Matt Hardy on AEW drama leading to All Out brawl: The Elite ‘were the victims’ (UPDATED)

This post has been updated after Matt Hardy tweeted that when he said “I was there, I witnessed it all,” he did not mean the brawl that happened after the All Out media scrum. His tweet follows the original post.

We still haven’t heard directly from CM Punk, Kenny Omega, Matt & Nick Jackson or Tony Khan on the post-All Out happenings which led to titles being vacates, people being suspended or let go, and a whole lot of opinions flying around here on Al Gore’s internet.

But as predicted, lips are loosening in and around AEW about the media scrum and the fight that followed Punk’s remarks about The Elite & friends there. Next up... Matt Hardy.

Hardy’s remarks were made on the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, when his co-host Jon Alba brought up Omega & The Bucks being backstage at recent AEW events and having their returns teased on Dynamite:

“It’s going to be very interesting to see The Elite back — the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, and I’m very happy they are back. I will say this right here and right now, those guys didn’t do anything wrong in this situation. If anything, they were the victims. I’m telling you that from a first person perspective. I was there, I witnessed it all.

“And I love all three of those guys. I’ve known Matt and Nick forever. I’ve just gotten to know Kenny while I’ve worked with AEW. But I am very happy they are returning to TV and they’re back in the mix — they deserve to be in the mix.”

Some will discount or dismiss Hardy’s perspective due to his long relationship with The Bucks. But for those who take him at his word, his account does line up with a lot of what we’ve been hearing — including the perception that Punk may have had something to do with Colt Cabana not being on television for most of this year. Hardy was asked about Cabana’s surprise appearance on this week’s Dynamite:

“I was excited for it. It was great. Colt Cabana has been away from AEW for a very long time. It is what it is, you know, I don’t really have to sit here and go into things, but we’re in a position right now where he can be back at AEW TV and I’m glad to have him back...

“I feel like this investigation has happened, and I’m glad that their names have been cleared, and they’re coming back to TV. And I’m very happy to see Colt Cabana, who I think is a great human being and also think is a great performer — I’m very happy to see back on AEW programming.”

The elder Hardy Boy’s words are unlikely to sway anyone’s opinion at this point, but let us know what you think about them, or just file them for future reference the next time the topic comes up.

We’ll see who goes on the record next about what happened on Labor Day in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

UPDATE: After a slew of posts like this one hit the wrestle web, Hardy clarified his comments to indicate he was talking about witnessing the months of backstage drama that contributed to the post-All Out brawl, not the brawl itself: