Last night on SmackDown Live, Jeff Hardy confirmed the rumors that he will need surgery and said he will be “out for a long time”. So The Hardy Boyz relinquished the SmackDown Tag Titles.
We’ve noted how Jeff suffered a right knee injury at the April 20 WWE live event in Madison, Wisconsin when The Hardys defeated The Usos. Last night’s SmackDown segment saw Jeff blame the injury on the recent TV attack by Lars Sullivan.
This prompted “The Freak” to make his entrance and attack Matt Hardy. Jeff then acted like he was going to fight through the injury, but R-Truth appeared from behind to aid The Hardy Boyz.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work out in Truth’s favor.
The status of The Hardys as been up in the air since Jeff reportedly suffered a right knee injury at the April 20 WWE live event in Madison, Wisconsin when The Hardys defeated The Usos. It was rumored that Jeff may be undergoing surgery after this week’s SmackDown, but that was not confirmed.
There’s no word yet on if WWE plans to take the titles off The Hardys this week, but we will keep you updated. The Hardys just won the titles earlier this month.
Last night on SmackDown Live The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy) defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. After the match, Lars Sullivan came down and attacked the Hardy’s leaving them laying.
Last August, Matt Hardy’s wife, Reby Hardy appeared onBusted Open and spoke about her husband, who was going through a transitional period at the time where he was stepping away from the ring to rehabilitate his back and hip. She also noted his WWE contract would be up in March of this year.
“Matt is good. Matt is right now going through a bit of a transitional period,” Hardy said. “He’s not really sure what he’s going to be doing. His contract is up in March, which I’m not sure many people are aware of. But there’s sort of a decision to be made at this point as to whether or not he should continue his in-ring career or if he should pursue something different, which he would totally be up for and would be excited to do, I feel like.”
Earlier today, Hardy tweeted out photos from 2014 when he held titles in two different indie promotions and wrote how he felt “comfortable” working outside of WWE.
“#TBT 2014 As both the MCW Wrestling & Extreme Rising Champion, whilst working dozens of territories. I’ve always felt comfortable outside of the WWE.”
Hardy would respond to an individual who said that will probably be a tweet he’ll be forced to delete. The WWE Superstar replied it was quite the opposite and noted he has 11 days left on his WWE contract.
“Not a threat at all, just a fact. I have 11 days left on my current deal. I love WWE, but I’m 100% comfortable being outside the walls of pro wrestling’s ‘Alexandria’ Safe-Zone. I’m a born survivalist. My previous tweet will nevah face deletion.”
WWE tag teams have been told that they would be receiving a big push soon, apparently to counter All Elite Wrestling, who will be putting a major focus on tag teams.
The Revival’s Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder were even told that they would be the face of the division. As noted, Dawson and Wilder’s WWE contracts do not expire until April 2020. They recently asked for their releases because they’re serious about doing the best work they can do, and the feeling was that won’t happen in WWE because the company isn’t focused on tag teams. That looks to be changing now.
This week’s RAW indicated that Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins may be getting back together to work the division. The Authors of Pain will be away from the division for several months due to Akam’s leg injury.
On a related note, the contracts for Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy will expire in WrestleMania 35 season but the feeling is that they are staying for at least one more year. The brothers signed a two-year deal in 2017 with a third-year option. It’s believed WWE will pick that option up now. The option does include a significant pay raise for the third year. Matt has been teasing his return to action after taking some time off to heal in 2018.
Contrary to popular belief, Matt Hardy says he’s NOT retiring from professional wrestling in the near future — he’s just been taking time off to heal various injuries.
“I took time off to heal some nagging injuries and I’ll be back sooner rather than later,” he explained. “So, I’ve been doing this twenty-six years. I was just a little beat up. I was given a little time off. From when I’ve been back, for over a year and a half, I was full time. I did everything.”
Adding, “Jeff was off with the surgery, so just had a little bit of time off. I think Bray needed a little time off. He’d had a car accident. So, I think it was just a little bit of time off for everyone. So, I think you’ll see an evolution of Bray Wyatt and an evolution of Matt Hardy.”
Wyatt last wrestled in WWE at Starrcade. The match was not shown on the WWE Network broadcast. Hardy last wrestled in September, but made an appearance at a live event in Spain this month during a pull-apart brawl between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
Matt Hardy spoke with Cultura Colectiva while in Mexico for the recent WWE promotional tour he was on. Hardy was there to promote the December 1 WWE live event in Mexico City, which will feature Superstars from both brands after originally announced as a RAW event.
Hardy, who has been out of action for a few months while he deals with some health issues, revealed that he and brother Jeff Hardy will be teaming up again in Mexico.
Hardy said the following before Roman Reigns took time off to battle leukemia, “It’s going to be earth-shattering! It’s the only live event we’re doing all year and all the top stars of both brands will be there: Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Ronda Rousey, AJ Styles, me, my brother—everybody! I’m in fact gonna petition to have a Hardy Boys tag-team match even though we’re on different brands. I’m excited for this, man.”
Hardy also gave a preview of the House Hardy Halloween special that airs after WWE Evolution on the WWE Network and revealed that his role will be difference once he does return to WWE TV.
