Update on 5/23 at 11:45pm EST: Matt Hardy has since responded to Ed Nordholm revealing the below contract details, and you can read Hardy’s response at this link.
Impact Wrestling’s Ed Nordholm reportedly sent the following detailed account of interactions with Matt Hardy during their recent issues over the ‘Broken Brilliance’ creative ownership. PWInsider.com reported they confirmed with other Impact officials that the email is legitimate.
The email included an alledged excerpt from Hardy’s contract (seen here) that states any intelluctual property created while working for Impact would become their property under a “work for hire” rule, and would retain ownership after the contractual relationship between the two parties expired. Additionally, a redacted email between Nordholm and someone in WWE was included (seen here) and it discussed online rumors of WWE looking to get involved in the situation between Anthem and the Hardys, with the WWE side alleging there was no interest in getting involved.
Good afternoon,
In response to on-going speculation concerning our position with respect to the “Broken Brilliance” creative, I am providing this detailed log of our communications on the subject and the contractual structure of our relationship with Matt Hardy with respect to intellectual property matters (which is standard to our roster and in the industry).
There has never been any argument from Impact Wrestling that the Hardy’s were key contributors to the development of the characters and story line, or that Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy executed on their roles in spectacular fashion. But the position taken by the Hardys is a massive disservice to the contributions of the rest of the creative team at Impact Wrestling, including Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagano (sic), Matt Conway and Billy Corgan, and is totally at odds with the terms of their contracts.
The Hardys would have you believe that Anthem is somehow avoiding their lawyers to address this. This is the log of our communications with the Hardys and/or their lawyers. It is clear that we have not been avoiding them.
- March 10 – EBN speaks with executives at ROH about “Broken Brilliance” being used in ROH shows. I indicated willingness to provide an arrangement that would allow the creative to be used in ROH shows and encouraged ROH to have Matt speak with me if he wanted to pursue that discussion
- March 11 – EBN spoke at length with Matt by telephone about the structure of an amicable arrangement for use of the Broken Brilliance creative
- March 14 – Matt sent text message to Ed Nordholm at 4:05pm:
“Tried giving you a call, it rang & went busy. I’m open to working things out amicably as we spoke about. The lawyer who represent me is interested in seeing your offer. My lawyer’s email is {redacted} which you could send the offer to for review. Thanks.”
And I responded by text at 6:41 pm
“Thank you Matt. I was supposed to be [flying] into NYC today and am a little twisted. I will pull something together with [our] lawyers and try to get it over to your lawyer tomorrow or Thursday at latest“
- March 16 – At 8:25 pm I sent an update text to Matt:
“Hi Matt. My lawyer got me a draft too late to get reviewed for today. I will look at it in the morning. Sorry for the delay”
And he responded at 9:16 pm
“Ok, he’s ready for it. Thanks for the update.”
- March 17 – counsel for Anthem Wrestling delivered draft proposal to counsel for Matt Hardy
- March 24 – counsel for Anthem Wresting followed up with Matt Hardy counsel requesting comments on the proposal
- March 27 – counsel for Matt Hardy responds that they have been away and have not reviewed the proposal but will be back “in the next few days”
After which no further communication until
- April 18 – counsel for Matt Hardy leaves a voice mail message for counsel for Anthem Wrestling asking to arrange a meeting
- April 20 – EBN contacts WWE by email to determine veracity of internet rumours concerning WWE interest in Broken Brilliance
- April 21 — WWE respond by email that there “is no interest on our end” {redacted email exchange attached}
- April 21 – counsel for Matt Hardy sends a follow up message requesting a meeting
- April 27 – lawyers speak to arrange a meeting
- May 16 – lawyers meet but no agreement reached
Finally, I am attaching a copy of the relevant provisions of Matt’s contract with Impact. The clause is virtually identical to the corresponding provisions of every wrestler under contract with Impact.
The facts are that we tried to accommodate the Hardys for their Ring of Honour engagements, and have tried to elicit an indication from WWE whether they have an interest in using the Broken Brilliance creative in WWE. We are not hoarding it from WWE; WWE is not interested in it.
We fully respect the decision of Matt and Jeff to return to WWE and appreciate all of their contributions to Impact Wrestling. We wish them every success.
Our focus is on the future and we will not have any further public comment on this matter.
Ed Nordholm
****
Reby Hardy has since responded to the report, saying it was an inaccurate account. Reby posted the following on her Twitter account:
YALL ARE A JOKE & in that aspect alone, YOU ALREADY LOST. But we can – and will – make the L official, my dude.@EdNordholm #NoCredEd
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 23, 2017
Long story short: TNA tried a literal sales pitch on WWE re: #BROKEN gimmick (which isn’t legally theirs) & they said “LOLZ yeah no, thanks”
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 23, 2017
Anthem mad because WWE didn’t fall for their offensive money grab. That type of “business” is right on par with @RealJeffJarrett gold scam
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 24, 2017
I just think it’s cute that TNA feels the need to “prove” themselves to randoms on the internet. Know why we don’t bother ?
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 24, 2017
Because it’s ALLLLLL coming out in court, honey. From the attorneys we hired back in MARCH. Where are those “logs” ?
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 24, 2017
Oh. And you might want to try spamming dirtsheets with the ACTUAL final version of that contract if you’re going to break confidentiality
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 24, 2017
But hey, that’s cool. Something else we’ll add to the list of offenses. Thanks !
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 24, 2017
Should we release the phonecalls ? I kinda wanna release the phonecalls now… since we playin petty, apparently.
— Reby Hardy (@RebyHardy) May 24, 2017
