WWE News: Jeff Hardy Out Until Late 2016 Due To Needed Surgery, Could This Affect His Jump To WWE?
Current TNA Wrestling star Jeff Hardy has been one of the top stars in all of professional wrestling for over a decade now. He first made his name in WWE with his brother Matt Hardy. Both men came up as tag team performers but slowly moved into the singles world, where they excelled. Jeff Hardy was always the bigger star, potentially due to his style. He also could do no wrong with his fans.
Jeff Hardy has been suspended numerous times for drug issues in his career with WWE and even with TNA. However, Hardy never lost his fans and only seemed to gather more, with many hoping he would clean up and get better so that they could enjoy him in the ring. Hardy, meanwhile, had stayed virtually injury free in his career. No one really knows how he was able to accomplish this either.
Sadly, 2015 was the year of the injury bug. Now going into 2016, he is still suffering through an issue and at a very bad time. Both Matt and Jeff Hardy have not only teased a return to WWE, they have been close to flat out saying they are coming back a few times. Whether it was Matt telling Bubba Ray Dudley he would see them soon or Jeff telling people that he could handle the WWE schedule unprompted.
Now, Jeff’s return could be held off for a while.
According to the Wrestling Observer, Jeff Hardy needs yet another knee surgery. The timetable won’t be known for his return until after his surgery is done, which could be any time now. However, the current prognosis is that he will be out until late 2016. Jeff also told friends that he would have to tone down his style a bit due to the surgery since he simply cannot wrestle the way he did in the past.
Both Matt and Jeff Hardy have a contract with TNA that runs up until February of 2016. The idea was that if they did not have a non-compete clause, they would jump to WWE soon after and potentially appear at WrestleMania 32. However, due to Jeff Hardy’s injury, that seems doubtful at best. However, his brother Matt Hardy could be able to work with WWE until his brother’s return.
Many feel that Matt could go to WWE NXT and have a run similar to Rhyno, James Storm, and Samoa Joe. He could work there to help the young talent while also being a big name to bring attention to the product. Due to Matt arguably being the most popular star to work there outside of Jushin Liger, it brings a lot of attention to NXT, even more than it already has. On top of this, we would know automatically that he could go up with his brother once he is healed up from surgery.
Matt could always work the independents or simply stay with TNA Wrestling for a while longer. However, with everyone knowing the jump to WWE was coming, a job with TNA would seem a bit tough to work. Plus, with the connections he has with people like James Storm and Samoa Joe, NXT makes the most sense.
Some people believe after he was released years ago, he would never work for WWE again. Matt literally got himself fired because WWE didn’t want to release him. He was out of shape, tired of the schedule, and wanted to work with his brother in TNA. He also got into substance abuse, which ended up costing him his job with TNA in fact. Thankfully, he has cleaned up years later and is perfectly fine.
Some believe Jeff Hardy had similar issues. Jeff actually left when his deal expired with WWE and was not fired for any reason. He didn’t care for the schedule and needed a break. He got the short break he needed and ended up joining TNA yet again in January of the following year. So both Hardy brothers have a shot to return to WWE without much hesitation on WWE’s end. It is expected we could see both Matt and Jeff Hardy back in WWE by WWE SummerSlam, but it really all depends on how Jeff heals up.
[Image via TNA Wrestling]
