Matt Hardy says WWE wanted to re-sign Jeff Hardy as a means to stop him from going to AEW in 2021. Fans will remember that back in December 2021, the company released Jeff Hardy. This came after Hardy was sent home from a live event in Edinburg, Texas, where he teamed up with Drew McIntyre and Xavier Woods against Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, and Jimmy Uso.
It was reported at that time that WWE thought Hardy was under the influence during this match and wanted him to go to rehab or get fired. Hardy said no to rehab and was subsequently released from his contract. A few months later, he showed up in AEW and reunited with his brother Matt Hardy.
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Matt Hardy Says WWE Offered A Hall Of Fame Induction To Jeff Hardy To Prevent Him From Joining AEW
Brother Nero would later open up about his release and said that he and Vince McMahon saw things differently. He was always going to end up in AEW after his contract with WWE expired anyway, but there were attempts from the company’s side to stop him from doing that.
Recently, Matt Hardy responded to a social media post about Jeff and said the following about it:
“For the record – WWE offered Jeff the HOF because his drug test returned as no drugs – But alcohol was the problem. The WWE wanted to keep Jeff from going to AEW by any means necessary, so they offered the HOF but he had to re-sign. Jeff chose to reunite with me at AEW. #MattFacts”
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Matt and Jeff worked in AEW until 2024, and after that, they signed with TNA Wrestling.
In the past few years, Matt and Jeff have wrestled in a few matches for WWE as part of the TNA roster. Many fans believe both wrestlers will eventually return to the company again for their WWE Hall of Fame inductions.
Do you want Matt and Jeff Hardy to be full-time WWE Superstars again?
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For more on Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy and pro wrestling (WWE, AEW, etc.), you can check out this page. If you’re new to watching wrestling, check out our WWE streaming guide, which is updated for 2026.
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