Matt Hardy has opened up about the circumstances surrounding his WWE departure in 2020, revealing that the company wanted him to transition into a full-time backstage role rather than continue primarily as an active wrestler.

Hardy's second WWE run came to an end when his contract expired in March 2020. Instead of agreeing to a new deal, the former tag team champion moved on and quickly surfaced in AEW, making his debut during the promotion's early pandemic-era programming.

Speaking on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy reflected on his final contract discussions with WWE and explained why he felt remaining with the company would ultimately bring his in-ring career to an end.

The conversation began with Hardy discussing how performers can sometimes become locked into a particular position once WWE management develops a specific perception of them.

“There are times, especially in WWE, where you would get kind of cast into a certain role, and they kind of think that’s just where you stick, and that’s just what you do. You don’t really do anything else.”

Hardy believes he experienced that situation himself and suggested Christian Cage faced something similar during his WWE career. According to Hardy, Vince McMahon saw greater financial potential in Edge, whose real name is Adam Copeland, and Jeff Hardy, although he stressed that McMahon still valued both himself and Christian.

“Yeah, for quite a bit. I mean, it was hard. I think both myself and Christian had that, just because we knew Vince saw the bigger money in both Adam and in Jeff. He liked both of us too. I mean, don’t get me wrong, and he still took great care of us. But at the end of the day, when we worked for Vince, and he saw something a certain way, I knew that was going to happen.”

That perception became particularly important when Hardy's WWE contract approached its expiration. Hardy said WWE was interested in keeping him, but McMahon's preferred plan involved moving him into a permanent producer, coach or agent position.

“Much like at the very end before I left WWE at my contract, they were trying to get me to re-sign. But Vince was really trying to get me just to be a full-time producer or coach or agent. And I said, dude, I want to wrestle while I can. If I can still wrestle, that’s what I would like to do.”

Hardy felt there was still more he could accomplish as an active performer and did not want to move backstage while he remained physically capable of wrestling.

He also believed WWE might have given him another significant storyline had he stayed. Hardy specifically recalled the possibility of becoming involved with Windham Rotunda's Fiend character alongside Jeff Hardy's Willow persona.

However, he suspected any major storyline would only delay what WWE ultimately had planned for him.

“And I could just see how he saw me in that role, and I knew if I re-signed there, I might, for a couple months, do this cool angle with me and Windham as the Fiend and Jeff as Willow. But then he is going to put me back into that role because that is how he sees me, and that is what he wants.”

Hardy summed up his expectations of McMahon's decision-making with one final observation:

“And Vince always got what he wants.”

Hardy ultimately allowed his WWE deal to expire and joined AEW in March 2020. He went on to compete at Double or Nothing later that year and remained with the promotion until 2024.

Hardy has since returned to TNA Wrestling, where he continues to appear as an active performer while also contributing behind the scenes. McMahon, meanwhile, departed WWE in January 2024.