What’s the story?
A number of stars were absent from WWE RAW last night, as the bumps and bruises accrued at Extreme Rules were left to heal. One marquee pair of absentees were none other than the now-former WWE RAW Tag Team Champions The Hardy Boyz.
Cageside Seats is speculating that the imminent arrival of the newest Hardy Boy may well be the reason for that.
Former WWE writer buries Judgment Day HERE
In case you didn’t know...
Matt and Jeff went into Extreme Rules as the RAW Tag Team Champions, after an immensely successful return to the WWE. Team Extreme’s luck ran out in Baltimore, however, as Sheamus & Cesaro managed to overcome confusing rules and the daredevil antics of Jeff to win the belts in a Steel Cage match.
The new champions defeated Heath Slater & Rhyno last night before mocking the absent Hardy Boyz.
The heart of the matter
Cageside Seats is speculating that the plan may well have always been for Matt and Jeff to take last night off. Reby Hardy, Matt’s wife, is due to give birth to the couple’s second son any day now, and as such, the day off was booked well in advance to allow Matt to be by his wife’s side.
As of yet, the second heir to the Hardy throne is yet to appear, with Reby taking to Twitter to keep herself occupied whilst waiting. Reby asked fans whether her water will break before Matt does, leading Broken Hardy fans worldwide to speculate further on the possibility of Matt Hardy reverting to the Broken state that resurrected his career.
Whilst Cageside Seats’ rumour is exactly that, this is a plausible reason for the Hardys missing last night’s show.
What’s next?
The promo that Sheamus & Cesaro gave after defeating Beauty and the Man Beast suggests the feud between the two teams is likely to continue, with a rubber match for the champions potentially taking place at Great Balls of Fire.
Matt and Jeff missing a week of TV allowed Sheamus and Cesaro to drive the feud forward without having to force some physical interaction. Matt and Jeff are likely to return next week.
Author’s take
There are few more magical things an individual can experience in life than the birth of a child, and if ever there was a good reason to miss an episode of RAW this was it.
I’m sure everyone would like to wish Reby and Matt the best of luck with their second child, although how King Maxel responds to the competition remains to be seen.