Goldust is headed to WrestleMania after making a “Princess Bride”-themed declaration for the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but it’s looking like “Woken” Matt Hardy might be the Raw Superstar to beat in the fifth annual edition of the melee. The Woken One, returning to in-ring action for the first time since The Ultimate Deletion, maintained his momentum by overcoming a resilient effort from The Bizarre One moments after the former Intercontinental Champion’s Battle Royal announcement.
If it seemed like a particularly inspired performance by the victor, it soon became clear where Hardy got that inspiration from: Matt made a beeline straight for the Andre trophy at ringside, seemingly carrying on a conversation “Humungous Wonder No. 8” that ended in a new mantra of sorts for The Woken One: “Procure!”
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Last week, “Woken” Matt Hardy seemingly vanished Bray Wyatt from the face of the earth at the end of the bizarre, Internet-breaking match known as The Ultimate Deletion. This week, The Woken One followed up his triumph by booking his ticket to WrestleMania as Raw’s latest entrant in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. His warning that anyone who opposes him would face deletion for their actions may have seemed like bizarre bluster just weeks ago, but given the events of The Ultimate Deletion, it may well end up being a most potent premonition.
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Screen Captures > WWE Programs > RAW > 2018 > March 26th – Woken Matt Hardy Promo
“Woken” Matt Hardy has fulfilled the promise he made upon his rebirth several months ago: Bray Wyatt has been deleted.
Their highly-anticipated final battle, dubbed “The Ultimate Deletion” and set within the sprawling grounds of The Hardy Compound, began as a one-on-one contest in a ring, but it quickly turned into a pursuit across the compound once Hardy’s drone, Vanguard 1, ignited the “Boomstick Protocol” and showered the ring in fireworks to allow The Woken One to escape his opponent.
The Eater of Worlds pursued his foe through “The Dilapidated City” (which bore an eerie resemblance to Wyatt’s own destroyed compound), lost track of Hardy in “The Land of Obsolete Men” (where The Woken One led Wyatt on a frantic pursuit among a yard of ornate tombstones) and nearly met his doom in “The Dome of Deletion,” when Hardy commandeered a lawnmower and drove it toward Wyatt while “Ode to Joy” blared through the Compound.
Wyatt recovered, however, and their battle culminated on the shores of The Lake of Reincarnation, when several members of The Woken Family convened to save their patriarch from defeat. Vanguard 1 distracted Wyatt as he was about to administer Sister Abigail, while Hardy ran for cover underneath Skarsgård, his trusty dilapidated boat. When Wyatt moved the boat aside, however, it wasn’t Hardy waiting for him but Señor Benjamin, who tossed a globe at Wyatt and began to sing “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” with an assist from a zombie-eyed Jeff Hardy.
With Wyatt thrown, Matt re-emerged with a Twist of Fate that ended the match, and The Woken One charged The Reaper of Souls to send him tumbling into The Lake of Reincarnation. When Señor Benjamin attempted to retrieve Wyatt from the Lake, he found that the former WWE Champion had vanished altogether. As Hardy celebrated his “delightful” victory, Vanguard 1 flew away with a message flashing across its display: “Deletion: Complete.”
In other words? It’s OVAH.
Credit: WWE.com
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Screen Captures > WWE Programs > RAW > 2018 > March 12th – The Ultimate Deletion Preview
Bray Wyatt challenged “Woken” Matt Hardy to a final battle, and now The Woken One is ready to accept. He even has a location in mind.
After The Reaper of Souls dispatched Rhyno — piling on last week’s decimation of Heath Slater — and demanded The Woken One present himself, Hardy appeared on the TitanTron with a mind-boggling acceptance of Wyatt’s challenge. Hardy not only promised to subject Wyatt to “The Ultimate Deletion,” he vowed to do so beyond the reaches of space and time itself, on the only ground that could possibly play host to the finale of The Great War: The Hardy Compound, where flying drones roam, expansive lakes stretch as far as the eye can see, and the battlefield has been prepared for annihilation.
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