Details On What’s Really Happening With The Broken Universe Trademark

Image result for Hardy's Broken Universe

Ed Nordholm may have publicly said he’s not keeping the Broken Universe from The Hardy Brothers, but the family confirms that’s not the case — he dodged Matt Hardy‘s legal team for over a month as they attempted to come to an agreement over the trademarks.

Sources tell Pro Wrestling Sheet the Hardys hired counsel at the beginning of April with the intention of locking down the trademarks/characters and their lawyers were ignored by Anthem for weeks.

PWS was told Matt wants Impact to sign over any claim they may have to the Broken Universe because The Hardys believe they have ownership rights after creating and funding the inception of it all — long before Anthem purchased the company. In return, his entire family will agree to hold off on suing the company over a litany of alleged claims they have stemming from their time there.

PWS sources say the two sides finally met last week and it had appeared like they’d be resolving the contentious situation — but then Nordholm did an interview with Live Audio Wrestling last night saying they haven’t been in contact and nobody at WWE would even want the characters/trademarks.

PWS reached out to the Hardy Family, who verified that the facts in this story are accurate.

PWS also reached out to Nordholm, who said: “I do not think you have drawn the correct conclusion from what I said in the interview about prior contacts on this; there have been proposals back and forth on this, and WWE has advised me directly that they have no interest in this. As per the interview, we are now and always have been amenable to negotiating an arrangement with the Hardys that respects our investment in this IP.

I have no comment on the Hardy’s legal posturing. Our position is clear.”

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Impact Wrestling President On If WWE Wants ‘Broken’ Gimmick, Owning It, Issues With The Hardys

Image result for Anthem's Ed Nordholm says WWE "have no interest" in Broken Hardys | The LAW youtube

Impact Wrestling president Ed Nordholm was a guest on The LAW: Live Audio Wrestling this week to discuss Anthem’s purchase of the company last fall, the departure of Dixie Carter, the Hardy’s situation and many more topics.

A segment from the interview discussing the ongoing issues with the Hardys is in the video below. Here are some highlights from the interview:

A lot of people will want to know about the relationship with the Hardys.

“I think it’s unquestionable that the ownership of the characters in the storyline resides in Impact Wrestling. I don’t think even the Hardys would dispute that. They’ve all signed contracts. Their contracts are standard contracts. Not only in the wrestling industry, but in the entertainment industry, generally, the producer of the show owns the content and it doesn’t really matter who in the creative team came up with the idea of what the character should be. The person that owns the storyline and the character is the person who invested to take that idea and put it on TV. That’s what we did. Impact put those characters on TV, and the contracts with those people are indisputably contracts that provide their IP to Impact.”

Are you open to speaking and sitting down with the Hardys?

“Oh, of course. I was open to speaking before and I’m open now. We’ve offered many times to find an arrangement with the Hardys that would allow them to continue to use the gimmick within reasonable parameters as to what’s important to us and what would be important to them. I understand with the dynamic of their move to the WWE and drama with which they created that launch – I understand their plan to create maximum “heat” in that period from when they announced to us that they weren’t going to sign the contracts, to the date that they revealed their new location. But I kinda half-expected that once that had been achieved, the thing would die its own natural death because as far as I know, the WWE doesn’t want the gimmick, and indeed, from every conversation I’ve had with them, I’ve been told they have no interest in it.”

So they’re not actively pursuing it from you.

“Oh god, no. We’ve been in communication because there’s all this chatter about how we’re keeping it from them. [Laughs] I’m taking heat because I’m keeping something from you. If you want it, why don’t you call me? And their answer to me has been, ‘No, not interested.'”

Back in March, the Hardys appeared on a Ring of Honor event in Manhattan announcing they would be appearing on the following Friday’s pay-per-view. What had come out was that on Friday, ROH was notified a few hours before the pay-per-view to stop utilizing these characters on their broadcast.

“We had conversations with the Ring of Honor people before the Manhattan event as to what I was gonna be good with and what they were good with. I thought we had an understanding as to where the line was going to be, and they communicated to me that they understood our position and would honour it. It became apparent in the day before the pay-per-view event that whatever Ring of Honor was putting forward as to who was showing up, who was being teased, and actually who they intended to appear was going to be the [Broken Hardy] characters. We did what people who own intellectual property do. You can’t do that. We had an understanding. You’re not living by that understanding.”

How would you characterize the relationship now with Ring of Honor?

“Fine. I think the Ring of Honor people would have preferred had we not interfered with that show. I don’t think they hold any ill will toward me for doing what I did. I’ve had discussions with Joe [Koff, Ring of Honor COO] from time to time. There’s still opportunities for us to be working with Ring of Honor much in the same way we intended to do before the Hardy Brothers left. They’ve got lots of other wrestlers within their organization that would be fun to see against our wrestlers and vice-versa, I’m sure. So hopefully as the heat from all of this dies down at some point, we can start working with them in much the same way as we intend to work with AAA or NOAH or anybody else. It doesn’t have to be an international partner for us to be wanting to bring the fans opportunities to see match-ups they want to see.”

