The Hardy way
“Broken” Matt and Jeff Hardy are almost WWE stars again.
Big boss Vince McMahon booted the brothers from the WWE lockerroom in 2010 and they ran over to rival brands Total Nonstop Action (TNA) and Ring Of Honor (ROW) wrestling between 2011 and 2017. But like so many fallen ex-Superstars, the doors have been reopened for the Hardy Boyz to return to the promised land.
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According to sources, Matt (42) and Jeff (39) coming back to the WWE “is a matter of when, not if – it’s a done deal, they just need to finalise their contracts”. The real-life brothers have been free agents since Feb this year when their TNA contracts weren’t renewed and that’s about the same time the WWE rumours popped up too – the official WWE twitter account has posted a handful of Hardy-related tweets since the beginning of March, including a WrestleMania-linked poll just a week before the WWE pay-perview on Sunday 2 April [at print, there were rumours that they’d show up at WrestleMania 33 in Florida…]
THE HARD ’N FAST TRUTH
“Calling the Boyz’ relationship with the WWE a rollercoaster ride is an understatement,” says an insider. Before being “released” from their contracts in 2010, Matt was fired and re-hired in 2005 [his onscreen romance with Lita was real and they had issues offscreen that didn’t sit well with the WWE], while Jeff had been in the naughty corner numerous times for violating the WWE Wellness Policy – aka he’d been using drugs. They didn’t live up to the hype built around them either, so they were dropped. Jeff “lost” a Loser Leaves The WWE match to CM Punk in September 2009, while Matt was given less screentime [he was reportedly arguing about backstage politics, angering the WWE more].
RIPE RETURN
So why a comeback? The Boyz know the company and were WWE stars for 13 years. They’re out of contract and can re-join immediately. They’re fan favourites. Plus, who better to reinvigorate flat tag-team divisions on Raw and SmackDown than the pioneers of the Twist Of Fate finishing move?