Matt Hardy To Undergo Back Surgery

Posted by Steve Carrier on 02/09/2012 at 06:11 PM

Matt Hardy appeared on Busted Open, which airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Sirius 92 and XM 208 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

His future in wrestling: "I think there is a future for me in wrestling in some capacity. I have such a new outlook on life after going through such a crazy period, I’ve kind of had a reprieve for a while. At some point I had to face everything and change my life, and I have, and I feel good about where I’m at right now. Wrestling is in me, its in my blood and I think I’ll always be in wrestling in some shape or form. Basically I chalk it up to this, I kind of let God lead me where I’m going to go. After I have back surgery, we’ll see where I stand physically and from that point on I’ll kind of see where the wave takes me."

If he has used social media in the right way: "There are times when I have, and there are times I’ve used it in the wrong way as well. I feel like I was one of the original guys to take social networking and promoted themselves. Under WWE and I know from being around there a long time, stemming from Vince McMahon and going all the way down, they’ve always wanted control of everything they have, and it’s hard to do that with Twitter or YouTube cause it’s something that you have to go hand in hand with and work with the company. But now they realize its huge deals now and there is money to be made and there is promotion that comes from it, so it’s great that they have embraced it now. But as far as I go there has been a lot of people who tie me in as “The Internet Guy” or “the social media guy” and that’s cool because I do dig that stuff.

Whether he should take a break from social media: "I did for a while but now that I’m here and I’m me, I like getting messages out. There is a lot of people just from Twitter that say “because of this, you’ve been through this and overcame it and you’re doing better and you’re really inspiring me.” There is people out there that I know I can help and touch. That’s one of my main reasons for ever wanting to get into wrestling because I can inspire and help other people. Just being able to do that is important to me. I dig communicating with people and I try to respond to as many fans as I can when I can. It’s just a part of my lifestyle and it’s something I enjoy and I’m really into doing things I enjoy and that is healthy for me."

The Undertaker’s streak: "To me I don’t think the streak should ever end. I don’t think anyone is going to become a bigger star because they beat the Undertaker. I mean they would become a bigger star but I don’t think its worth sacrificing the streak. I think the streak is as big of an attraction at Wrestlemania as the world title match is. To me when you think of someone as 20-0, that’s almost more important than the world title.

"It almost overshadows everything else. People buy Wrestlemania to see if the streak is going to end. People also buy Wrestlemania to see the Undertaker continue the streak. So to me I don’t think it should end, especially because he is getting towards the end of his career. I have never had more respect for someone in the wrestling business than him. If they were going to try to do it, it would have to be someone that is already over almost on the main event level, almost a new guy that has five, seven, or ten years left in him and I don’t see anyone like that right now."

The rigors of a full time schedule: "The schedule is very brutal and very tough and you’re obviously beating up and destroying your body. As far as what other people do, it’s not my business to put anyone else’s business out there. But it is a tough gig. The one thing I would say is what I would love to see change in the wrestling business is to just have an off season, because I think guys need time off to heal. I think that would really help slow down the injury process, because once your hurt if you’re on a WWE schedule the only time you get off is if you have surgery.

"Not only do they want you to work, but the mentality is if you can work, you do work. I think that’s stuck in the old ages. I think they have to get a point where guys are given time off or are forced to take time off. I know that it’s hard because there is not a lot of star power out there right now and they need everyone they can. It’s just hard on your body and it’s a physically demanding business. When you get into it you know that so it’s a tough gig.