Pro wrestling legend and current TNA Wrestling star Matt Hardy recently discussed various topics on his podcast, “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy.”
One significant topic was the main event matchup between Roman Reigns and CM Punk at WrestleMania 42.
Hardy said, “I’ll even up your home run to a Grand Slam. I thought it was a Grand Slam. And I think probably Roman was really motivated to look great in this coming back, especially that he’s going to be around for a while now. He was really motivated to come back and kill it in a WrestleMania main event. And I think Punk, you could just see Punk knew this was his chance. He is the main match of WrestleMania. He was the last match of the weekend. He poured his heart and soul into this thing. And even in a losing effort, he was going to make this his greatest match ever. It was going to stand out and be memorable and live on for eternity. And it was, man, it was so impressive. They busted their ass. It was done so well, and it was so smart. The story they told just going into the match from the promos. There were some, you know, when they started talking about Punk being old, whatever else, the way they leaned into that. And there was a thing like, oh, maybe you just didn’t have enough to keep up with the younger Roman Reigns. And everybody played those roles perfectly. That story really played out. And there were little things in the match, and the storytelling in their actions, it was done superbly.”
On whether it belongs among the greatest WrestleMania main events of all time:
“I don’t know. You’re gonna have to give me a few years. We’re gonna have to see how this stands out. I think it was a great one, but honestly, a lot of it will play into where guys go from here, both guys, where both guys end up going. What was the effect of this match, as opposed to just the match standing itself, because powerful moments in pro wrestling also have to have a long-term effect.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
