In 30-plus years as a tag team, TNA tag team champions Matt and Jeff Hardy have wrestled almost all of the biggest teams of the past decade. But they still have a few opponents left on their bucket list.
“In my solo dimension, Roman Reigns is still in that realm,” Jeff said. “That’s a pretty big dream match of mine.”
“As far as tag teams, I’m kind of hung up on the Street Profits,” he continued. “I really admire those guys. I would love to see that happen.”
“I would love to wrestle the Street Profits,” Matt said. “I would love to wrestle the Usos again. I would love to wrestle the New Day. Especially as they’re bad guys now, they’re villains. We haven’t done that. So I would love to wrestle those guys. Also, the Motor City Machine Guns. We have never had a match with those guys.” Matt also named Roman Reigns as his dream singles opponent.
Jeff then added one more team to his wish list. “I got to say this one, too, it’s on my bucket list,” he said. “With the Usos, a cinematic match in the Uso Penitentiary. Go to an old abandoned prison and have a killer cinematic match.”
Four matches are set for next week’s TNA Impact, including a matchup of brotherhood tag teams.
Matt and Jeff Hardy will face Primo and Epico Colon in a tag team battle on the Thursday, March 6 Impact. Matt will be teaming with Elijah, Joe Hendry, and tow mystery partners against The Colons and The System’s JDC, Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards at Sacrifice on March 14.
Also announced, The Northern Armory (Eric Young, Judas Icarus, Travis Williams) will take on Ace Austin, Trey Miguel, and Zachary Wentz in six-man tag action on next week’s Impact.
Mike Santana will face John Skyler in singles competition in another new match announced for next week.
In the Knockouts division, Savannah Evans vs. Xia Brookside is also set for the March 6 episode.
NXT Champion Oba Femi will also address his title defense against Moose set for NXT Roadblock on next week’s Impact.
The announced lineup for the Thursday, March 6 TNA Impact:
Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy vs. Primo Colon & Epico Colon
Eric Young, Judas Icarus & Travis Williams vs. Ace Austin, Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz
Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy made a surprise appearance via video promo on Tuesday’s WWE NXT to answer a challenge for next week’s episode.
After No Quarter Catch Crew’s Tavion Heights and Myles Borne threw down the gauntlet for The Hardy Boyz to face them on next week’s show, Matt and Jeff appeared via a video promo to answer the challenge, agreeing to face the NQCC duo.
The video promo was the first appearance on WWE TV by The Hardys since WWE and TNA officially announced their multi-year partnership. The Hardys currently hold TNA’s Tag Team titles, and hinted at a future match against NXT Tag champs Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) in their promo. That match was first teased at last month’s TNA Impact tapings in a social media post.
WWE’s chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque made a social media post on X to mark the occasion, noting that The Hardys had “re-defined” tag team wrestling for more than 25 years:
Two men who have re-defined tag-team wrestling for over 25 years. The Hardy Boyz have reached the pinnacle of our industry (and often jumped off of it) to the amazement of fans worldwide…
He just had some eye surgery and he’s recovering, probably a few weeks out from being fully physically cleared but hopefully sooner than later he’ll be up for doing stuff physically again.
He did sneak away with his family and go on a little vacation for a few days, which is nice. He’s in a real good place in life. I think he’s very happy where he’s at and it makes me very proud of him and it also fills me with joy that he’s happy with where he’s at in life.
Jeff Hardy’s DUI case stemming from his arrest in June 2022 was closed in February after he submitted a plea of no contendere to all charges. The plea means he agrees to accept punishment for the offense but does not accept or deny responsibility for it.
Jeff was sentenced to time served and will also have his driver’s license suspended for 10 years. He will have to undergo court-mandated DUI school or a drug rehab program, was ordered to pay $4586 in fines and court fees, and was sentenced to an undisclosed amount of community service as well.
Last month on his podcast, Matt Hardy said a potential return to AEW for his brother has not been discussed.
Matt & Jeff Hardy are scheduled to take part in Triplemania Tijuana.
AAA announced at a press conference on Tuesday that the Hardy Boyz will face Dragon Lee & Dralistico on the show. The event will air live on FITE TV from Caliente Stadium in Tijuana, Mexico on June 18.
A multi-woman steel cage match was announced for the event as well. The final two participants left will compete in a singles match with their masks on the line. Chik Tormenta, Sexy Star II, Lady Shani, La Hiedra and Lady Flammer have been announced for the match thus far.
The semi-finals of the Ruleta de la Muerte tournament will also take place on the show. The first round of the tournament will take place on April 30 at Triplemania Monterrey.
Ruleta de la Muerte tournament first round matches are as follows:
In his first full interview since leaving WWE and signing with AEW, Jeff Hardy talked about why he did what he did during that infamous December WWE live event and why he signed with AEW.
Appearing on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, Jeff talked about the events that led to his dismissal from WWE.
“Certain things happen for a reason and subconsciously that was one of the smartest, maybe the smartest thing, I have ever done. Guided by something higher than me, I’ll say,” he said.
