Vince Russo says 3-time WWE World Champion was "into" his infamous heel turn over a decade ago (Exclusive)

13 years ago, a former WWE Champion turned heel for the first time in what seemed like ages. Vince Russo, one of the masterminds behind this controversial decision, has now come out to say that the star in question was fully on board with the idea.

Russo's statements were made on the back of some scathing criticism from Rob Van Dam. Speaking on his 1 Of A Kind podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer said that he thought the decision to turn Jeff Hardy into a villain in TNA back in 2010 was "the stupidest idea."

On Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Outlaws, Russo responded to RVD and added that everyone involved, including Hardy, was on board with the surprising turn:

"If Jeff [Hardy] wasn't into it, we wouldn't have done it. You've got to understand something, especially with creative talents, and bro, Jeff Hardy was about the most creative talent I ever worked with. When you have a talent that is that creative, they want new things. They want to go out there and perform. Bro, freaking Jeff Hardy was a painter. Like, he was such a creative person so all of a sudden when he's a babyface for X amount of years and we come to him with this idea, to him it's like an actor taking on a role," Russo said. [03:35 - 04:14]

The former WWE writer conceded that Hardy's infamous match against Sting at Victory Road 2011 brought The Charismatic Enigma's heel run to an abrupt end:

"We all agreed to do it. It was a great storyline. It worked the night that we did it. But, like I said, bro, it was short-lived because of what happened five months later." [04:22-04:34]

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Legendary WWE tag team set for huge match this week

Jeff Hardy will compete in AEW alongside his brother today. The Hardy Boyz have had countless memorable moments in both WWE and TNA, and will look to put on another spectacle when they take on The Young Bucks on Wednesday for the first time in over 400 days.

These famed teams have faced off several times in the past, with quite a few of their matches receiving critical acclaim. With the Hardy Brothers no longer in their physical prime, it will be interesting to see how they adapt to put on a show for the AEW faithful.

Their previous match took place at Double or Nothing 2022, with the Hardys scoring a victory after a lengthy back-and-forth match. Only time will tell whether history repeats itself, but with The Young Bucks carrying momentum from their Blood & Guts win a few weeks back, this seems unlikely.

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