Matt Hardy Weighs in on Vikingo Booking Controversy

After AEW announced a dream match for the March 22 episode of Dynamite between Kenny Omega and El Hijo del Vikingo, some fans took to the internet to ask "where's the story?"

Prior to the match and on commentary, it was explained that Omega vs. Vikingo was supposed to happen in 2021 for the AAA Mega Championship. This was during Omega's "Belt Collector" run and unfortunately, he vacated all titles because he needed surgery. Vikingo won the vacated title in 2022 and has held it ever since.

On the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy and his guest, "All Ego" Ethan Page weighed in. Hardy said that he understands why Tony Khan booked the match. He did it for the hardcore AEW fanbase. "It probably made those guys go crazy for this match announcement because they were so excited. But I still do believe there's a number of AEW fans who are more casual watchers, who probably haven't heard of who he is. I would've loved to have seen a vignette on him."

"Maybe like to see him in action in a match before that built to the Kenny match. That would've been ideal or optimal. TK was ready to get the match on. It could be the only date that Vikingo was available, so he made it happen."

Jon Alba asked Page if he was familiar with Vikingo. "Oh, yeah. Big time. I mean we would travel to Mexico when I worked for IMPACT Wrestling and he was someone that blew my mind and caught my eye instantly. Personally as a fan when the match was announced, I was very excited about it. I guess to touch on the fan complaints, why do you people care so much about how people make their money? It's just so bizarre to me that people care so much about other people's decisions. At the end of the day, my boss wanted to put the match on television. If you want to watch it, watch it. If you don't, it's alright."

Kenny Omega Was Proud to Introduce El Hijo Del Vikingo to AEW's Audience

He continued, "I liken it to mixed martial arts. There's fighters that have never fought on television before that have crazy records on you know, lower level fights on their way to the big stage and not everyone knows who they are. At the end of the day, if they blow people's minds with their performance and their fighting skills, they become a national star overnight."