Matt Hardy Quotes

You do take a beating in professional wrestling. But I love it.

In the '70s and the '80s, what wrestlers were doing back then, yes, they're taking bumps, and they're busting up their bodies and things like that, but now, we got these cages: they're falling off.

If I had a son, I would steer him away from wrestling. It was fun for me, but for most it's not healthy in the long run.

With injuries, every match varies. The black eyes are accidents. The broken noses are accidents. But the bumps from when we land on the mat, they're hard. I think it looks easier, or the fans don't really understand what's happening, but it does take a toll.

Getting ready to wrestle is like getting ready for a car crash. Getting ready to work with Brock Lesnar is like knowing you're going to get hit by a bus and the bus is going to back over you. If I'm going to work 'WrestleMania,' 16 weeks out I have to start training like I'm Mayweather getting ready for a fight.

There's nothing I'm doing to my body that a regular person is not doing to theirs outside of just running into somebody at full speed.

Many people don't realize just how dangerous professional wrestling actually is. People can get seriously injured and even paralyzed.

My No. 1 dream match is Brock Lesnar. And I want that to be a WrestleMania match. I don't know if the WWE will ever let that happen, because they might be afraid he might legitimately hurt me pretty bad.

I really have to accept the fact that I'm not a young man anymore, that I've probably taken one lifetime's worth of punishment already, and I really do need to be careful. Certainly I don't want other WWE superstars taking the shots I did. That makes me feel very uncomfortable when I see somebody get hit with an unprotected chair shot.

Guys play basketball and get hurt, and that's probably the easiest sport on the planet. We're actually fighting every day. We're wrestling; we're grappling.

You do get injuries in this sport. More than in other sports.

It is pretty daunting - the Cell has been responsible for some amazing matches, but it can also lead to some pretty real injuries, so that plays into your mind.

I've been hit with kendo sticks and chairs; I've been thrown through tables, broke my ankle, broke my nose, and have had concussions in WWE, but nothing has hurt me more than when I stubbed my toe in 'The Marine 3: Homefront.'

The two sports are as different as Ping-Pong and rugby. In boxing, you don’t know what’s going to happen. In wrestling, it’s already prearranged. But the thing I didn’t know about wrestling is that you really get hurt. Because, you know, you’re wrestling in front of a live audience, and you end up doing things like jumps or slams, and 40 percent of the time you don’t land right.

There's no doubt about it; playing football and how tough it is on the body afterwards.

Look at this, scabs and cuts all over me, I get these every night, every game. They can't tell you that you're not at risk, and you can't tell me there's one guy in the N.B.A. who hasn't thought about it.

If you talk to anyone who's done a stair fall, there's not one stair fall, no matter how many pads you have on or how protected you are, where you don't hurt something really bad.

I am not stupid. I am a very bright guy. I know that in the fighting game, you get people who get brain damage and do themselves long-term harm.

Regardless of how tough you think you are, regardless of how good you think your chin is, we're all only one connected punch away from being hurt, and you've just got to hope your chin holds up and your body holds up.

Everyone has been injured, regardless of whether they're an athlete or not.

You could be the best in the world, but it doesn't matter. It's four-ounce gloves. I've been dropped in practice with a knee to the body. I take a good knee to the body and break my ribs in the fight, I lost. I mean, it's a fight.

Pro wrestling is entertainment, but people get hurt all of the time.

I get paid to get hit in the head.

Boxing is not like any other sport, you have to weigh up the risk and reward. Things like playing football, tennis, you might be three sets to love down, but boxing you're going to the hospital on a stretcher and you know potentially you are going to get an injury you can't walk away from.

I honestly think that we're getting away from the basic structure of wrestling and it causes wrestlers' careers to come up short because of injuries.