That was in reference to the December 4th live event in Edinburg, Texas, when Hardy tagged out of a trios match and then exited through the live crowd as the match was still going on. He was sent home by WWE the following day and later released.
“That night in Edinburg, Texas, for some reason, I finished my heat, I took the heat, and I just said ‘I’m ready to go.’ Went over the railing, disappeared into the crowd and naturally, they think I took something, like drugs or whatever, but I didn’t.
“I thought ‘Man, just another unpredictable thing that I can do and I’ll get away with it’ but it was more serious than that. But again, it was one of the smartest things I have ever done because everything worked out so perfectly mainly because my first day in AEW I felt valuable for the first time, just the care and love I was shown.
“Where at WWE, I just felt like they were just wanting to keep me there to sell more action figures.”
Hardy later clarified that he wasn’t trying to get released, but was doing something that felt right in the moment.
Hardy said that he was going to leave WWE when his contract was up regardless, but still had two years left on his deal. He said he did have some “glimmers of hope” in his last few months.
“The last glimmer of hope was the Survivor Series which was really good. It came down to me and Seth Rollins. I almost won and the crowd was so behind me. I felt like one of the most popular babyfaces in WWE because the crowd was so with me,” he explained, later saying that he was frustrated with last year’s SummerSlam when he was brought to Las Vegas and didn’t do anything on the show.
It was a feeling he had before.
“Then there was other times I just felt like a ghost roaming the halls. Like, why am I even here? I don’t feel important at all. But I kept doing my deal, I just would show up and do whatever they wanted me to do,” he said.
He also spoke about WWE’s offer to put him in the Hall of Fame, saying he “almost felt offended” and “very emotional” as it didn’t feel right.
“I was in tears because I was like this is my career. I know I have been a very influential person to a lot of young, misunderstood individuals. It just felt so wrong. It almost felt like, ‘How dare you?’
“It’s not time for that. That’s why I was just kind of like, ‘That’s a hard no.’ Especially, it feels like something Matt and I should go in together as the Hardy Boyz,” he said.
Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio talking all the latest news in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We talk about the latest on Cody Rhodes, Jeff Hardy in AEW, all of the recent AEW business news concerning their AEW Revolution PPV buy rate, ticket sales, and ratings for AEW Dynamite.
We also talk about William Regal guesting on Talk Is Jericho, Tony Khan booking ROH’s WrestleMania weekend show, and the possibility of a Kayla Harrison vs Cris Cyborg fight.
Matt Hardy has announced that he has signed a contract extension with AEW.
Speaking on his HouseHardy Twitch stream today, Hardy said that he extended his deal, which now matches his brother Jeff’s in length.
“I’m very happy too. I’ve extended my contract with AEW,” Hardy said. “I’m going to be there a little while longer, and they matched myself and Jeff’s contracts up, which is very cool.”
Matt did not reveal the length of the contract extension.
Matt also stated that both his contract and Jeff’s allow the two to make outside appearances. A Hardy Boyz reunion tour seems to be in the works on the independent circuit, as the duo has already been announced for multiple dates.
Matt debuted with AEW in March 2020. Jeff made his AEW debut on last night’s Dynamite, saving Matt from an attack at the hands of Andrade El Idolo, Jose the assistant, and Private Party.
During the Twitch stream, Matt also detailed the travel difficulties that Jeff faced in making it to Dynamite. The stream can be viewed here.
The Hardy Boyz are once again tag team champions, this time on SmackDown.
Matt and Jeff defeated The Usos tonight on SmackDown after Matt hit the twist of fate on Jimmy, with Jeff scoring the pin following the swanton bomb. The Usos held the championships for 51 days, defeating Shane McMahon and The Miz at Fastlane on February 17.
After they won the titles, Lars Sullivan’s music played. Despite putting up an effort, Sullivan easily dismantled both Matt and Jeff, with Sullivan finishing off Matt with a diving headbutt.
This is the Hardy Boyz’ eighth WWE tag team title victory. Under the WWE banner, they have previously won the Raw tag team titles once and the WWE/World tag team championships six times.
After returning to the company in 2017, they split up the following year as Jeff Hardy went to SmackDown as part of the Superstar Shake-Up. After a long hiatus, Matt returned to SmackDown and reformed the Hardyz tag team, defeating The Bar on February 26.
Matt Hardy is teasing retirement, saying he has fulfilled all of his house show obligations.
In a video posted on his YouTube account last night that was later put on WWE’s website, Hardy talked about his recent success since returning to the WWE. He later went on to say that last night at Corpus Christi, TX was his last house show obligation with the WWE and, while never say never, was likely the last time anyone would see Woken Matt Hardy in a WWE ring.
When someone off camera asked Matt what was next, he replied “I have two young kids and a wife…it’s time for me to go. Time for me to go home.”
Matt’s final match for now was a triple threat tag team match, teaming with Bray Wyatt in a losing effort against The B-Team and Raw tag team champions Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre.
