reality is none of the back and forth has placed Impact in a position where they look like babyfaces, which is something that company desperately needs.  They need something to spark some momentum as months under Anthem's ownership, the one place they can truly point to that has grown is digital media.    Impact used to be the underdog company that provided something different from WWE but that was a long time ago.  Now, there are fans who just see them as bullying the one act that helped carry them across the finish line to the point Anthem saved the company.  

There has not been one interview, anywhere, that had led to a sizable changing of the viewpoint that Anthem is being unfair to the Hardys.   With every comment he gives publicly, Nordholm comes off more and more like former WCW exec Jim Herd, which isn't a positive, especially when you factor in Anthem went after someone who worked for free and was never paid by their company (such as Senor Benjamin).  There's no excuse for that, at all.

That's not to say the blame doesn't fall on Matt and Jeff Hardy as well.  They are the babyfaces in this situation to the fans, but it's not Ed Nordholm's fault that they decided to finance the shoots and unless they billed Impact for it and were never paid (which is certainly possible), how would Nordholm know and from a corporate standpoint, why should he care?  From the bottom line perspective, that was before his time and before Anthem bought the company, so in actuality, it's outside of his sphere of responsibility - and anyone who has ever dealt with a corporation knows, they aren't going to give an inch unless they have to legally. 

As I noted before, it falls down to the letter of the contract, so if the Hardys didn't protect that intellectual property in the contracts (or trademark the names themselves, like Bully Ray did and current Impact star Tyrus is currently doing), in court, their arguments will fall apart - if it ever gets to court, that is.

The crux of this entire matter, when you want to stop spinning, is this - the Hardys were in a position of power with the company.   Jeff Jarrett's return mitigated that power and in the midst of the Anthem takeover, the Hardys' contracts didn't come in time.  They saw the chance to make bigger money and potentially maintain the creative happiness they had under the previous Impact regime and got out of dodge.  That was their choice, just as it was Anthem's choice to back Jeff Jarrett.

There are some who have painted the picture that all of this is Jeff Jarrett's fault.  He came in, things changed, the Hardys left and now he's manipulating Nordholm into preventing the Hardys from taking the gimmick with them because he's mad he lost Jeff Hardy, who Jarrett saw as a top babyface.  That's how the conspiracy theory goes and perhaps there is merit to it.  I can't tell you 100%.  Only Jeff Jarrett can, and he's not going to comment on that. 

What Jarrett has commented on is his theory about how different writers and producers can work on a song and they receive a portion of the credit and the money that goes with that success, not just the performers.  He is applying that theory to "The Broken Brilliance" material.  It's a sound theory for the music industry but unless Impact intends to pay royalties to Vince Russo, Dave Lagana, Matt Conway, Jeremy Borash, etc. every time their old material is monetized by Anthem Media, it's not something that is actually, well, in practice, which well, dilutes the entire argument. 

Pro wrestling has never worked that way and it never well, for the same reasons we don't see credits at the end of anything but Lucha Underground - it's pro wrestling, not a traditionally produced television or film entity.  There are shades of gray that dont exist in any other entertainment form.

 I do think the idea that Jarrett is the one manipulating Ed Nordholm to be laughable.  If Jarrett is pulling the strings of the executive who is over his head - and has a legal background to boot - it's time for old Double J to just run for President of the United States, because that would be some political magic weaving right there.  I know Jarrett comes from an old school carny wrestling family, but seriously, not even his magiks are that grand.  If they were and if there is any truth to that, Anthem should replace Nordholm (and hell, probably Jarrett too) immediately, but again, I am not buying that Nordholm isn't responsible for his own decisions in this matter.

The bottom line right now is that on July 30th, 2017, Anthem has been spending money to attempt to trademark and patent gimmicks for talents who are gone from the company, but have yet to spend money to trademark any talents that have debuted for them since Anthem took ownership.  Why? 

They have been fighting over a gimmick that is so important to them they have done nothing to monetize it - not even producing the DVDs for Final Deletion, etc. that had been announced as coming out last year.  Even with Jeremy Borash, the lynchpin of the entire "Broken Universe" from a production standpoint still employed, they haven't attempted even that - which to some, does give credence to the theory that it's more sour grapes than a protection of IP. 

