In an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, despite him previously stating that there would be no further public comment on the matter, Anthem Media and Global Force Wrestling’s Ed Nordholm addressed the Broken Hardy’s gimmick ownership.

Nordholm reiterated that Global Force Wrestling and not the Hardy family have 100% claim to the ownership, explaining that this is because Matt Hardy, his brother Jeff and his wife Reby all signed contracts that sign over all rights to the intellectual property and that is the fundamental term of every term for every wrestler on GFW’s show, noting that it is also a fundamental term for every wrestler with WWE and that is the same for Ring of Honor, noting that the issue is not really up for debate. Nordholm also noted that Matt Hardy is being dishonest with the public about the issue stating, “It’s relatively immaterial, especially in the context of the world in which Matt and his wife are creating all this noise about his contractual rights in the absence of any contractual rights to the IPs. I think he’s started a world in which he is prepared to tell falsehoods about the status of his contract. If we do go to court, his contract will be produced in discovery, and it will be public, all of it, and not just the clauses that are relevant. I don’t think there is any issue around confidentiality.”

Nordholm was asked whether the Hardy Family personally investing into segments, including all of the Final Deletion-related material gave them a claim to ownership, as Matt Hardy noted and stated that is not the case as the company spent millions of dollars producing television last year, including all of the shows that incorporate the various aspects of the “Broken Brilliance”. Nordholm stated that he was unaware as to whether Jeff and Matt had some out of pocket expenses that they might have paid on the volcano and such, but that would not change, in any way, shape or form, what their contracts says about who owns the intellectual property and said that if they did have some out of pocket expenses, then they certainly never brought them to his attention and that for them to suggest that they somehow funded the show is absurd. Nordholm said that he does not have to go to court to fight for the ownership, in regards to a potential legal battle, because Global Force Wrestling/Anthem Media own it, but noted that if Matt Hardy chooses to sue Global Force Wrestling, then they will defend themselves, before stating that he does not intend to take any particular proceedings, stating that he knows that he owns it and he’s got a contract that says so, stating that he does not have to go to court to fight for it.

Nordholm said that he had stopped thinking about the Hardy gimmick as they have to move forward as a company and that they have things on their plate more important than that situation, claiming that he tried to work with the family as a goodwill gesture and that did not work out and he will not revisit those conversations. Nordholm acknowleged that there were settlement talks several weeks back noting that what prevented it from completion is that both sides never came to terms, stating that he has made numerous efforts, going back to February and the time of the cease and desist letter sent to Ring of Honor for advertising the Broken Hardy’s for their 15th Anniversary pay-per-view to make an arrangement with Matt Hardy to use the gimmick and that every time they have those conversations, they sort of start warm and then end up not coming to fruition due to an inability to come to an agreement as to what basis he would confer those rates on him. Nordholm stated that they had a deal on the table with Matt Hardy that Matt had for some time, but that four days before he was scheduled to work a television taping, Hardy responded that he needed an additional $100,000 or else he was going to look at what his options were elsewhere, to which Nordholm explained that the reality is, he couldn’t afford to go another $100,000 at that particular time and he had to say no. Nordholm said that he has no misapprehension and that if WWE wants to take a guy away from him, he can’t really compete, stating that he thought he had a deal with Matt and reached as hard as he could, before noting that the part of the story that says that they offered Jeff Hardy a big deal and Matt Hardy a little deal is utter b******* and that they brought Matt and Jeff almost equal to each other and offered them a full, all-in contract at a multiple of what he had been making under his contract and said that Matt was there, as far as he knew, right up to the 3 or 4 days before he decided not to stay and he tried to get an extra $100,000. Nordholm said that he does not think that makes him look bad and thinks that makes Matt look like a guy who, at his age, has to do the best for his family as he can, but that he couldn’t afford to go another $100,000.

The interview, which is a great read, is available in full at this link.