Matt Hardy Weighs In On Penta's WWE Raw Debut And Merchandising Strategy

Penta continues to receive rave reviews for his debut match on WWE Raw this week.

The former TNA World Champion and AEW World Tag Team Champion was introduced as Chad Gable's surprise opponent, with both men proceeding to tear the house down for 13 minutes in front of a sold out San Jose audience.

Original plans called for Penta to team with Rey Mysterio to take on the New Day, but for an undisclosed reason, those plans were altered to Penta competing in a singles match.

On the latest episode of the The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy Podcast, the reigning TNA Tag Team Champion said he thought WWE absolutely nailed the debut of his former AEW colleague.

"Chad Gable was great for him. Chad Gable is just, he's tremendous. He is such a great talent and he's also just a great guy on top of this as well. But just for Penta to go out and work against Chad Gable and in a really competitive, good, strong match is just how Penta needed to be introduced."

On top of being a great in-ring performer, Hardy said that Penta really understands the entertainment aspect of the business, which will only increase his chances of achieving great success in WWE. That and Penta's marketability.

"I think capitalizing on his mask is a huge deal. And you know, WWE, nobody does merchandising better than they do. So yeah, great. I thought it was smart to go ahead and put it out right from the jump because there are so many people in the know. There's so many people that follow the business and those people are willing to spend money and and buy merch on some occasions. So yeah, put it out there man. I didn't hate that at all."

While Penta will have the opportunity to flourish as a singles star for the foreseeable future, Hardy believes it's only inevitable at this point that his real life brother, Rey Fenix, will be joining him in WWE once his AEW contract situation eventually gets resolved.

MORE: 5 Facts About Penta El Zero Miedo After His WWE Debut

When the Lucha Bros do reunite, Matt Hardy says the sky is the limit with the WWE machine behind them.

"They'll have a great life and they'll have a great run too," Hardy said. "And I'm so happy for those guys because they're both good dudes. They're both very talented and they have busted their ass working from the bottom up. They've been through the trenches, they've done it all. And I'm very happy to see Penta get an opportunity at WWE. To get put into a spotlight, to get the opportunity to be a star on the highest level possible. I think he's someone who's deserving of that. Rey Fenix as well."

Fenix is currently going through an ugly divorce with All Elite Wrestling. After word surfaced that he and Penta were WWE bound, AEW executives reportedly added injury time to Rey's contract that will keep him with the company for several more months.

Rey Fenix has not competed for AEW since last July.

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