Matt Hardy has revealed that he was pitched to lead a faction in NXT by Triple H before he departed WWE in 2020. 

Matt and brother Jeff memorably returned to WWE at WrestleMania 33, as surprise entrants into the Raw Tag Team Championship ladder match and spent three years back with WWE before leaving the company in March 2020. 

Speaking on his The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, the multi-time tag team champion spoke about his departure and the discussions he had with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. The 47-year-old revealed that prior to leaving WWE, Vince wanted keep him in the company by bringing an end to his in-ring career and working as a backstage producer. 

"He appreciated my honesty. There’s nothing that I would say on here or say to anyone else that I wouldn’t say to Vince, that’s how much respect I have for him.”

“I said, ‘I know how you see me. You are ready for me to move on to a producer role and I’m not ready to do that quite yet. I’m ready to still finish up in the ring. I know I have a few more years left and I’m going to go until it’s time for me to step out. That’s what I want to do. That’s my passion, that’s what I love, and it’s where I can make the most money. At the end of the day, pro wrestling is a business and it’s all about where you can make the most money.’”

“He said, ‘Well, thank you for being honest.’ Because so many people just bullsh*t him all the time. I’m sure, whenever I left, they knew where I was going to end up. It is what it is.”

However, that wasn’t the end of the story. Hardy went on to reveal that after his discussions with Vince, Triple H reached out to him and made a last-ditch attempt at getting him to stay in WWE. Pitching for Matt to lead is own faction in NXT, but still double-down on his role and start work as a coach and producer. 

“Triple H, he called me afterward. He tried to work out deals with me doing stuff in NXT and it’s so funny because this shows how much Vince wanted me as a producer. He said, ‘Well, we can pay you X amount of money if you do this NXT thing. But we can like double this almost if you do NXT, and I’ll put you with a group of guys.”

So you don’t have to do all the work, being an older guy, you’re like the leader of the group, and then you can also still go to TVs, you know, Raw and SmackDown, and then you can still do those and start being a coach because that’s really what Vince wants to see you as, is a producer.’

“Someone who helps teach other talents and helps construct matches and whatnot. So Vince really wanted to see me in that when it was all said and done. I have a lot of appreciation, Triple H still tried to do what he could just to keep me in the WWE system.”

In the end Hardy declined both offers and shortly moved to AEW where he debuted as his ‘Broken’ Matt Hardy character. Ironically, Matt would later serve as a stable leader, as the head of the Hardy Family Office group before eventually reuniting with his brother earlier this year. 

Thanks to Fightful for the transcription.