Matt Hardy is breaking, so we can start wondering what the WWE version of the Broken gimmick will be like

Coming up on a reported milestone in his quest to legally own at least some words and phrases from the “Broken” characters and concepts he used while under contract to TNA, Matt Hardy took the most obvious steps toward bringing the gimmick to WWE on Raw last night (Nov. 27).

And that continued from both Hardy and the company online after the show:

Not to rush things - we wrestling fans can be an impatient bunch, and insert your favorite deep-sounding quote about journeys and destinations here - but with The Broken Woken One chanting “DELETE” in the ring after losing to Bray Wyatt, it’s worth asking what the WWE version of this act is going to look like.

It’s Matt, so there’s reason to place trust in his creative acumen. The elder Hardy boy has proven he can remain interesting across promotions, gimmicks and alignments for years now. Like Chris Jericho, Matt probably wouldn’t want to work the exact same schtick even if he could. He’d be as bored as many of us would.

Since the first whispers started about the Hardys returning to WWE, there were questions about how much freedom he’d get from Vince McMahon and the writing staff. The E’s creative team has shown some interest in doing some of the things which made the Broken Universe such a hit for Impact Wrestling, but their versions - often involving Matt’s opponent last night - have come across as knockoff versions of “The Final Deletion” and “Total Nonstop Deletion”. If the payoff of Woken Matt is Hardy vs. Bray in House of Horrors match...

Personally, I’m cautiously optimistic that Matt’s storytelling gifts and Vince’s recognition he can turn those DELETE chants into money will result in something good.

But I could just be relieved I may have written my last post about Anthem’s legal maneuvers or Reby Hardy’s angry tweets about Ed Nordholm.