Matt Hardy, who has had a long career in the pro wrestling industry, has named the best locker room leader he has dealt with. 

There have been numerous stories about veterans laying down the law behind the scenes in the pro wrestling business, and one name that constantly comes up is The Undertaker, whom Matt Hardy named as one of the best.

“The first person that really stands out, I would say, is Undertaker. I feel like ‘Taker was a good guy because he was the locker room leader, people respected him. There were times if he had to crank down on someone, he would and make sure that they were in check. But I think now it’s just very important to lead by example,” he said on “The Ariel Helwani Show. “There would be times where he was hurt or he was beat up, and he would go out there, and he would work, and he would try to work as smart as possible. And he always showed up. He was very loyal to WWE, you know, never left after being there. You know, so he was very much a locker room leader in that capacity.”

Hardy, now a locker room leader in TNA, says he follows The Undertaker’s principles and leads by example. The veteran star added that he is keen to do more behind-the-scenes and has had a conversation with TNA President Carlos Silva about it.

“I would say as of right now, I am more of the locker room leader where guys will say, ‘Hey, what do you think would be good here?'” he said. “I’m older, a little beat up, but even if I’m hurt, and I know there’s something I can do, I can do it safely and get through it. I’ll make it work. And I try to lead by example.”

Hardy also gave a sneak peek into his future after his in-ring career comes to an end, discussing his desire to be part of the creative team and work as a producer.

Jerry “The King” Lawler and “Good Ol’ JR” Jim Ross were the voices of “Raw is War” back in the Attitude Era, as the then-WWF and WCW went head-to-head in the infamous “Monday Night Wars.” Lawler would start his commentary gig, and by 1998, rarely wrestled in the company, but his voice was part of the soundtrack to the historic era. On an episode of “Notsam Wrestling,” Lawler explained that he was never meant to be on the call, but one aspect of the “Monday Night Wars” landed him there.

“[Commentary] was never something that I really wanted to do,” Lawler explained. “I got shoved into that. I was brought into WWE to wrestle… We were getting ready to do ‘Raw’ and it was at the time when people back then, hand shakes were contracts. No real signed contracts or anything. So, we were doing ‘Raw’ and the other guys were doing their show, doing an hour before us, and so, I’ll never forget, Vince was walking around saying, ‘Where’s ‘Macho Man’ [Randy Savage]?” Vince McMahon and ‘Macho Man’ was doing the commentary and he said, ‘Where’s the ‘Macho Man,’ I’ve got to tell him what we’ve [got on] the show today.’ Somebody said, ‘Uh, Vince? Turn on your TV.’ He put it on, and there was ‘Macho Man’ on the other channel.”

Savage left WWF for WCW in 1994, because he didn’t want to transition to a full-time commentary role. Lawler said he believes he had a big, emotional response about the departure, but McMahon no-sold it.

“[Vince] says, ‘King? Could you do the commentary with me tonight and I’ll have a regular guy next week?’ That was it,” Lawler said.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Notsam Wrestling” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Over the last three decades, Matt Hardy has had an undeniably successful career as a pro wrestler, which has included Hardy implementing various versions of himself. Following his initial tag team run with his brother Jeff, Matt debuted his “V1” character on WWE TV, and speaking on “Busted Open Radio,” Hardy recently looked back at that time in his life.

“I’ve tried very hard to be ahead of the curve,” Hardy said. “I was so happy because when Jeff and I first separated … and Jeff was a babyface on ‘Raw’ and I was a heel on ‘SmackDown,’ and I got to do Matt Hardy ‘Version 1,’ that was much more in my lane. … It was character work. I got to be over the top, a little delusional, full of myself.”

Looking back on his time tagging with his brother, Matt noted that Jeff had a clearly defined identity as the high-flyer of the duo. “I was kind of like the meat and potatoes of the team, and Jeff was the guy that would do all the amazing rock star stuff,” Matt stated. Breaking off on his own, Matt had the chance to do something totally original, and he leapt at the opportunity.

Working alongside WWE’s creative team, Hardy integrated digital iconography into his presentation and began presenting “Matt Facts,” poking fun at both himself and the emerging online culture. In many ways, V1 Matt Hardy served as a precursor to some of his later swings, including the recently-returned “Broken” Matt Hardy character.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Busted Open Radio” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.