Matt Hardy has explained why he decided to sign with AEW over signing a new deal with the WWE, and unsurprisingly, it has nothing to do with money.Hardy left the WWE at the start of the month after allowing his contract with the WWE to expire without renewing. He was a wrestling free agent for the first time in three years.Matt said on his YouTube channel that he would be taking his time to view the wrestling scene in order to come to a decision on who he would like to sign for next, but the vast majority of people predicted he would sign with AEW.Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened, as Hardy appeared in the rafters on AEW Dynamite this week after the show’s main event, revealing his allegiance with The Elite in their upcoming Blood & Guts match against The Inner Circle.It’s widely known that one of the reasons why Matt left WWE was because he wanted more creative control of his own wrestling future, which is something he will likely receive in AEW. Hardy did recently say on Talk is Jericho that had Triple H been solely in power, he would have had much better opportunities in WWE.Hardy reiterated this point again on social media when a fan asked him why he hadn’t just signed with WWE and join NXT if he wanted creative control, but the man himself still saw the offer by the company as being under the control of Vince McMahon.He said: "I appreciate your passion, but it's ultimately the same boss. My creative input is unquestionably greater at AEW. If you had to choose between 2 jobs, would you take less money for more days away? Or more money for less days away? I make smart choices for my family & legacy."
Hardy will now compete as the fifth member of The Elite (Cody, Hangman Page, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson) when they compete against The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana, and Ortiz) in a Blood & Guts match.
This match had originally been scheduled for the next episode of AEW Dynamite. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, this match will be postponed for the foreseeable future.
Instead, Hardy will confront Jericho face-to-face, one-on-one.