After Jeff Hardy was released from WWE people immediately started talking about the possibility of Jeff joining AEW. Ultimately he did end up joining All Elite Wrestling, but it sounds like his debut was put together at the last minute.
Matt Hard recently discussed Jeff’s AEW debut on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast and he noted that Jeff’s non-compete clause with WWE expired the day before the Charismatic Enigma debuted on AEW programming.
“He takes [the non-compete clause] as serious as a heart attack, is the old saying. He just won’t do it. He feels it’s not worthwhile to do. The way that deal went is we know I’m turning babyface at some point; it turns out Jeff’s no-compete clause ends on a Tuesday and there’s a Dynamite the next night.”
Matt explained that after Jeff’s non-compete clause expired he texted his bosses asking if Jeff was going to be used on Dynamite, but he didn’t hear anything back. He then got a call at 5:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning asking if Jeff was available, and then arrangements were made to bring Jeff to Dynamite. Matt also noted that AEW hadn’t made creative plans for Jeff due to his status with WWE.
“I was going to turn babyface regardless if Jeff came or not. There were no Jeff plans. They didn’t make Jeff creative plans. Tony refused to do that; only after Jeff got released from WWE. I could’ve turned baby face, done a program with Andrade for four weeks or whatever, and then Jeff could’ve showed up. There was no plans at that time [for Jeff].”
Jeff Hardy only appeared on AEW programming for a short time as he was later suspended following his DUI arrest. His future with the company remains unclear at this point.
H/T Wrestling Inc.
