What's the story?
Jeff Hardy's return to the WWE had been planned for some time and many writers knew that Hardy would be coming in nearly 12 months before the end of his Impact Wrestling contract. Jeff was initially poised for a huge main event singles push, however, the Broken Hardys gimmick changed plans.
This story was broken on the “Dirty Sheets’ Podcast, via our “DS Breaking News” show. You can listen to the Podcast, below (length 7 minutes and 44 seconds).
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In case you didn't know...
The Hardy Boyz returned to WWE at WrestleMania 33, as surprise entrants in the Tag Team Ladder Match and won the Raw Tag Team Championships. Jeff Hardy left the WWE in 2009, after losing a Career vs. Title cage match to CM Punk.
The heart of the matter
While the WWE had planned to re-sign Jeff, there were initially no plans to sign Matt. However, with the success and popularity of the Broken Hardys, the WWE opted to sign both men and Jeff's single push seems to be on hold.
However, given that McMahon isn't particularly a fan of the Broken Hardys gimmick, he will inevitably break the pair up and give Jeff the singles push he originally planned. Although there are no plans for Jeff to become The Universal Champion, he does view him as a main event talent who could challenge for the title and has even mentioned him as a potential opponent for Brock Lesnar.
The WWE did not want to lose Jeff Hardy back in 2009, who was second only to John Cena in merchandise sales when he left.
What's next?
Jeff and Matt will defend their Raw Tag Team Championships against Sheamus and Cesaro at Payback on Sunday 30th April, the next Raw PPV.
Author's take
Fans of Matt Hardy shouldn't be too worried that McMahon clearly still views Jeff as the bigger star. The writing team are huge fans of the Broken Hardys and especially Broken Matt.
When Vince is invested in something, he likes to take full control of it. However, when his focus is elsewhere, it often allows his writing team to produce compelling TV. This explains why SmackDown is a better show than Raw, with Vince being more heavily invested in the red brand, as he sees it as the flagship show.
This will allow the writers to focus on Broken Matt and booking the things they have pushed for. This means we are likely to sign a Bray Wyatt vs. Broken Matt program, while Jeff is likely to face Brock Lesnar during his current title run. These means goods things are coming, as I am keen on seeing both programs.
Be sure to check out my Podcast, “The Dirty Sheets” for the latest breaking news, along with rumours and in-depth analysis. It is available via iTunes.
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