Matt Hardy On Breaking Away From ‘Italian Stallion’ Gary Sabaugh

Matt Hardy recalls he and Jeff parting ways with the Italian Stallion.

Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy have been on mainstream American wrestling TV for nearly 30 years. Both started out as enhancement talent for WWE in the mid-90s with Jeff even starting before he was of legal age. During the early portion of their run as well-known enhancement talent, Matt and Jeff were booked through a local talent in their area known as the Italian Stallion.

Stallion was a North Carolinian who promoted the Pro Wrestling Federation. Stallion also takes credit for training Matt and Jeff Hardy despite the fact that they were booking their own shows as teenagers.

Stallion was also an inspiration for the Big Money Matt character that Matt Hardy would portray. Part of Stallion’s carny ways included taking two-thirds of Matt and Jeff’s payoffs, which were only $150, from their time as enhancement talent for WWE. Matt Hardy would later reference this when he started as a mentor of Private Party on AEW.

Speaking about Italian Stallion on his podcast, The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy explained that the reason he felt okay with putting up with being booked through Italian Stallion for so long is he understood he was getting experience by working the PWF events and at the time, that was their way into the WWE.

“I mean, we just rationalized it because we were on WWE Television,” Hardy began. “We were getting to work with guys we had watched growing up and then we also knew that if there were people there that were impressed with our athletic abilities, that can open up doors, so it was worth doing and even doing all Stallion’s PWF shows, which obviously was for free, but we were learning while on the job. It also gives the opportunity to be booked at these WWE TVs and we always felt if we continue to work that somebody would say like, ‘These guys are special, we can do something with them,’ and lo and behold we ended up being right,” Hardy recalled.

Hardy then recalled what ended up being the final straw work in the end Jeff and why Matt Hardy started to become the point man for him and Jeff as enhancement talent.

One day, Stallion would leave Hardy and his crew behind amid complaints from the people that were actually paying Stallion to train because they were upset that the Hardy Boyz did not have to pay anything.

“So then there was one point where we went to Charlotte to meet Stallion and he left us. He left early and changed the time. Because like, once again, we weren’t paying him anything. That’s where we took it upon ourselves to drive down to Augusta, Georgia is where I think it was,” said Matt. “We talked to Chief Jay Strongbow and I said, ‘Hey, Stallion, we’re supposed to come with him and I know you guys ask for us a lot, or some of the talents here does, you can just contact me and I can book our guys and I’ll lead the charge.”

Despite his shady practices, Matt Hardy maintains that he has no ill will towards the Italian Stallion and is grateful for the opportunities he was given.

“No, [Matt harbors] zero resentment [toward Stallion],” Hardy said. “Without that opportunity, you know, even though he was taking advantage of us because we’re young kids at the time, I mean, we wouldn’t have gotten to the point where we were at. So I’m very appreciative that he took us there. I’m also very appreciative that we get to work his shows and learn so much,” Hardy continued.

As for whether or not dealing with such a shady individual changed the way he treats others, Matt Hardy says no, it never did. He always treated other professional wrestlers as he would any other human being on the planet.

“It really hasn’t changed how I treat other wrestlers. I mean, I treat other wrestlers like I treat other human beings, I try to be very good to everybody, and very fair to everybody,” said Matt. “I feel like if you meet someone who has worked with me, they’re going to emphasize how fair and how good I am to people because that’s just how I try and live life. That’s how I treat other people like I would like to be treated. I’m really not down for trying to take advantage of anybody,” Matt concluded.

Of course, on-screen, Matt Hardy is Big Money Matt and has no problem cutting several corners. As the minority owner of the AHFO, Matt Hardy is also a part of all business meetings that take place in whatever stairwell AEW happens to find on any given week. Learn why that is at this link.

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