The 90s are back and they refuse to leave the ring

Matt Hardy is out here playing with our nostalgia like a fiddle. After watching Adam Copeland and Christian Cage hoist the belts at Double or Nothing, Matt dropped a teaser on May 24th that he wants a piece of the action. He's talking about a potential clash between the Hardy Boyz and the new AEW tag champions, though he admits he has zero concrete plans.

The internet, naturally, is a absolute circus right now. Half the comments section on Reddit and X are weeping tears of joy, remembering the ladder matches that defined our childhoods. It is essentially a request for one last hit of dopamine before everyone hangs up their boots for good.

The purists vs the progressives

Of course, the discourse isn't just people crying into their vintage merch. You have the skeptics who are looking at the calendar and asking, "Why?" These aren't the same guys who flew off ladders at WrestleMania 17. The physical toll on these legends is impossible to ignore, and people are legitimately worried about a high-profile injury overshadowing the history these legends built.

Then you have the contrarians, the crowd that thinks AEW is becoming a retirement home for former WWE mid-carders. They point out that putting the titles on Copeland and Cage is a fun television moment, but it ignores the younger talent who actually need that rub to get over with a new audience. It is a constant tug-of-war between booking for the pop and booking for the future.

Not sure where, not sure when.

That quote from Matt Hardy is doing a lot of heavy lifting. It is vague enough to be a tweet for engagement, but specific enough to get the dirt sheets running wild for weeks. It reminds me of the TNA wrestling headlines that pop up every time a legend mentions someone else's name in an interview.

My take on the mess

Honestly? Keep this on a shelf where it belongs. I get the sentiment, but there is a near-zero percent chance that a 2026 match between these four men lives up to the dusty VHS tapes we have in our heads. It’s like trying to reboot a classic 90s sitcom with the original cast all using walkers. Sure, the chemistry remains, but the speed isn't in the legs anymore.

The real issue is that AEW is leaning way too hard on the "Remember This?" button. Copeland and Cage are absolute titans, don't get me wrong. But at 52 and 52 years old respectively, they shouldn't be the focal point of the tag division. You have teams like Top Flight or The Acclaimed who are desperate for that spot, and yet we are talking about bringing in Matt to relive a spot-fest from two decades ago.

We saw this same energy when everyone was losing their minds over the Double or Nothing booking. It was a spectacle for the front row, but it’s a bit of a slap in the face to the guys grinding on Dark or Rampage. Unless this is a low-stakes showcase for a one-off, I’m out.

Let’s call a spade a spade: this is booking for the quarter-hours, not for the legacy of the sport. If they want to do a spot-fest for the sake of the highlight reel, fine. Just don't ask us to pretend this is the peak of professional wrestling. The match would likely end with a chair shot to the back and a dusty finish anyway.

I will give them this: Matt Hardy knows how to work a headline. Whether or not this ever becomes a reality, he’s got us talking about it on a Saturday morning in May. That is the genius of these guys; they don't even have to lace up their boots to control the narrative. They just have to drop a hint, sit back, and watch the fans tear each other apart in the comments.