After all, Impact was promoting a "Best of AJ Styles" DVD to play off of his WWE fame (as they have ever right to do) but not the Hardys, who were certainly a hot act when they left?

Of course, the longer this gets dragged out, the more momentum has been lost by the Hardys as well.  They are made men before WWE fans and always will be.  Their return was a big deal for the brothers, especially given the circumstances of Matt's exit years ago and they should be proud of that.  Of course, they were also likely looking at the potential pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that would have come with WWE merchandising the Broken gimmick.  I can't blame them one bit on that, but the longer the delay, the more potential money lost.

At the end of all of this, everyone involved is running in circles and if we watching are tired of it, they have to be exhausted.  It's obvious no one wants to blink.  I respect that.  It's obvious the Hardys see this as Impact being unfair (and a court of law may soon agree) and I get that.  Anthem wants to protect what they believe is their IP.  I can get that.  So, everyone, either get in a room and figure this out or stop.  It's that simple.

Why is it that simple?  This coming Monday, Matt and Jeff Hardy can walk out on Raw and be as "Broken" as they want, without utilizing the name.  They can be Demented.  They can be Deleted.  They can be Twisted.  They can be Obsolete.  They can be Enigmas.  Hell, they can be the new, new Double Js if WWE wants!  The Hardys can be anything or nothing they want to be described at without utilizing the Broken name and still do all the hallmarks of the characters.  Just a quick reminder: if they ever do, there's not a thing Impact can do about it.  

Does anyone really think Anthem would dare sue WWE if the Demented Hardys decreed Cesaro and Sheamus were going to be "rendered obsolete?"  Of course not.  

Anthem can't sue for the same reason Matt Hardy can't sue them for using the "Broken Brilliance" style production techniques and silliness at the last Slammiversary PPV when Jeremy Borash and Joseph Park battled Scott Steiner and Josh Mathews - because it's pro wrestling, and unlike music or TV or film, as I said, there are lot of shades of gray. 

In the past, those shades of gray allowed The Dudleys to be Team 3D and keep breaking tables in Impact Wrestling.  They allowed AJ Styles to still be the AJ Styles he was in Impact now that he's in WWE.     It's allowed endless talents to walk from company to company and maintain their personas. 

2017 is no different from 1996, when Scott Hall and Kevin Nash walked out of WWF and into WCW doing their old WWF characters, only under their real names.  The Hardys can be any "Hardys" they want, and hell, Jeff can even be Nero, since it's his middle name.  It's all shades of gray and the Hardys have every right to utilize them, just as Impact has every right to try and keep the "Broken" name with their company.

If the word "Broken" is all that Impact has a claim to, Matt and Jeff Hardy should let them have it.  With the WWE juggernaut behind them, they can do whatever they want and make their money - and Impact will have nothing to show for it.  That's just the truth.

WWE had no issues creating the "Balor Club" for merchandizing to play off New Japan's Bullet Club, so they could certainly could do something similar for the Hardys - if and when they want to do so - and does anyone think Anthem wants to chance a legal showdown with Jerry McDevitt?  I don't either.

It's time for everyone involved to stop their sniping online and to go back to creating their own brands and characters.   We can respect you have stood up for what you believe in and in the case of the Hardys, why they feel they were wronged, but the results of all of this fighting is just going to lead to more spending and in the end, only the lawyers are getting their arms raised in victory.  

The Hardys have lost enough momentum and it's time for them to try and regain lost ground.  Impact has lost enough goodwill with portions of the audience - goodwill they desperately needed following the Dixie Carter regime, but this situation has overshadowed any positives the company has created in recent months.

It's time for all involved to declare a draw, go back to their corners and going back to handling their business. 

They all had the chance to bloody each other but now, months later, it's time they all throw in the towel - all involved are losing nothing but time and money otherwise, no matter who ends up owning those six letters.   

Go spend your money on yourselves, and move on to focusing on entertaining your audience.   

Until you do, none of this will do any of you - or your audience - any good.

Mike Johnson can be reached at MikeJohnsonPWInsider@gmail.com.   Yes, he knows its GFW now.

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