Matt Hardy during a Raw show (Getty)
Former WWE Superstar Matt Hardy reveals how Vince McMahon wanted him to talk like a Black Person gimmick
Matt Hardy has been around the pro wrestling world for a long time and has appeared in various promotions in his career. However, the former WWE Tag Team Champion revealed a very controversial request by Vince McMahon.
Hardy recently spoke on “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” (h/t WrestlingNews.co), where he revealed that McMahon wanted him to talk like a Black Person angle with Mark Henry.
He mentioned how nervous he was about doing that, and it was pitched to him from Vince and the Creative team that he has to go to Mark Henry since they had a lot in common having ‘Mattitude’ because both are opposed.
He was quoted as saying:
“There was one thing I was very nervous about doing that didn’t end up happening. I was going to have a deal where I teamed with Mark Henry. There was talk of us working against Booker T and Rob Van Dam when they were the tag champs and actually winning the tag titles. It was right towards the end of Matt Hardy V1. What was pitched to me from Vince and creative was I was going to Mark Henry, and him being black, he had a lot in common with me having Mattitude because we were both oppressed. I would talk like a black person.
Hardy said about the angle and mentioned John Cena as the latter was doing raps that time and how the creative wanted Matt to mess around that as well.
“They knew at this time that even when John Cena was doing raps, we would be on international trips, myself and John would be freestyling back there and messing around. They knew I was a big rap fan, and I was aware of all that stuff.“
Matt further mentioned that he was very uncomfortable with this as they wanted him to talk more black slang and also said about how WWE was pushing him into doing that.
So there would be a point where I would start talking with more black slang and tell Mark Henry, ‘Mattitude is suppressed too, man. We have that in common.’ I was very uncomfortable with that then at that juncture. Mark got hurt, and maybe it was a sign from the seven deities, and it didn’t happen at all. That was something I was a little worried about doing because it was something they wanted me to start doing and pushing me into.”
Hardy is a legend in the pro wrestling industry and is an immense experience candidate. But still, there were moments in his career when even he was uncomfortable.
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