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Big Update On Broken Hardys’ WWE Plans: Jeff Hardy Spills Beans On ROH Deal

By Lorenzo Tanos
Published on: 23:33 PST, Mar 14, 2017

It’s still anybody’s guess as to whether The Broken Hardys will return to WWE, years after their original heyday as The Hardy Boyz. But with speculation rife about the length of their current deal with Ring of Honor Wrestling, Jeff Hardy clarified things in a recent interview, confirming that their ROH contract is indeed a short-term agreement.

In an interview with SEScoops, former Impact Wrestling mainstay Jeff Hardy sat down to promote the upcoming movie The Favorite, where he stars as a retired MMA fighter-turned-fight promoter. But his interview was also notable for his comments on how he and older brother Matt currently stand in ROH, and the latest on their ongoing spat with Impact Wrestling parent company, Anthem Sports & Entertainment, regarding the use of their “Broken” gimmicks outside the promotion.

When asked about the length of their contracts with ROH, Jeff Hardy was clear when he told SEScoops that the deals won’t have them wrestling for the company for long.

“It’s a short-term deal and it’s cool because we can still work the indies like we’ve been doing. We’ve really had a good time on the independent circuit. We sell a lot of merchandise and take a lot of pictures with fans. It’s great to be your own boss and being able to do TV with Ring of Honor as well.”

While it’s not sure whether the Broken Hardys will be in WWE, it would appear that there may be one big catch if they sign with the company. According to Flickering Myth, there’s currently a dispute regarding who has the right to use the massively-popular “Broken” gimmicks.

As both Matt and Jeff Hardy created their current gimmicks and the characters within the so-called “Broken Universe,” they believe they have the right to use the gimmicks wherever they may work, but Impact Wrestling claims in the contrary, asserting that they own the gimmicks because Matt and Jeff created them while they were competing for the company, then known as TNA.

Additionally, Cageside Seats wrote last week that Matt Hardy’s wife, Reby, went on an extended Twitter rant, complaining about how Impact had supposedly tried to sue the Broken Hardys for using their familiar gimmicks in ROH.

Jeff Hardy shared some information to SEScoops about the current situation with his and Matt’s Broken Universe, and how Impact refuses to let them use their gimmicks elsewhere.

“It started when I broke my leg in April of 2015. The positive outcome of (my accident) is that Broken Matt Hardy was born. Brother Nero was born as well. The stuff we did at our home, Final Deletion, was the highest rated show all year for Impact Wrestling and it was just four guys and a couple sound people. We did it all on our own and we totally developed the characters all on our own. For them to hold this against us like this is very sad and heartbreaking.”

Due to the ongoing dispute with Impact Wrestling, it’s not sure if The Broken Hardys could rejoin WWE as “Broken” Matt and Brother Nero. According to GiveMeSport, this would theoretically be possible, provided WWE pays Impact a percentage of royalties in exchange for allowing Matt and Jeff Hardy to play the roles that got them over big-time in 2016.

Since WWE might not be willing to play ball with Impact in that regard, there’s a good chance that Matt and Jeff, should they return to the company, may come back using their old gimmicks, with Matt dropping his put-on British-sounding accent and distinctive use of words (primarily the word “delete”) and Jeff (full name: Jeffrey Nero Hardy) not using his middle name as part of his ring name.

Despite those potential pitfalls, Jeff told SEScoops that he’s optimistic that fans will one day get to see the Broken Hardys back in WWE, introducing their quirky “universe” to the company they debuted in over two decades ago.

“I would love to introduce the Broken Universe to WWE eventually. I think it would be huge.”

[Featured Image by Impact Wrestling]

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