In a recent interview as part of The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy podcast, newly-signed All Elite Wrestling star Jeff Hardy opened up on the end of his WWE run, as well as his departure from the company.
“Certain thing happen for a reason, subconsciously, that was maybe the smartest thing that I’ve ever done, guided by something higher than me I’ll say. WWE was so strange, I had been there for almost two years and after I came back from knee surgery, another strange thing about our careers, when Matt debuted in AEW, the pandemic had hit and in front of nobody, he teleported down from the nosebleeds. I was supposed to return in Detroit in front of 20,000 people, but I came back from knee surgery in front of nobody, I came back from surgery and Matt debuted in front of nothing because of the pandemic, it was weird.
The best way I can describe my journey over the last few months in WWE was like glimmers of hope, maybe that I still do have something. The last glimmer of hope was Survivor Series, which was really good, it came down to me and Seth Rollins, I was killing it, almost won and the crowd was so behind me that I felt like one of the most popular babyfaces in the 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 and disappeared into the crowd. Naturally, they think that 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 that I can do and I’ll get away with it, but 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 on 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 and when I see it come out and immortalized in an action figure, I’m like that’s why I do this, it’s so cool and that’s one thing I’m super excited about in AEW, my first action figure with the face paint.
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 them wanting 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, on 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 the WWE, what’s my purpose, because it didn’t feel like I had much of one.”
The full interview is available at this link.