Matt Hardy’s death hoax unsettles fans and collides with live nights — ticket rush and a tense TNA main event feel the impact

Mo. Basuony

Published: February 27, 2026 9:45 AM ET

Matt Hardy’s death hoax unsettles fans and collides with live nights — ticket rush and a tense TNA main event feel the impact

Why this matters now: A viral fake obituary pushed straight into a live-show night, forcing matt hardy to clear the air publicly and shifting attention from an already busy pro-wrestling calendar that includes a key episode of TNA iMPACT! and a looming wave of WrestleMania 42 ticket sales. Fans, talent and event organizers all felt the ripple effect within hours.

Matt Hardy pushes back on the fake obituary and its immediate fallout

Matt Hardy moved quickly to debunk a spreading death hoax that originated on a fake Bill Goldberg social media page using AI-generated images. The post attracted more than 1, 800 comments and about 1, 000 shares, and the bogus obituary was sent to him nearly 100 times—one follow-up noted it was sent 100 times during the day—prompting him to address followers directly on Instagram on Thursday.

Here’s the part that matters: the false report landed on the same night he was scheduled to appear in a main event on TNA iMPACT!, turning what should have been routine promotion into crisis control for fans and for the show’s live storytelling.

How the hoax played out, the social response and Hardy’s on-camera tone

Hardy used his Instagram post to both reassure followers and lean into his “Broken” persona while promoting the scheduled main event. A separate post-format clip began with The Undertaker’s signature gong playing over the fake obituary posts before cutting to Hardy. He made a point of promoting the match set to start at 9 p. m. ET on the network carrying the show, and in other mentions the start time was placed as 9 p. m. Eastern.

Paraphrasing his message: he told fans the rumors were not true, that he and Jeff Hardy were alive and would be featured that night in the main event of TNA iMPACT!, and that they would reluctantly team with The Righteous against The System. He warned The Righteous that betrayal would be met with consequences, using the phrase that boils down to 'don’t test us. ' In comments beneath the post—made from the account shown as @matthardybrand—he apologized for frightening anyone and reiterated it would not be his ghost on the program that night.

What unfolded in the February 26 Nashville main event and the decisive sequence

The February 26 episode of TNA iMPACT! from Nashville closed with an eight-man tag featuring The Hardy Boyz teaming with Vincent and Dutch of The Righteous against The System: Brian Myers, Eddie Edwards, Cedric Alexander and Bear Bronson. The match ended when Vincent pushed Matt Hardy out of harm’s way and absorbed a Boston Knee Party from Eddie Edwards, clearing the path for The System to score the pinfall and the victory.

A brief career timeline tied to this moment and what it signals going forward

April 2024: Matt and Jeff Hardy returned to the promotion at Rebellion.
Upon that return they won the Impact World Tag Team Championship.
Their title reign lasted 183 days before they lost the belts to Nic and Ryan Nemeth.
A few months later they regained the titles in a ladder match.

It’s easy to overlook, but this sequence underlines why a fake obituary landing on a show night can matter: ongoing storylines, title trajectories and fan emotion are all played out live, so false information can change perceptions and social momentum in real time.

WrestleMania 42 week: ticket windows and event scheduling add another layer of pressure

Separately, individual event tickets for the Friday Night SmackDown and Monday Night Raw that bookend WrestleMania 42 Week went on sale Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 1 p. m. ET/10 a. m. PT, with general presales opening at the same time. Friday Night SmackDown is scheduled for Friday, April 17 at T-Mobile Arena, and Monday Night Raw for Monday, April 20 at T-Mobile Arena. WrestleMania 42 itself will take place in Las Vegas in April 2026, an announcement made in June 2025 following a previous WrestleMania held at Allegiant Stadium; this marks the third time Las Vegas will host the event, after 2025 and 1993.

Official Priority Pass packages for the SmackDown and Raw events are being offered through an exclusive partner, promising premium seating, a dedicated entrance and other perks. Fans can still purchase tickets for WrestleMania 42 on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19 at Allegiant Stadium, and the five-day interactive fan experience returns from Thursday, April 16 through Monday, April 20 at the Las Vegas Convention Center South Hall. Ticket availability and package details are open through official ticketing platforms.

What confirms whether this episode is only a blip or a lasting pattern will be the follow-up signals: official match outcomes, how promotions handle verification on social platforms, and ticket-sale updates tied to the WrestleMania schedule. The real question now is how promotions will counter AI-driven hoaxes fast enough to prevent live-event disruption.

Writer’s aside: What’s easy to miss is how quickly modern fake imagery can hijack a night designed for live storytelling; that speed forces performers and promoters to react in public while the camera is still rolling, which is an unusual and difficult position for everyone involved.