During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Matt Hardy talked about why he left WWE for AEW:
“It made the most sense. I could see in Vince and WWE’s mind – in Vince’s mind, he was ready to move me on from being a talent to working backstage and being a producer and to get back and teach other guys behind the scenes. And I’m very happy to do that a little later. But these last few years I have to do this physically, I wanna do it to the highest level I can. I wanna enjoy it. The whole reason I got into pro wrestling in the first place is because I loved the idea of becoming a pro wrestler. So I don’t wanna give that up right now. And then even though they offered to do other things after I expressed that was my concern, I knew in my head they’d already made up their mind how they see me as is. So I made up my mind that I needed to go somewhere else, and AEW was the best-case scenario because the Young Bucks – I’m great friends with those guys – and here’s there’s just such a refreshing creative liberty and creative freedom where you have input and you really have a hand in the direction of your career goes in.”
“With WWE, it’s kind of like once in a while you’ll come up with an idea and they might roll with it. But if it’s not done their way – it’s just like if you really feel in your gut there’s something you can do and it’s gonna work and it’s gonna connect with people – you don’t always get the chance to do it there. Here in AEW, you’ll pretty legitimately get a chance. Especially if Tony [Khan] sees that you believe in that vision and you want to try it and attempt it. They’ll let it work.” (quotes courtesy of 411Mania.com)
