Former WWE star Matt Hardy has discussed being matched up with BrockLesnar in Lesnar's early years inWWE, and why WWE chose to entrust him and his brother Jeff Hardy with that role.
Hardy, on "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" podcast, said that WWE trusted him and his brother, which is why they were paired against Lesnar.
"I think we were paired with Brock out of the gates because they trusted us. They knew that we understood the mission. He was a guy that they saw huge potential in. They thought he was going to be a long-term top talent, and they just trusted myself and Jeff in being with him. They thought we wouldn't take advantage of him. They thought we would work hard for him. They thought we would bump for him. But they thought we would also lead him if he needed leadership in certain ways. And I think that's why, you know, we ended up being paired with Brock Lesnar right in the beginning. We ended up being married for quite a while earlier on. And I know the first few years he was there, I ended up working with him on and off quite a bit and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed working with Brock a lot."
Lesnar, who was brought to the main roster in 2002 after a few years in WWE's then-developmental territory OVW, wrestled the Hardys on house shows at the start of 2002, just a few months after being called up to "Raw."
Brock Lesnar was paired with Paul Heyman at the start of his main roster career, showing how serious WWE was about pushing Lesnar, considering Heyman's legendary mic skills. Hardy commented on that pairing and why he felt it was a great move.
"I thought it was great. I mean there's no better motivational speaker for your character if you're a talent than Paul Heyman. If you have Paul Heyman on your side and he believes in you, I mean,he is going to talk people into the building. He is going to make you a bigger star. He is so good at what he does," said Hardy. "I mean, he can convince people to do anything. Paul Heyman is the guy that convinced people in ECW to go out and you know beat the sh*t out of themselves each and every night for hardly no money. Sometimes they were owed a bunch of money and they would still do that. Paul Heyman isvery good. He has a golden tongue, and he knows how to talk people into the building."
Hardy added that he did not get to work with Heyman at that point, but worked closely with the WWE Hall ofFamer when Heyman was the WWE SmackDown GM. The former WWE star stated that he enjoyed working with Heyman when he portrayed the Matt Hardy V1 gimmick and that Heyman believed in his abilities, which benefited him.