The Hardy Boyz made their return to WWE at WrestleMania 33, competing in a four-way ladder match and winning the Raw tag team titles. After Jeff Hardy tore a rotator cuff later in the year, Hardy reverted to his “Woken” gimmick that he had used before returning to WWE, feuding and eventually teaming with Bray Wyatt.
What does Matt & Jeff Hardy’s return mean for WWE and the act that was formerly the hottest on the independent scene the past few months? Here’s eight post-WrestleMania thoughts.
1) It’s Nice To Have A WrestleMania Surprise
I remember back in 2012 when news leaked that Brock Lesnar was in Florida in preparation for re-entry into the WWE Universe. And yet, when the show that everyone had paid for (yes, those were the days) finished, the big surprise was yet to happen. Instead, it was saved for the next night on Raw.
This has become a pattern when the big developments of the weekend are saved for the television show after the supposed highlight of the promotion’s year. So, the WWE not saving the return of Jeff and Matt Hardy for Raw was a welcome deviation from the norm.
2) The Hardy Boyz Are Lunatics
This was their second ladder match in as many days. In a sane world, no wrestler would do more than one in a year. Good on them for making sure to put over the Young Bucks before they signed with WWE, but wow, what a physical way to spend a weekend.
3) This Needs To Be A Clean Slate
None of the teams the Hardys defeated should long stay in the division, so thoroughly have they be defined down as second-rate acts. Cass would be better as a singles act with Enzo as his manager, Cesaro and Sheamus both need to go down to NXT to rehab their rep as singles acts, and The Club needs to (finally) become the henchmen of either AJ Styles or Finn Balor.
Even if none of that happens, if the Hardys spend the next few months defending against joke acts, the buzz from their return will be wasted. Just as those who fight monsters become monsters, those who wrestle midcarders become midcarders.
4) Place Your Bets On The Revival Going To Raw
NXT TakeOver made it clear that The Revival were about to go to the main roster, and the assumption was that they would go to SmackDown to breathe life into that brand’s tag team division. However, the Hardys’ victory makes it far more likely they end up on Raw. The Hardys would surely have asked for reassurance that they’d be in a creatively satisfying environment, and being immediately matched with Dash and Dawson would be an obvious act of reassurance for the promotion to make.
Given that the Hardys began as a ersatz Rock’n’Roll Express, they would perfectly slot into The Revival’s formula.
5) SmackDown Would Have Been A Better Fit
It’s hard to see how the Hardy Boyz break out of the midcard considering how focused Raw is on The Authority, Roman Reigns, and Lesnar. One cannot help but wonder whether two men who in any other non-Japanese promotion would be genuine headliners as a tag team may be lost in the shuffle due to Vince McMahon’s disinterest in tag teams.
One also cannot help but wonder whether they’d have more long-term success on SmackDown due to the brand having to carry less of the heavy lifting for the WWE’s major storylines and its beng (alas only) one step removed from McMahon’s idiosyncrasies.
6) Should They Have Returned As A Tag Team?
It’s easy to forget, but Jeff Hardy is one of the few superstars in the post-Attitude Era that was successfully pushed to the point where he legitimately became a money-drawing headliner. Given the promotion’s lack of headliners, it’s hard not to wonder whether it’s a waste to put such a popular superstar in what they see as a mid-card division. Jeff could easily headline PPV events as a singles star, and even in the Network Era, it’s hard to see the Hardyz doing that as a team.
Likewise, Matt is one of the most inventive minds in the business. His tastes are not the same as mine, but I appreciate that he’s thinking outside the box. Reprising the daredevil tag team babyface act he outgrew in 2002 seems like a poor use of his creativity. Maybe he would have been better as a single in NXT, a setting that would have given him the freedom to continue to push the boundaries of pro wrestling storytelling. NXT could certainly use somebody of his stature on their roster.
Of course, WWE could always build a main event tag team division around them, but then again, I could win the lottery.
7) Back in Bland
Matt still has the skunk-esque dash of grey hair but otherwise, what we got at WrestleMania was the classic Hardy Boyz. The problem, of course, is that after so many years, the standard demanded of tag teams has risen, and their bodies have degraded. Robbed of their outlandish Broken Characters, they may not be able to build on the momentum coming out of their return.
8) Indie-Disaster
It’s easy to obsess about whether WWE will make the most of the Hardy Boyz to ignore the promotions that did properly utilise them. Just this weekend, Ring of Honor drew 4000 fans off their fame, and either brother has successfully headlined independent shows as a single or together as a tag team.
Them leaving the independent scene robs the grassroots of a headliner act that can make their shows economically viable. If WWE keeps snatching headliners from the indies, they’re going to rip out the roots of the ecosystem from which their current superstars grew. The sad fact is that unless they overturn the McMahon family’s multi-generational disdain for tag team wrestling, the Hardyz could have done more good for the business on the indies than in WWE.
Will Cooling writes for Fighting Spirit Magazine, the UK’s biggest and best full-colour pro-wrestling and mixed martial arts newsstand magazine. This month, he interviews Travis Banks about what it takes to successfully manage the business side of the pro wrestling business. FSM is available in print from all good British and Irish newsagents, and the digital edition is avaiable worldwide.
