News that a highly popular wrestling star turned down a WWE Hall of Fame induction to join AEW was making waves recently, and now a close ally of the star has revealed further details about the situation.
The star in question is Jeff Hardy. The Swanton Bomb specialist enjoyed three distinct stints in WWE, during which he became a household name and a tag team legend, winning the tag titles eight times. Beyond that, Hardy’s WWE accolades include multiple World and Intercontinental Championships.
Jeff’s third stint with World Wrestling Entertainment ended in 2021 after four years. According to recent reports, the promotion wanted him to re-sign and even offered him a Hall of Fame induction. However, the 48-year-old declined, opting to join his brother Matt in AEW.
Speaking of Matt Hardy, the Broken Star took to X earlier today to share more details about the HOF situation involving his brother. Matt said that WWE’s HOF offer was contingent on Jeff’s drug test coming back clean, and that the Triple H-led promotion wanted to keep The Charismatic Enigma from going to AEW.
“For the record – WWE offered Jeff the HOF because his drug test returned as no drugs – But alcohol was the problem. The WWE wanted to keep Jeff from going to AEW by any means necessary, so they offered the HOF but he had to re-sign. Jeff chose to reunite with me at AEW. #MattFacts,” Matt Hardy said.
His post on X can be seen below:
Matt Hardy believes an ex-AEW star’s goal is to one day work for WWE
In a recent episode of his Extreme Life podcast, Matt Hardy addressed the status of former All Elite Wrestling talent Mike Santana in pro wrestling. Santana, regarded as an original who joined in 2019, spent five years with the promotion before joining TNA in 2024. In July, Santana entered free agency after his contract with the Nashville-based promotion expired, and he’s been rumored to be headed to WWE.
In his podcast, Hardy spoke about the rumors surrounding Santana’s WWE arrival and said it didn’t surprise him, as he felt that the Nasty Assassin’s ultimate goal was to join the Stamford-based promotion.
“I mean that, that, that wouldn’t surprise me. I would guess that’s probably Mike Santana’s ultimate goal [is] to work for WWE. You know, most kids who grew up loving wrestling, their goal is to work for WWE at some point, have a WrestleMania moment, whatever else. That [him going to WWE] wouldn’t shock me at all,” Matt said. [H/T- 4wonline.com]
As for Matt, he and his brother Jeff Hardy (The Hardy Boyz) continue to be major players in TNA as the promotion’s World Tag Team Champions.
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Edited by Karan Raj