In an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso, Rebecca “Reby” Hardy responded to claims made by Global Force Wrestling/Anthem Media’s Ed Nordholm during his interview with Barrasso, while also firing back against GFW management.

On Global Force Wrestling’s claims that contractually, they own the gimmick, Reby responded by stating that there is enough question in the contract, in terms of gimmick development and intellectual property, that their attorneys strongly feel that there is a case and that if there were no questions about it, like Jeff Jarrett and Ed Nordholm continue to state, then she would not be discussing it and neither would Matt Hardy. Reby said that there is enough of a question in the contract that it is worth fighting over and if it were as cut and dry as Anthem are trying to make everyone believe, then she and the others would have stopped pursuing it, but that is not the case and there are legal questions over the verbiage in the contract, stating that her side have a good chance of winning the battle with Global Force Wrestling/Anthem Media.

In regards to the reported back and forth between both sides over the gimmick, Reby said that Ed Nordholm never initiated any conversations and that the lack of his communication is a big reason for the incident in the first place and that even during Matt Hardy’s contract negotiations, it would take weeks for Matt to get in touch with Jeff Jarrett and Ed Nordholm and that even days before his contract was set to expire, Matt still had a hard time getting hold of Ed and Jeff and that this lack of communication is also a lack of professionalism, noting that if you can not be in talks with your talent while they are under contract or regarding something that is so important to you, like intellectual property, then that speaks volumes to her and that is such a slap in the face to the people who worked for you and dedicated their livelihood for your company.

Reby said that they (GFW/Anthem) have never taken initiation to start communication, they have never been quick to get back to her and the others and they have never been diligent about responding to them or their lawyers and that the most communication they had was through Billy Corgan who was attempting to mediate. Reby also responded to claims from Ed Nordholm that Matt Hardy had tried to get Global Force Wrestling to pay him another $100,000 in order for him to sign a new deal with the company stating that was inaccurate and laughable. Reby said that during contract negotiations, when she started to notice, as well as hear from friends about Jeff Jarrett’s shady business tactics, she did two things, immediately file a trademark for “Broken” Matt Hardy and start to record every conversation between Matt Hardy and anyone at the TNA Wrestling office, including Ed Nordholm and Jeff Jarrett and that for recording phone calls, it is legal with a one-party consent law in North Carolina, where they live and Tennessee, where TNA has its office. Reby said that if Matt was not in North Carolina for those conversations, then he was in another state with a one-party consent and that Matt made sure to protect himself, because no one from that company was protecting them.

Reby said that in the phone call that Ed Nordholm is referencing, that it is very clear that Matt Hardy did not hold Anthem up for money and did not request $100,000 more, noting that Matt tried to make Impact great again for real and not just through a hashtag and the he did everything he could for that company and Ed Nordholm’s comment is so petty and unprofessional, questioning who Nordholm and Jarrett think they are fooling, before stating that you could never even imagine WWE Chairman Vince McMahon acting that way. Reby said that two days before his contract expired, Matt received drunk texts from Jeff Jarrett and said that Matt is an established star, yet they treated him like he was insignificant. Reby noted that her family has tried to settle the issue like civil human beings, however Anthem have been dragging the process out for as long as they can and claimed that since Global Force Wrestling never had releases for her father, who portrayed Senor Benjamin and for the material that she shot, directed and edited, as well as for her son Maxel, that they could pursue those as actionable in court and said that in regards to her son Maxel that Global Force Wrestling do not have a release for her son, who had no written documents saying that he could be on set at Universal Studios, which could jeopardize their relationship with that place where they film on a monthly basis.

Reby claimed that in negotiations, Anthem attempted to add a clause into the agreement that they would be owed a percentage from any income from Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy’s personal website, including Jeff’s which only features his artwork and music and nothing wrestling-related for sale, blaming a lot of the issues on Jeff Jarrett, stating that his plan was to pay Jeff Hardy all the money and pay Matt Hardy as little as possible because Jarrett believed that Matt Hardy could not go anywhere without his brother. Reby said that all this happened after Matt financed his own shoots and put hours and hours of his own time writing the shows stating that they did not have any scripts and Global Force Wrestling are claiming intellectual property, claiming that this is their character and their development, however they never had one script or one shoot sheet and that it was all Matt pouring himself into the character and dedicating himself to it. Reby said that the amount of time and effort he put into it made it his brainchild, which is why the issue is more or a personal matter than a business matter and said that it was all their creation and they can easily prove that it was all them and it is nothing but ego on the end of Global Force Wrestling.

Reby said that Matt Hardy refused to re-sign with the company and they believed that Matt could not go anywhere else and they called the company out on their bluff, stating that Ed Nordholm actually told Jeff Hardy’s attorney to tell the duo to go to WWE, questioning if that is the way a company should negotiate to try and get someone to sign a contract to work at your company for money and said that when it comes down to it, it comes down to their ego versus all of the time, effort and passion that herself and the family put into this project and gimmick and said that the issue is a personal investment versus ego and she feels like there will never be an agreement without going to court.

The interview, which is an absolute fantastic read and covers far more than the above can be read in full at this link.