Jeff Hardy recently made his debut in AEW, which somewhat closed the door on all the drama he had with the WWE a few months prior. The Vince McMahon-led wrestling organization sent Hardy home from its tour after the wrestler appeared disheveled in the ring and left a match midway through by traversing through the audience. It was alleged that after the company received word Hardy passed a drug test following his termination, attempts were made to welcome him back with the additional offer of being inducted into its Hall of Fame. Hardy declined, with many of the details involved going unspoken until the high-flying athlete directly talked about the incident on his brother’s podcast.
Matt Hardy and his co-host John Alba welcomed Jeff Hardy to their podcast The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy to speak about his decision at length. Alba asked about the reasoning behind Hardy rejecting the offer from WWE, and the wrestler explained the timing behind it felt wrong, among other issues.
It just felt completely wrong, it just didn’t feel like the time at all. I almost felt offended, I was very emotional, but almost felt offended, like what? After my 90 days are up, the Hall of Fame is in April and [if] I do go to AEW, how’s that going to work? What are y’all trying to hit me with as far as if I sign with AEW when I’m free and me going into the Hall of Fame and how would that even work? My mind and my emotions went crazy and I was in tears, man, like, this is my career. I know I had been a very influential person to a lot of young misunderstood individuals but yeah, it just felt so wrong. Like, how dare you?
Jeff Hardy apparently went through a lot of emotions after getting the offer from WWE, which isn’t that surprising to hear, especially since he presumably already went through many of them after being ousted to begin with. As he mentioned, Hardy had plans to appear in AEW and reunite with his brother Matt. Rejoining the WWE would have potentially jeopardized that deal, and the timing itself was suspect. Why would the WWE want to induct Jeff Hardy into its Hall of Fame after widespread reports of his firing, along with reports of his future outside the company?
Not a lot of the situation made sense, which might be why Jeff Hardy’s brother Matt mocked the whole firing controversy on AEW. It seemed obvious by then that the two would reunite in AEW (even before Hardy unintentionally announced it), and it's their tag team history that almost definitely comes to mind when most wrestling fans think about either of the siblings, as opposed to wholly for their individual accolades. To that end, Hardy wasn't all that impressed by the WWE inviting him to be inducted into the Hall of Fame without his brother Matt by his side.
I know that sounds crazy because I guess when people get offered the Hall of Fame, it’s like ‘oh, I’m a Hall of Famer,’ but it’s never really meant that much to me. It’s not time for that, that’s why it was a hard no. Especially, it feels like something Matt and I should go in together as The Hardy Boyz when the time is right. It was just weird man, I still don’t know how I feel about that overall. It just felt so wrong.
Jeff Hardy had completely valid reasons for rejecting the WWE’s Hall of Fame invitation, and it’s hard to imagine he won't get another offer down the road. Sure, there are some notable names still missing from the Hall of Fame, but The Hardy Boyz did enough in their careers (and continue to have more exciting matches with other former WWE stars) that fans will forever consider it an "x-treme" snub if the WWE chooses not to extend a second offer. Plus, now that he's back to working with his brother in AEW in order to further solidify their shared legacy, it feels like he ultimately made the right decision.
Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy currently appear on AEW programming, so catch AEW Dynamite over on TBS every Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. ET, or on TNT for Rampage on Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET. Fans can also check out some of the duo's classic matches on the WWE Network, which is available to stream with a Peacock Premium subscription.
