While speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Matt Hardy revealed how The Undertaker and Papa Shango were two characters that helped him mold the Broken Character. He wanted to create a throwback and looked to those two iconic gimmicks to help him along the way.
“Well, I mean, that’s why the whole ‘Broken’ Matt Hardy character was created in the first place. Because thinking back and looking at the landscape of things, all these young guys that are 25-35 that are in super top shape, super athletic and super healthy in so many ways, and don’t have their body covered with scar tissue like mine is. When I was thinking about those characters, I said, ‘what if I could do a throwback to the days of Papa Shango? The days of The Undertaker? Trying to create a character that’s somewhat magical, somewhat over the top? And that was the whole mindset.”