“Yes, on the WWE Network there’s gonna be a regular series featuring Woken/Broken Matt Hardy and my family, which will be entitled House Hardy—the first episode is going to air right around Halloween,” Hardy said. “It’s going to be incredibly entertaining! I’m looking forward to that. On the other hand, when I come back to WWE TV, my role is going to be altered a little bit (it won’t be 100% Broken/Woken Hardy.) So, I get to have the best of both worlds.”
Hardy spoke more about his return to WWE TV and how his character will be a bit different. Hardy said “Woken Matt” will live on with the WWE Network.
“It’s not 100% decided what I’ll end up doing once I return to WWE TV, that hasn’t been finalized yet. But I’m pretty sure we’ll take a tangent from the Woken/Broken Matt Hardy persona,” Hardy said. “That persona will definitely live on at the Network, and it might come back out on TV. I feel like when I return to WWE TV it’s gonna be—have you ever seen The Incredible Hulk when Bruce Banner got angry and turned into this green monster?—well, I feel you’re gonna have Matt Hardy and then there’ll be something that causes Matt Hardy to transform into Woken or Broken Matt Hardy.”
On the WWE Network’s Table For 3, The Hardy Boyz, Matt and Jeff, sat down for a meal with fellow WWE Superstar Finn Bálor. Among many other things, Finn and Jeff talked about the use of face paint in their presentations. Also, Finn discussed his future goals and Jeff discussed the possibility of facing off against ‘The Demon King’.
On the subject of face/body paint, Finn indicated that his demon persona helps him manage insecurities.
“It’s very hard to explain, but it’s almost like putting on a mask protects you from people’s judgments and lets you completely flow freely, like, with all your aggression and our animosity against anything. And I think everyone, deep down, has insecurities issues, especially in this business. And I find that maybe getting to hide behind the paint, so to speak, kind of protects you from those insecurities and helps me channel a different side of my personality that isn’t always available to me.”
Moreover, Finn noted that he did not know that the paint would change his body language and demeanor.
“I didn’t realize how much the paint was going to affect how I moved and how I walked. And it wasn’t something that consciously happened. It was because the first time I’d done it was a Tokyo Dome show, I want to say in 2013-14, and I walked out there and I was a completely different person. I hadn’t rehearsed anything, planned anything, but I remember walking to the ring almost in a limp and I was like, ‘why the hell am I limping?’ It was almost as though the paint took control and it changes the direction your mind moves in.”
Jeff agreed with Finn with respect to face paint, saying that it allows him to be free as a performer.
“Every time I paint my face, I’ve always thought of it as my alien skin, the reptilian inside me that makes me different. When I think of aliens, I think of the skin, like, the abstract piece I do on my face, it doesn’t matter. I’m just in such a free zone. I’m just so at peace with myself when I’m doing it. And then, when I do the deal when I close my eyes, and take a picture, I go, ‘tonight, that is my canvas. My face is my canvas.’ Then, I get that, man. You go out there and you’re just more somehow, like, because you’re not your normal self. And to me, it just feels artistically free to express yourself and don’t have a care in the world about what anybody else is thinking! And so, I would be, on purpose, I would be real messy, a lot of the time, with neon, glow-in-the-dark paint. Even after I’d paint my face, I’d go smear it all over my hands and give people confidence not to care at that point in time and just have faith and confidence in yourself and just roll with it.”
As for future goals Finn claimed that he would like to continue to evolve his character. The inaugural WWE Universal Champion stated that his main goal is to create another alter ego for himself.
“Obviously, seeing [the Hardys] continue to evolve the last 25 years, that inspires me to keep evolving my character. And I’m quite happy with how I’m doing at the moment, but I’m always trying to push myself to create something new and I think my main goal going forward over the next five, 10 years would be maybe create another alter ego like you guys have.”
Additionally, Jeff said that he hopes a match between ‘The Enigma’ and ‘The Demon King’ is “inevitable”.
“I’ve heard it a lot, man, and people are kind of waiting to see us, like, ‘I can’t wait to see ‘The Enigma’ and ‘The Demon’ in the ring at the same time’ with painted up faces. Hopefully, that’s inevitable, so we’ll see.”
Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt has been announced for the WWE 205 Live non-televised live events in January. Matt tweeted the following on the announcement:
I shall be working TIRELESSLY on these Eves. Not only must I DELETE the DASTARDLY @WWEBrayWyatt & the HORRENDOUS #SisterAbigail, I must also COUNSEL a MYRIAD of individuals who suffer from the POTENT Spot Monkey ADDICKKTION..
Last night on RAW in Los Angeles may have been the first official appearance for “Woken” Matt Hardy, as seen in the video above. Matt went all in with the “Broken” mannerisms while interrupting a backstage Bray Wyatt promo. We’ve noted how Matt began the “Woken” transformation after a singles loss to Bray on last week’s RAW.
Hardy and Wyatt interrupted each other several times during tonight’s promo before Matt ended it by sentencing Wyatt to “Deletion!” The two have since tweeted about The Great War, indicating that the feud is moving forward.
Below are tweets and the video from the big segment:
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