Regardless of when his WWE contract expired, it was always Jeff Hardy‘s plan to join his brother in All Elite Wrestling.
The newest addition to the All Elite Wrestling roster, The Charismatic Enigma Jeff Hardy, was a guest on today’s episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked if joining his brother in AEW was always the plan when his WWE contract expired, Jeff confirmed that it was.
“Anybody from AEW or whatever is like, ‘Hey, man, how much longer you got?’ ‘A little under two years now.’ So that was ultimately the plan,” Jeff Hardy confirmed. “Depending on how things went throughout those two years. I mean, I’m in good shape, but I’m still pretty beat up, so I don’t know how much longer I’ve got, and I just want to make the most of the time I do have. I’m sure Matt feels the same way. Like yeah, let’s get this in while we can. And I just felt like I was kind of wasting away in WWE for my good moments that haven’t happened yet while I’m healthy and still feel pretty good out there in the ring. So yeah, I just feel valued now. And I think that’s very important as a performer.”
When asked how he felt about WWE offering a spot in the Hall of Fame this year, Jeff had trouble truly conveying his emotions but said that it felt completely wrong and that he almost felt offended by it.
“I don’t know. It just felt completely wrong. Like it just didn’t feel like the time at all, and I almost felt offended,” Jeff Hardy admitted. “I was very emotional but almost felt offended. I was like, ‘So wait, what? After my 90 days is up and the Hall of Fame’s in April or whatever, and I do go to AEW, how’s that going to work? What kind of plan — what are y’all trying to hit me with here, like as far as not to sign with AEW when I’m free and then me going to the Hall of Fame. How would that even work?’ My mind and emotion kind of went crazy, and I was in tears, man. Because this is my career, you know?
“I know I’ve been a very influential person to a lot of like, young misunderstood individuals. But yeah, it just felt so wrong and almost felt like how dare you in a sense, and I know it sounds crazy. I guess when people get offered the Hall of Fame. It’s like, oh, of course. Yeah. I’m a Hall of Famer. It’s never really meant that much to me, like the Hall of Fame or whatever it is. But it’s not time for that. And that’s why it was just a hard no. Especially it feels like something Matt and I should go in together as the Hardy Boyz when the time is right. So yeah, it was just weird, man. I still don’t know how I feel about that. Like overall, it just felt so wrong. Just yeah. Maybe I should have said this, ‘But wait a minute, what if I’m in AEW at the time of the Hall of Fame? How does that work?'”
Matt Hardy then suggested that WWE would have likely placed Jeff under some kind of new deal that would have prevented him from signing with All Elite Wrestling. Jeff agreed and assumes they would have tried to put him under some kind of legends deal. The interview then wrapped up as Jon Alba asked Jeff where he was physically and mentally. Jeff revealed that he feels great but understands how people on the outside could look at the situation back in December and assume there is a problem.
“Oh god, I’m great, and it’s very common for the outsiders that don’t really know me to go, ‘Oh, he’s got a history of drugs and alcohol. Is he okay?’ When you get put into a position where they want you to go away for 28 days from your family, but then your family believes in you like the three people you love most in your life when they believe in me like that’s all that I need,” Jeff Hardy said. “So that’s kind of a time when you go, okay screw the outside world it don’t matter. I hope that don’t sound mean but pretty much fuck the outsiders when it comes to like family, the ones that really matter most and even all this stuff about, ‘Oh, he should have done the Hall of Fame,’ it kind of makes me sick. It’s just I’m very comfortable in my own skin, and I believe in myself so much, and my family does too. And that’s really all that matters.”
What do you make of Jeff Hardy’s comments? Are you happy that he turned down WWE’s offer to go into the Hall of Fame this year? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy along with a link back to this article for the transcription.
