AEW star Jeff Hardy didn’t look himself at Double or Nothing this Sunday. Taking part in a tag match alongside his brother Matt against The Young Bucks, the younger Hardy appeared to be a bit sluggish, prompting concern from fans online.
Since then, Jeff has been pulled from a match set for Dynamite this Wednesday. AEW had announced a 10-man tag match involving The Hardys, Jurassic Express and Christian Cage against the Undisputed Elite but trimmed it to an eight-man affair, with Jeff and Adam Cole getting pulled. It’s believed to be because of the former’s status.
According to Dave Meltzer, Hardy went into Sunday’s match still banged up from the Owen Hart Cup match in which he faced Darby Allin on May 11. It appears Hardy hasn’t fully recovered from what he’s been putting his body through and is in need of a rest.
"Jeff Hardy was a mess going into Double Or Nothing. From what I was told, it was really the Darby Allin match, he's beat up. The one thing, when he went to AEW, you can watch those highlight reels and see how he did some big stunts at his age and he's paying for it now." Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio (H/T WrestlingNews.co).
"Jeff was having a tough go in that tag team match. Every time he moved, it was a painful reminder that this guy is hurting really bad."
WWE Acted A Bit Too Quickly
Jeff became All Elite back in March after being released from his WWE contract in late 2021. It was reported that the 44-year-old seemed out of sorts during a house show and refused rehab. He would pass a subsequent drug test but, by then, it was too late. He turned down an offer to return, as well as the offer of a Hall of Fame induction supposedly meant to keep him away from AEW.
"It just felt completely wrong, it just didn't feel like the time at all," Jeff explained during an episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy. "I almost felt offended, I was very emotional, but almost felt offended like what? After my 90 days are up, the Hall of Fame is in April and I do go to AEW, how's that going to work?
“What are y'all trying to hit me with as far as if I sign with AEW when I'm free and me going into the Hall of Fame and how would that even work? My mind and my emotion went crazy and I was in tears man, like this is my career. I know I had been a very influential person to a lot of young misunderstood individuals but yeah, it just felt so wrong. Like how dare you?"
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