Matt Hardy Says ‘Let It Play Out’ Is Now A Meme Because WWE Has Burned The Trust Of Its Audience

Matt Hardy talks about the frustration performers can feel when they are forced to “let it play out.”

In the year 2000, Matt Hardy and his brother, Jeff, were an up-and-coming tag team but we’re frequently on the losing end of matches despite their popularity. Matt Hardy, on the latest episode of his podcast, The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, stated that he believes Vince McMahon was probably in the mindset that the tag team didn’t need any victories because of the strength of their performances.

“I think Vince thought because of that Tag Team Ladder Match we had where we got over huge, The Hardys vs. Edge and Christian, and then the Tables Match, with The Hardys vs. The Dudley Boyz, he just thought we were Teflon,” Matt explained. “Like, we didn’t need these winds, and people were going to cheer for us, regardless of what we were doing, because of our performances. I would guess that was his mindset at the time.” 

Continuing on, Matt Hardy talked about the “let it play out” phrase that has become commonly associated with WWE creative. Matt Hardy, understandably, says it can be frustrating as a talent to not be at the level that you feel that you should be.

“I mean, you know, that was one of those things to where they just say, ‘Trust us, trust this, let it play out.’ I know, that’s a famous statement on the internet now, ‘let it play out.’ It’s just one of those things, it would become very frustrating, especially when you get to go out and you get to do you, and you make this magic happen, you’re getting these insane crowd reactions, and then you kind of reeled back, and then you get very frustrated, especially if they don’t portray you in the way the crowd wants to see you portrayed as,” Matt explained. 

“That’s where the tide was starting to turn a little bit and people were really starting to understand the business. Because in the Attitude Era, we gave everyone a peek behind the curtain. Now, the internet is starting to come into prevalence and whatnot. So they’re starting to read stuff, and they’re starting to pick up more on dirt sheets/internet wrestling sites and whatnot. So they’re learning a lot more about the behind-the-scenes stuff. So I’m sure that that makes them question like, ‘Why are these guys getting beat all the time? They’re really over,’ you know? But it was what it was. We were all young guys and we were just gonna go out and do our job to the best of our ability and make the most out of every scenario we had.”

Speaking about the philosophy of letting things play out now, Matt understands that the phrase has become a meme on the internet and feels that part of the reason for that is because WWE has lost the trust of their fan base.

“I feel like with WWE if you hear that expression, ‘Let it play out,’ they’ve kind of burned their trust with their consumers, with their fans. I just don’t think people trust them anymore. Because there have been so many times that people were very patient, and they waited for it to play out, but it just never did. So I think they’ve just kind of lost their trust with wrestling fans when it comes to that,” Matt Hardy said. “I mean, it’s become like a meme now, right? People say it when they know it’s gonna be bad, you know? ‘Don’t worry, just let it play out. Haha!’ It really has become a meme.”

Matt also says that while he has been told similar variations of the phrase, he was never specifically told word-for-word to “let it play out.” 

“I haven’t,” said Matt. “I mean, I’ve probably been told, ‘Well, I mean, trust me. Think about the big picture. We got a big story here. There’s just one small piece of the puzzle.’ I’ve never heard that exact phrase. No one has sold me on that before.”

These days, Matt Hardy is letting the final chapter of The Hardy Boys play out on AEW television as Jeff Hardy has recently joined Matt in the up-and-coming promotion.

Should you use any portion of the quotes above, transcription credit should go to Fightful with a H/T linking back to this article.