Jeff Hardy discusses exit from match that lead to his release, says WWE offered him a spot in WWE HOF following his release

Jeff Hardy discussed the incident that occured at a WWE live event that lead to him being released by WWE on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast. 

On Dec. 4 during a match at a WWE Live event, Hardy was teaming with Drey McIntyre & King Xavier Woods when he left the ring and exited the arena through the crowd. He was sent home by WWE the next day and then subsequently recleased on Dec. 9.

After the incident, Matt Hardy said that Jeff was alright, but not many details about why Jeff left the ring had come to light until now. Hardy talked about the incident and framed it by saying he was frustrated by how he was being used in WWE.

“Certain things happen for a reason,” said Hardy. “Subconsciously, that was maybe the smartest thing I’ve ever done, guided by something higher than me, I’ll say,” Jeff said about his exit at the live event. “WWE was so strange, I had been there for almost two years. After I came back from knee surgery, another strange thing about our careers, when Matt debuted in AEW, the pandemic had hit, in front of nobody, he teleported down from the nosebleeds. I was supposed to return in Detroit in front of 20,000 people, I came back from knee surgery in front of nobody. I came back from surgery, Matt debuted in front of nothing because of the pandemic. It was weird. The best way I can describe my journey the last few months in WWE was like glimmers of hope, maybe I still do have something.'”

Hardy went on to say that he felt hopeful after being booked strongly only to fall short to Seth Rollins in a traditional Survivor Series match at Survivor Series last year, but that changed quickly in the weeks that followed the show.

“The last glimmer of hope was Survivor Series, which was really good,” said Hardy. “It came down to me and Seth Rollins, I was killing it, almost won and the crowd was so behind me. I felt like one of the most popular babyfaces in WWE because the crowd was so with me. Then there were other times where I felt like a ghost, roaming the halls like, ‘why am I even here? I don’t feel important.’ I kept doing my deal and would show up and do whatever they wanted me to do. I’ve never been a politicker so I don’t go out of my way to try and get a certain spot or achieve a certain status. That night in Edinburg, Texas, I finished my heat, I took the heat, and I said, ‘I’m ready to go.’ Went over the rail, disappeared into the crowd. Naturally, they think I took something like drugs or whatever, but I didn’t. If I was that bad, I should have never went out there, that’s the way I see it. I thought, ‘Just another unpredictable thing I can do and I’ll get away with it.’ It was more serious than that.

“Again, it was one of the smartest things I’ve ever done because everything worked out so perfectly, mainly because my first day in AEW, I felt valuable for the first time. The care and love I was shown, I got chills thinking about it. In WWE, it felt like they just wanted to keep me there to sell action figures. I put so much love and joy in painting my face, when I see it come out and immortalized in an action figure, I’m like, ‘that’s why it do this, it’s so cool.’ That’s one thing I’m super excited about in AEW, my first action figure with the face paint.”

Hardy was asked if he was trying to get WWE to release him by leaving through the crowd and he said, “It felt right in the moment. I wasn’t trying to get released. Just thinking about Survivor Series and how fun that was, the connection with the crowd and they wanted me to win so bad, it made me think back to SummerSlam, it was a big crowd, and I was just there all day for nothing like, ‘Why am I even here?’ I was so excited to be a part of it, some little spot or something, but I wasn’t even involved. ‘Why am I even here?’ Not just SummerSlam, but, ‘Why am I still here in WWE? What’s my purpose?’ because it didn’t feel like I had much of one.”

During the podcast, Jeff Hardy also revealed that WWE had offered him a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2022. Hardy said he was almost offended by the offer. “It felt completely wrong, said Hardy. “It didn’t feel like the time at all. I almost felt offended. I was very emotional and almost felt offended. Like, ‘What? Wait. After my 90 days is up and the Hall of Fame is in April and I do go to AEW, how is that going to work? What are y’all trying to hit me with if I do sign with AEW when I’m free and me going to the Hall of Fame, how would that work?’ My mind and emotion went crazy and I was in tears. This is my career. I know I’ve been a very influential person to a lot of young and misunderstood individuals, but it felt so wrong. It almost felt like, ‘How dare you’ in a sense. I know that sounds crazy. You get offered Hall of Fame and it’s like, ‘Oh, of course, I’m a Hall of Famer.’ It’s never really meant that much to me, the Hall of Fame, whatever it is, but it’s just not time for that. That’s why I was like, ‘It’s a hard no.’ Especially because it feels like something Matt and I should go in together, as the Hardy Boyz, when the time is right. It’s just weird. I still don’t know how I feel about that, overall, it just felt so wrong. Maybe I should have said, ‘What if I’m in AEW at the time of the Hall of Fame?'”

Matt Hardy commented on the situation saying, “I imagine they would have had you under a nice little contract where you couldn’t have come to AEW” to which Jeff replied, “Probably so, like a legends deal.”

Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @SR_Torch

h/t to Fightful for the transcription of Jeff’s comments used in this article.