Matt Hardy, Jeff’s older brother, has reportedly let his AEW contract expire and is a free agent. Will he be drawn back to his old stomping grounds?
WWE competitor AEW apparently loses another prominent face: According to consistent media reports, Matt Hardy is a free agent.
As Fightful and the Wrestling Observer report, Hardy has let his contract expire and turned down an extension offer from Tony Khan’s promotion. The development raises the question of whether the 49-year-old will be drawn back to WWE – and the long-term future of his younger brother Jeff Hardy.
Matt and Jeff Hardy at AEW most recently supporting characters
Matt Hardy had been under AEW contract since spring and also celebrated a reunion with Jeff there in 2022 after he had been released from WWE and then decided to accept an offer from AEW. The legendary Hardy Boyz were reportedly even set to become tag team champions again – had Jeff not maneuvered himself into the sidelines shortly beforehand with his infamous 2.9 blood alcohol level.
After a 10-month suspension, a suspended sentence and therapy, AEW had brought back Jeff, who had repeatedly had alcohol problems during his career, and reunited the Hardys. However, the former WWE top stars remained rather minor figures after that – Matt repeatedly let his dissatisfaction show.
Most recently, he was spotted in the audience (away from the TV cameras) on an episode of the WWE show RAW. Hardy spoke of an “innocent thing” in his podcast, saying he had been invited by a friend
Matt Hardy about to return to WWE?
Matt Hardy actually ended his career back in 2018, but then decided to make a comeback and hasn’t let go since. Despite his advanced age, he has remained active in the ring.
It is also hard to assume that WWE would not re-sign the popular Hardys. Despite Jeff’s release due to a strange incident – he had left the arena mid-match at a show – the market leader had already offered Jeff a return, including an induction into the Hall of Fame, before his AEW engagement.
According to Fightful, Matt’s AEW contract was set to expire at the end of March, but was extended for a few days – ruling out a WWE surprise comeback, at least at WrestleMania this weekend.
It’s unclear if AEW did this unilaterally using an industry-standard “freeze clause” to make up for previous downtime, or if Matt may have had this option bought off.
