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Anthem Media/Global Force Wrestling's Ed Nordholm, despite previously stating there would be no further public comment on the "Broken Hardys" gimmick ownership, agreed to an interview with Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso this afternoon about the situation. It's a very good interview with Barrasso asking some very pointed questions that you can read by clicking here, and I think that if you are interested in the situation, you should.
On why the company remains steadfast that they, not the Hardys, have 100% claim to ownership. Nordholm explained, "Because Matt Hardy, his brother [Jeff Hardy], and his wife [Reby Hardy] have all signed contracts that sign over all rights to the IP. That is the fundamental term of every term for every wrestler on our show, that’s a fundamental term for every wrestler with WWE, and that is the same contract that Ring of Honor has. It’s not really up for debate."
Nordholm also painted Matt Hardy as being dishonest with the public about the situation, when asked about whether he was concerned about his previous release of a clause from Hardy's Impact contract coming back to bite GFW legally, stating, "It’s relatively immaterial, especially in the context of the world in which Matt and his wife are creating all this noise about his contractual rights in the absence of any contractual rights to the IPs. I think he’s started a world in which he is prepared to tell falsehoods about the status of his contract. If we do go to court, his contract will be produced in discovery, and it will be public–all of it, and not just the clauses that are relevant. I don’t think there is any issue around confidentiality."
When asked whether the Hardy family personally investing into some well received segments, including all of the Final Deletion-related material, gave them a claim to ownership, as Matt Hardy alluded to earlier this week, Nordholm commented, "No. The company spent millions of dollars producing television last year, including all of the shows that incorporate the various aspects of the “Broken Brilliance.” I don’t know whether Jeff and Matt had some out-of-pocket expenses that they might have had on the volcano and the like, but that would not change, in any way, shape, or form, what their contracts say about who owns the IP. If they had some out-of-pocket expenses, they certainly never brought them to my attention. To suggest that they somehow funded the show is absurd."
It is also interesting to note that when askede that "given the recent negative publicity towards GFW/Impact" including Alberto el Patron's suspension, whether the company would be "best served" by coming to terms with the Hardys over the intellectual property, to which Nordholm responded, "No. I don’t see how they’re related at all."
On a potential legal battle, Nordholm said that he doesn't have to go to court to fight for the ownership because "we own it" but commented that if Matt Hardy chooses to sue GFW, "I guess we’ll defend ourselves, but I don’t intend to take any particular proceedings. I know I own it. I’ve got a contract that says I own it. I don’t have to go to court to fight for it."
Nordholm categorized himself as "having stopped thinking about" the Hardy gimmick as they have to move forward as a company and that they have things on "our plate more important" than the situation. He claimed that he tried to work with the Hardys "as a goodwill gesture" and it didn't work out and he will not revisit those conversations. He did acknowledge there were settlement talks several weeks back, as we reported on PWInsider.com at the time, noting, "What prevented it from completion is that we’ve never come to terms. I have made numerous efforts, going back to February and the time of the cease and desist letter [to Ring of Honor for advertising the “Broken” Hardys for their 15th Anniversary pay per view] to make an arrangement with Matt Hardy to use the gimmick. Every time we have those conversations, they sort of start warm then end up not coming to fruition due to an inability to come to an agreement as to what basis I would confer those rates on him."
Nordholm also stated that they had a deal on the table with Matt Hardy that Hardy had for some time, but four days before he was scheduled to work a TV taping, Hardy responded that he needed an additional $100,000 or else he was going to look at what his options were elsewhere. Nordholm explained that," The reality is I couldn’t afford to go another $100,000 at that particular time, and I had to say no. I have no misapprehension; if WWE wants to take a guy away from me, I can’t really compete. I thought I had a deal with Matt, I reached as hard as I could. The part of the story that says we offered Jeff a big deal and Matt a little deal is utter bullsh--. We brought Matt and Jeff almost equal to each other, and offered them a full, all-in contract at a multiple of what he had been making under his old contract. He was there, as far as I knew, right up to the three or four days before he decided not to stay and he tried to get an extra $100,000. I don’t think that makes him look bad; I think that makes him look like a guy who, at his age, has to do the best for his family as he can. But I couldn’t afford another $100,000."
You can read the entire interview at this link.
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