WWE Rumors: Former Tag Team Champion Set For Bizarre Gimmick Change


Jeff Hardy has been out of in-ring action since April, following a leg injury he received on an episode of SmackDown Live, which forced him and his brother, Matt Hardy, to vacate their SmackDown Tag Team titles.

While Hardy’s comeback hasn’t been made official, Ringside News reports that he is expected to return to the squared circle in November. Whenever he does return, though, he might not be the same version of himself we saw last time out in WWE.

According to Sportskeeda, the former SmackDown Tag Team Champion is set to reprise his Willow gimmick — a masked character he’s portrayed since his early career days performing in OMEGA, but popularized a few years ago while working for Impact Wrestling.

As noted by the Sportskeeda report, Hardy recently took to Instagram to post a video of him singing the Staind song “It’s Been Awhile.” The performance is cut short, however, as Willow decides to make an appearance.

Willow’s last appearance in wrestling was during Hardy’s feud with Matt during their Impact days, when his sibling was riding high with his “Broken” character. Willow might not represent the most popular side of Hardy, but introducing the character to the WWE Universe might make them see the longstanding alumnus in a new light.

As we saw with Matt trying to resurrect his old Impact character for WWE, albeit with a few tweaks, the company is sometimes open to allowing stars to revisit old gimmicks from elsewhere. At the same time, most fans would argue that Matt’s attempt to bring back his most popular character didn’t live up to former glories.

The change might be refreshing for the younger Hardy, though. As one of the main roster’s veterans, the change of character might be beneficial. While he’s still more than capable of performing at the highest level, allowing him to reinvent himself in WWE’s eyes could give him a new lease of life.

Despite being fairly well booked in the company, the role of Jeff Hardy these days is that of a tag team wrestler or a mid-card nostalgia act, who’s often associated with the Attitude Era and tasked with elevating younger talent.

Whichever version of Hardy fans will see will hopefully help put his recent troubles behind him. As The Inquisitr previously reported, the WWE veteran recently made headlines for public intoxication and his subsequent arrest.

He was found passed out in a public stairwell, but the incident doesn’t appear to have angered WWE management at least.

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