Matt Hardy: Paint It Black

[Fake Jesus]

“There was one thing I was very nervous about doing that didn't end up happening. I was going to have a deal where I teamed with Mark Henry," Matt said. "There was talk of us working against Booker T and Rob Van Dam when they were the tag champs and actually winning the tag titles. It was right towards the end of Matt Hardy V1. What was pitched to me from Vince and creative was I was going to Mark Henry, and him being black, he had a lot in common with me having Mattitude because we were both oppressed. I would talk like a black person.”

“They knew at this time that even when John Cena was doing raps, we would be on international trips, myself and John would be freestyling back there and messing around. They knew I was a big rap fan and I was aware of all that stuff.”

Matt said that he was supposed to talk about being "suppressed" and talk with a "black slang."

“So there would be a point where I would start talking with more black slang and tell Mark Henry, ‘Mattitude is suppressed too man. We have that in common.’ I was very uncomfortable with that then at that juncture. Mark got hurt, and maybe it was a sign from the seven deities, and it didn’t happen at all. That was something I was a little worried about doing because it was something they wanted me to start doing and pushing me into.”

wrestlingnews.co/wwe-news/matt-hardy-says-vince-mcmahon-once-wanted-him-to-team-with-mark-henry-and-talk-like-a-black-person/

At long last, a gimmick worthy of the frozen neo-nazi and CM Punk: Balloon Salesman has arrived. Vince is one insane motherf***er

[A Platypus Rave]

hey frozen nazi Heidenreich is not on Vince!

also the Baloon Salesman was joke from like here wasn't it?

[Fake Jesus]

Feb 25, 2022 17:55:29 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

hey frozen nazi Heidenreich is not on Vince!

also the Baloon Salesman was joke from like here wasn't it?

Yeah I think so, I can never remember if it was it or MVP's screwdriver that actually ended up in the sheets. It was the screwdriver right?

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

Feb 25, 2022 17:55:29 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

also the Baloon Salesman was joke from like here wasn't it?

I was pretty sure it was a meme from here, along with Deaf CM Punk. 2005-06 was filled with every possible joke about the worst ways to book CM Punk.

[A Platypus Rave]

Feb 25, 2022 17:57:23 GMT -5 Fake Jesus said:

Feb 25, 2022 17:55:29 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

hey frozen nazi Heidenreich is not on Vince!

also the Baloon Salesman was joke from like here wasn't it?

Yeah I think so, I can never remember if it was it or MVP's screwdriver that actually ended up in the sheets. It was the screwdriver right?

the big one I remember from here was Vince not hiring someone for being "Too Asian"

[Deleted]

Feb 25, 2022 17:59:12 GMT -5 Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby said:

Feb 25, 2022 17:55:29 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

also the Baloon Salesman was joke from like here wasn't it?

I was pretty sure it was a meme from here, along with Deaf CM Punk. 2005-06 was filled with every possible joke about the worst ways to book CM Punk.

Along with Chris Masters in a sombrero and "Will X ruin the Lord Tensai gimmick?"

[GuyOfOwnage]

Feb 25, 2022 17:57:23 GMT -5 Fake Jesus said:

Feb 25, 2022 17:55:29 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

hey frozen nazi Heidenreich is not on Vince!

also the Baloon Salesman was joke from like here wasn't it?

Yeah I think so, I can never remember if it was it or MVP's screwdriver that actually ended up in the sheets. It was the screwdriver right?

Not only did the MVP screwdriver story end up in the sheets, it actually got back to MVP himself. Years later, he said it was the favorite rumor he'd ever heard about himself.

[Andee9001]

They already did something similar the year before. Chris Nowinski joined Rodney Mack and Teddy Longs group where he claimed that he too was discrimated against because he's smart and went to Harvard.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Feb 25, 2022 18:03:02 GMT -5 @jdogindy said:

Feb 25, 2022 17:59:12 GMT -5 Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby said:

I was pretty sure it was a meme from here, along with Deaf CM Punk. 2005-06 was filled with every possible joke about the worst ways to book CM Punk.

Along with Chris Masters in a sombrero and "Will X ruin the Lord Tensai gimmick?"

Someone, and I forget who and really shouldn’t, met Masters and got a pic with him in an sombrero.

[MiLB Fan]

Feb 25, 2022 18:02:31 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

Feb 25, 2022 17:57:23 GMT -5 Fake Jesus said:

Yeah I think so, I can never remember if it was it or MVP's screwdriver that actually ended up in the sheets. It was the screwdriver right?

the big one I remember from here was Vince not hiring someone for being "Too Asian"

That would be Go Shiozaki.

officialfan.proboards.com/thread/174455/shiozaki-wwe?page=2

[chazraps]

Feb 25, 2022 17:49:21 GMT -5 Fake Jesus said:

“There was one thing I was very nervous about doing that didn't end up happening. I was going to have a deal where I teamed with Mark Henry," Matt said. "There was talk of us working against Booker T and Rob Van Dam when they were the tag champs and actually winning the tag titles. It was right towards the end of Matt Hardy V1. What was pitched to me from Vince and creative was I was going to Mark Henry, and him being black, he had a lot in common with me having Mattitude because we were both oppressed. I would talk like a black person.”

“They knew at this time that even when John Cena was doing raps, we would be on international trips, myself and John would be freestyling back there and messing around. They knew I was a big rap fan and I was aware of all that stuff.”

Matt said that he was supposed to talk about being "suppressed" and talk with a "black slang."