Source: WrestlingINC

‘Broken’ Hardys – Impact Wrestling Trademark Note

New trademark applications were filed on April 28th for “Brother Nero”, “Broken Brilliance” and “Broken Matt” by Impact Wrestling. It should be noted that Matt Hardy had applied for a trademark for “Broken Matt Hardy” on March 1st. A source for Impact Wrestling told PWInsider that while the trademarks are listed as being filed in April, they were actually filed back in January. It was also noted that while the Hardys and Impact are going back and forth with legal letters, there has been no lawsuit filed yet and no agreement or settlement regarding the gimmick has been made.

Source: WrestlingINC

Jeff Hardy Gets Medical Attention For Broken Tooth (Video), Matt Hardy Warns Cesaro And Sheamus

jeff hardy tooth broken video wwe payback

WWE posted this video of RAW Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy receiving medical attention for the broken tooth he suffered during last night’s Payback pay-per-view from San Jose.

– Hardy’s broken tooth came during The Hardy Boyz retaining over Sheamus and Cesaro. The post-match angle saw Sheamus and Cesaro turn heel and attack the RAW Tag Team Champions. Matt Hardy took to Twitter after the show and issued a “Broken” warning to Sheamus and Cesaro:

Update: Matt Hardy went full “Broken” on Twitter again when issuing these threats to Sheamus and Cesaro:

Source: WrestlingINC

Karl Anderson On When They Found Out About The Hardys Being At WrestleMania

Karl Anderson spoke with USA Today “For the Win” section about a number of wrestling topics.

When they found out about the Hardys at WrestleMania:

“We found out a couple of hours before we had to work. We had some kind of expectation because the rumors were flying for a couple of weeks. The day of is when we got word they were coming. We were all very happy with it.

“At the end of the day, Jeff and Matt Hardy helped make the WWE tag team division what it is. The ladder tag team matches they had at WrestleMania in the past made those matches famous. Being in there at WrestleMania with Matt and Jeff Hardy was an honor in itself. It was a great moment to be part of and I’m glad we got that.”

You can read the full interview by clicking here.

Matt Hardy Refers To Jeff As ‘Brother Nero’ At Indy Event (Video)

Image result for Hardy Boyz bring WWE Titles to IWC Wrestling

The Hardys appeared yesterday at IWC independent wrestling event in Pittsburgh, PA, as seen in the video below. The Hardys brought their WWE Tag Team Championship with them and thanked WWE for allowing them to attend. Matt Hardy did a promo using a very toned-down version of his “Broken” gimmick, and also referred to Jeff as “Brother Nero.”

Source: WrestlingINC

Matt Hardy Teases End Of ‘Broken’ Gimmick?

It appears the “Broken” gimmick for RAW Tag Team Champions The Hardys is officially done as Matt Hardy tweeted on his “CONDISHTION” being contained by the reaction they received at WrestleMania 33 on Sunday. As noted, Hardy has made brief mentions of the “Broken” gimmick on WWE TV this week. He wrote the following today:

 

Matt’s wife Reby Hardy also referred to the “Broken” gimmick being done. She wrote the following and also told a fan to tell WWE if they wanted to see the gimmick return. She wrote:

 

 

On a related note, Reby continues to take shots at Impact Wrestling and their parent company on social media. She tweeted the following last night after a “f–k that owl” chant broke out during the post-WrestleMania 33 RAW:

Source: WrestlingINC

Interesting Hardy WrestleMania Facts.

Wrestling Inc. reader Jesse Ruiz noted that with The Hardys returning to WWE and winning the RAW Tag Team Championship, Jeff Hardy earned his first ever victory at Wrestlemania. Hardy had been 0-5 at the event before Sunday.

The victory was also the The Hardy Boyz first victory as a team at Wrestlemania, and it was their first tag team match at Wrestlemania that didn’t involve the Dudleyz. It was also their first involvement in a match at Wrestlemania involving ladders (TLC and Ladder match; including Money in the Bank) that didn’t involve Edge or Christian.

– Speaking of the Hardys, the YouTube video of their return above already has more than 4 million views.

Source: WrestlingINC

The Hardys Reference ‘Broken’ Gimmick After WrestleMania 33 Win (Video)

Image result for Jeff and Matt Hardy are proud to be back home in WWE: WrestleMania 4K Exclusive, April 2, 2017

The new RAW Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz after making their return to WWE at WrestleMania 33 last night. Jeff says they are back home and he left in 2009 but to come back on such a big night and win the titles is unbelievable. Jeff is proud of himself, his brother, their families and proud to be home. Matt says he can’t explain how wonderful it is to return to their home on the biggest WrestleMania in history, for the biggest company in history. While The Hardys are not using their most recent gimmicks, Matt keeps making references to his “Broken” character and says the best part of the evening was that they “deleted!” the reign of The Club.

Source: WrestlingINC