More on Impact Allowing Hardys and Others to Own Their Gimmicks

As mentioned earlier today, head of Anthem and Impact Ed Nordholm said in an interview with Sports Illustrated that he plans to “allow talent to continue to use their IMPACT persona after they leave the company” and will “extend this to all of our current and former talent,” namely the Hardys. This opens the door for the Hardys to finally do their “Broken Universe” gimmick (or WWE’s version of it) in WWE.

PWInsider clarified that Nordholm’s statement means that Impact plans to allow their wrestlers to fully own their gimmicks and all “intellectual property,” including catch phrases, mannerisms, moves, etc. and to be able to retain ownership at their next destination, including WWE and Ring of Honor.

There was no note of any “catch,” like perhaps the wrestlers being forced to pay royalties if they want to use the gimmicks, but something about this seems “suspect,” since it appears to be a complete reversal of position for Nordholm and Impact. It seems to be that Nordholm is positioning Impact as more of a launching point for wrestlers, who would be able to develop themselves and their characters at Impact. This would seemingly make it more enticing for talent to consider working for Impact and would make them appear to be more of a laid back “independent-minded” company rather than a stiff corporate company that will do its best to try to bury its past talent out of spite. The entire Hardys vs. Anthem feud definitely did not do Impact any favors since it happened just as they were trying to relaunch their brand and it left a lot of wrestling fans with a really bad taste in their mouth.