“So there would be a point where I would start talking with more black slang and tell Mark Henry, ‘Mattitude is suppressed too man. We have that in common.’ I was very uncomfortable with that then at that juncture. Mark got hurt, and maybe it was a sign from the seven deities, and it didn’t happen at all. That was something I was a little worried about doing because it was something they wanted me to start doing and pushing me into.”

wrestlingnews.co/wwe-news/matt-hardy-says-vince-mcmahon-once-wanted-him-to-team-with-mark-henry-and-talk-like-a-black-person/

At long last, a gimmick worthy of the frozen neo-nazi and CM Punk: Balloon Salesman has arrived. Vince is one insane motherf***er

This really clarifies a big vague question around early 2004. The talk was always that Matt Hardy was to be "paired" with Mark Henry for Wrestlemania XX, but due to Henry's injury it never happened and Matt became the most notable absence from the card.

I think we all thought somehow there was supposed to be a Matt vs Mark match, but since they never came close at all to crossing paths the story of them potentially being a team never materialized as a possibility. This also explains the clunky card having TWO four-team tag title matches.

This also explains, to a degree, the Matt Hardy & John Cena segments on WWE Confidential too where they had a very visible and enjoyable chemistry.

But yeah, this would have been terrible at the time and even worse in retrospect. I'm glad it didn't happen.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

This smells like a gross rib on Michael Hayes given his connection to Matt Hardy and his behaviour around black talent.

[Starshine]

Feb 25, 2022 18:02:31 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

Feb 25, 2022 17:57:23 GMT -5 Fake Jesus said:

Yeah I think so, I can never remember if it was it or MVP's screwdriver that actually ended up in the sheets. It was the screwdriver right?

the big one I remember from here was Vince not hiring someone for being "Too Asian"

It was Go Shiozaki.

It came off from the actual story coming out of WWE thinking Takeshi Morishima "disrespected his tryout" by turning up in poor shape. Which was weird, cause he'd been that shape for a while, so I'm not sure what they expected. So then the joke created here off that was Shiozaki direspected them as well, but his sin was being "too Asian."

[Alice Syndrome]

Feb 25, 2022 17:59:12 GMT -5 Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby said:

Feb 25, 2022 17:55:29 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

also the Baloon Salesman was joke from like here wasn't it?

I was pretty sure it was a meme from here, along with Deaf CM Punk. 2005-06 was filled with every possible joke about the worst ways to book CM Punk.

I thought the deaf gimmick thing came from him basically getting his face broken in during his OVW debut and having ringing in his ear for a year after that.

[67 more]

Feb 25, 2022 18:35:04 GMT -5 Starshine said:

Feb 25, 2022 18:02:31 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

the big one I remember from here was Vince not hiring someone for being "Too Asian"

It was Go Shiozaki.

It came off from the actual story coming out of WWE thinking Takeshi Morishima "disrespected his tryout" by turning up in poor shape. Which was weird, cause he'd been that shape for a while, so I'm not sure what they expected. So then the joke created here off that was Shiozaki direspected them as well, but his sin was being "too Asian."

Then Vince without a shred of irony would go on to state that Cesaro was "too Swiss".


EDIT: As Platypus Mod has stated, Vince didn't say that. He still pondered that a man's nationality is why he wasn't getting over though.

[A Platypus Rave]

Feb 26, 2022 15:29:45 GMT -5 67 more said:

Feb 25, 2022 18:35:04 GMT -5 Starshine said:

It was Go Shiozaki.

It came off from the actual story coming out of WWE thinking Takeshi Morishima "disrespected his tryout" by turning up in poor shape. Which was weird, cause he'd been that shape for a while, so I'm not sure what they expected. So then the joke created here off that was Shiozaki direspected them as well, but his sin was being "too Asian."

Then Vince without a shred of irony would go on to state that Cesaro was "too Swiss".

He did not.

"Too Swiss" was the headline someone posted for the thread title here to make a reference to the "Too Asian" thing.

Vince actually said something like I don't know maybe it's because he's Swiss...

[Georgina's Fancy Water]

Mattitude Fact: Matt Hardy V1 is 0.3% black

[67 more]

Feb 26, 2022 15:32:57 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

Feb 26, 2022 15:29:45 GMT -5 67 more said:

Then Vince without a shred of irony would go on to state that Cesaro was "too Swiss".

He did not.

"Too Swiss" was the headline someone posted for the thread title here to make a reference to the "Too Asian" thing.

Vince actually said something like I don't know maybe it's because he's Swiss...

Ah, I stand corrected.

[Celexa Bliss 54]

I love learning about old memes from here lol I was unaware of MVP and the screwdriver or "too Asian" before this thread lol

As for the topic, Vince must have had this written in his infamous notebook that Bret Hart mentioned in his book, since they later used the same concept with Charlie Haas during the World's Greatest Tag Team's feud with Cryme Tyme.

[Hypnosis]

Feb 26, 2022 16:07:29 GMT -5 Celexa Bliss 54 said:

I love learning about old memes from here lol I was unaware of MVP and the screwdriver or "too Asian" before this thread lol

As for the topic, Vince must have had this written in his infamous notebook that Bret Hart mentioned in his book, since they later used the same concept with Charlie Haas during the World's Greatest Tag Team's feud with Cryme Tyme.

Rory McAllister in a backstage segment said "I had no clue that Charlie Haas was black" after Haas used some slang.