Matt Hardy On Who He Thinks Is The Best Wrestler In The World

Pro wrestling veteran Matt Hardy took to an episode of his “Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, where he talked about a number of topics including AEW star Bryan Danielson.

Hardy said, “He’s one of the greatest of all time. He is one of the guys from a size barrier that broke down a lot of doors for smaller people. Which is extremely commendable and something that we have remembered for a long time. He’s just special, man. He’s truly one of a kind, and there’ll never be another Bryan Danielson.”

On why Cody Rhodes is the currently the best wrestler in the world:

“Yes, my number one is Cody Rhodes. And I’m pretty sure you were gonna guess that, because whenever I did respond to you, my response back after I saw your question of who is the best wrestler in the world was Cody Rhodes. Because he is the guy right now that’s the face of the WWE. And that year that he went through, so many people upset when he lost at WrestleMania a year ago. And then he had that journey when he went all the way up through to WrestleMania 40… He won the Royal Rumble, and he was to be turned away, but then the fans demanded to follow through and do the whole Cody angle, which just shows you how much support he has and how beloved he is.”

“So yeah, Cody was automatically the guy. Because he is the face of the WWE, and you are correct. He is orbiting that Cena territory where he is a huge star. I’ll say he is a lot less polarizing than John Cena was. So Cody is universally beloved in many ways, he’s great at what he does. He’s a great promo, he’s a great character. And as crazy as it sounds, that year of him not winning the title also put a lot more sympathy on him from die-hard fans, because they thought the WWE screwed up and they should have done it a year ago. And they’re not wrong in thinking that, you’re not wrong in thinking that. I totally get that, and see where that’s coming from. But like, at the end of the day, Cody Rhodes right now is the top guy in pro wrestling. Especially because he’s on a full-time schedule. He does so many things right when it comes to the way he does his promos, the things he says, and the way he understands the context of the program he is in. All the Make-a-Wish stuff he does currently. He does so much stuff where he bends over backward for fans and tries to give them things. Or like, he’ll see something on social media, and he’ll reach out to people and make sure they’re able to come to the show. Whatever it may be… so charitable and is doing so much good. Cody is in an amazing spot right now. And he definitely stands on top, because he also has the biggest platform. He is the WWE Champion. He is probably the biggest current full-time active star in the world right now.”

You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.

(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)