If your memories of Matt Hardy are from the late 1990s in WWE as a team team with brother Jeff, well, a few things have changed since then.

Hardy is now known as “Broken” Matt Hardy and his “Broken Brilliance” is at the center of what he said will be a resurgence of TNA Impact Wrestling following seemingly years of strife surrounding the company’s ownership and future.

The next phase comes Thursday with Total Nonstop Deletion (Pop, 8 p.m. ET). The two-hour show was filmed at the Hardy Compound in Cameron, N.C., and much of the final hour will be a Tag Team Apocalypto.

“I feel in a very bold statement that Apocalypto will be people’s favorite wrestling match of all time,” Hardy said.

Hardy has invited tag teams from different promotions and from the past. Who actually will be involved has been a closely held secret. Hardy said only 75 people were at the compound for the filming. In recent days, Hardy has thrown out invitations on Twitter to Degeneration X, WWE tag team champions the New Day, The Wyatt Family and legendary 1980s tag team the Rock & Roll Express. Bray Wyatt responded to the invitation with, “You know where to find us.”

“We have to prove to my Seven Deities that myself and Brother Nero (that) we are the greatest tag team in all of space and all of time because if we do not, they will destroy the property that I live upon, which is the sacred Land of Deletion,” Hardy said during an in-character interview with For The Win. “The stakes are very high. This 45-50 minute-match/movie is going to be the most amazing wrestling match we have ever seen. People are going to watch it over and over and over again.”

The show also features a TNA title match between Lashley and Eddie Edwards, an appearance by Sienna and more. TNA also is promoting the in-ring debut of Hardy’s 17-month-old son Maxel.

Hardy’s new character — he now has a shock of blonde hair and a beard and speaks with an accent — has drawn raves from wrestling observers for its execution and its courage. In his early 40s and with 20-plus years in the wrestling business and an already identifiable brand, Hardy took a bold step.

“Of course there was a lot of risk. Any time there’s a change of character, there’s a lot of risk,” he said, before jumping back into character. “In some ways I had no choice. Brother Nero hurt me, and all of a sudden, after the injuries at the end of the I Quit match, the Seven Deities contacted me and they are constantly in my head … I had a new direction. I had no choice but stepping out of my comfort zone and embracing my broken brilliance and my broken universe. Fortunately for everyone involved, the wrestling fans have embraced that as well.”

Here is more of our conversation on the future of TNA, his bucket list, the possibility of returning to WWE and more. One thing you will notice is that Hardy’s “broken universe” has its own language in some ways. Meekmahan is WWE boss Vince McMahon, for example.

The Deletion series has gotten a lot of attention and been very well-received. Has the response surprised you?

The very first contract signing between myself and Brother Nero, either people loved the segment or people absolutely hated it. I knew we were on to something because it evoked so much emotion and that’s the most important thing in this industry. After Final Deletion and Delete or Decay and the Great War, people have embraced my broken universe.

The whole goal of the broken universe is to entertain wrestling fans on the largest level, and I feel like we have tapped into something that has never been done in the wrestling industry. The people that have loved those little bits and pieces whenever a segment or two aired on Impact Wrestling television are going to be in love with this — all the fun, all the insanity, all the craziness.

Much of the coverage of TNA has focused on its financial troubles, the lawsuits involving the ownership, questions of whether shows will go on as scheduled. It seems that the Deletion and what you are doing has been one of the only things to break through that. Fair statement?

I feel like the broken universe and my broken brilliance have really stood out in Impact Wrestling and kept it alive when there has been so much negative news. And going forward, after this match, I am willing to infuse my broken brilliance even more in Impact Wrestling. The new majority owner that has come aboard, Anthem Sports, are the people who have allowed me to do this entire show — the entire two hours from my compound, Total Nonstop Deletion.

I think this will be a new beginning and not just something where people say it’s a new beginning. I actually do think it will be a new beginning. A lot of things from the old Impact Wrestling are going to change. It’s something that was needed. In 2017, there will be a fresh start and they will help take Impact Wrestling into a new direction — not only where it can thrive, but where it can realize its full potential.

When you talk to the talent at TNA, you get the sense that they are giving all they can to make the product as good as it can be despite the front office issues. But how difficult is that, to block it all out?

I’m sure to many of the other roster members it’s even more difficult than it is for me. I’m fortunate that I’m in a position where even if all this went away, I would be totally fine, considering I have done this for a quarter of century. Ultimately, I want to push this broken universe and become the centerpiece of TNA and Impact Wrestling and give them an identity. I want the broken university to be the vanguard of that. It’s challenging with the negativity, but the potential of the talent there is truly unlimited.

You made a surprise appearance on the video screen at Ring of Honor’s Final Battle to confront the Young Bucks. Rumors are that the teams will tangle again at Supercard of Honor XI in Lakeland, Fla., on WrestleMania weekend. Given the different promotions, how did this come about?

I had Vanguard 1 (Hardy’s drone) hack into the ROH feed at Final Battle, and obviously I wanted to send a message to have the Bucks of Youth appear at Apocalypto. But if they do not, myself and Brother Nero, in order to prove we are the greatest tag team in all of space and all of time will have to seek out these Bucks of Youth and defeat them. Many people view them as the greatest tag team currently. We must prove that we are. That is what the Seven Deities have mandated us to do. Then they took a shot back at my broken brilliance by having some phony drone (at the ROH TV tapings). Vanguard 1 was with me in the UK. They super-kicked a phony drone and that is blasphemy. For that, they deserve Deletion.

There is certainly a conflict between the Broken Hardys and the Bucks of Youth. I believe Impact Wrestling is absolutely cool with my building a bridge with the ROH. I hope the ROH is cool with their talent walking across that bridge and into my broken universe. That is paramount that happens.

It came as a total surprise. There are few of those in the wrestling business these days.

That is one of the things I really desired out of that. I want wrestling fans to be surprised, to be shocked. That happens so little in the year 2016. It will happen more in 2017. That is my goal. The way my broken universe is created and designed there are many things we can do to surprise wrestling fans, and I hope other people get on board with it. I am totally on board going to the honorable ring and doing a match, but I want them to allow the Bucks of Youth to come to Impact Wrestling to do a match. If Meekmahan would send the Day of the New to Apocalypto, I would totally go to RAW with Brother Nero. I want to do what is best for the professional wrestling fans. I want to entertain people and let them have fun and be surprised. That is the goal of my broken universe.

With 23 years in the business, what’s left on the bucket list for you?

After myself and Brother Nero prove we are the best tag team in all of space and all of time, I would imagine the next mission you will see me upon would be to reclaim the title of the world in Impact Wrestling.

As far as a bucket list goes, when I started wrestling as Matt Hardy before my broken brilliance, my initial goal was to win the world tag team titles one time with Brother Nero. We’ve long surpassed that expectation.

Now I don’t know what’s really left other than trying to contribute and trying to give back and trying to make the industry better. The industry is more places than WWE and Meekmahan’s show. It needs Impact Wrestling to thrive and I want all the wrestling companies to do go great, whether that’s the honorable ring or subterranean lucha (Luchas Underground). It helps the talent, gives younger kids the chance to live out their dreams, and it’s beneficial to the wrestling fans.

It seems like a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame is obvious when you retire, but do you see yourself working there again?

Anything is possible. My contract is up toward the end of February. Right now, if all things work out and I get my way, I want to play a bigger part and be instrumental in helping Impact Wrestling reach its fullest potential. That is the most paramount thing to me and all important. The Hall of Fame and this Meekmahan stuff, that is not something that is vital to me. If it happens later on, it happens.