Former AEW star Matt Hardy recently discussed Adam Copeland’s comments about enjoying the creative freedom he has experienced since joining AEW.
During an episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, co-host Jon Alba brought up Copeland’s comments about feeling that things had become overly produced toward the end of his WWE run, limiting his ability to work and present himself the way he wanted.
Alba noted that Copeland’s remarks generated criticism from some fans, including accusations that he was being ungrateful toward WWE.
Hardy, who spent several years with AEW before departing the company in 2024, said he understands why Copeland would publicly support the promotion he currently works for. “You know, first and foremost, I was at AEW and I waved the flag. That’s what any good employee should do. So, I mean, I think that’s a big part of what Adam is doing there.”
Hardy agreed that AEW provides wrestlers with significant creative freedom, but argued that the company can sometimes take that philosophy too far. “There is a lot of creative freedom in some ways with what you do at AEW. And I think in some ways there’s a little too much.”
According to Hardy, giving performers freedom can lead to ideas becoming repetitive when there isn’t enough oversight. “Some things need to be reeled back in because there’s sometimes things get repetitive when it’s done too much, obviously.”
Hardy specifically pointed to the use of match stipulations, arguing that they are more effective when there is a storyline reason behind them. “And, you know, as we were just talking about in the very beginning with stipulations, like there needs—it needs to make sense to have these stipulations, to have these particular scenarios happen in certain matches or whatever else.”
While Hardy believes AEW’s willingness to allow wrestlers to experiment can be beneficial, he reiterated that some creative decisions would benefit from greater restraint. “Sometimes at AEW, you know, they’re willing to let people go wild, which in some ways is good, but in some ways, too, they need to rein some stuff in.”
Hardy joined AEW in 2020 following the expiration of his WWE contract and remained with the promotion until his departure in 2024. He later returned to TNA alongside his brother Jeff Hardy.
