Jeff Hardy Says He’s Cleared for WWE Return to the Ring, Inpatient Rehab Was Best Thing for Him, More

Over the last few days, one of the biggest questions in the wrestling world has been where Matt Hardy will end up now that his contract with WWE has officially expired. Matt’s younger brother Jeff Hardy’s contract was also originally supposed to expire this week as well. Jeff’s contract has been extended for not being able to compete since April of 2019 due to a knee injury. Jeff is 42 years old now.

(Note from John Canton: When a WWE superstar is injured for a long period of time, WWE adds more time to the contract, so Jeff missing 8-9 months means that his deal will be up in 8-9 months. He could always re-sign too.)

Jeff Hardy appeared on WWE Backstage last night and in an interview with Renee Young stated that he is “officially cleared” to return to in-ring action. Hardy is also back on the road with the Smackdown crew.

“I’m officially cleared, so I have been at Smackdown on Fox for the last two weeks in a row, so I’m just waiting for the right creative spot to jump back in the mix.”

Hardy stated that his injury ended up being a blessing, as it allowed him to be home with his sick father.

“Yeah, the last nine months has been very crazy. When I had knee surgery, it was a blessing in disguise because my dad was in real bad shape away from home. So I was able to be over there with him every day, and walk with him. He would walk with me but not the nurses. So long story short, I got him home halfway through September, so he’s been home for about five months now. And he’s doing much better.”

On October 3rd 2019, Jeff was arrested for a DWI in Moore County, North Carolina. This arrest caused Jeff to seek held in inpatient rehab for the first time in his life.

“On the night of October the 3rd, I got into some trouble, the morning of October the 4th I arranged for me to go to inpatient rehab for the first time in my life. It was one of the best things I could have ever done for myself. And I’ve done something every day to better myself. It’s going to be so good to be back in front of all those people in the mindset I’m in right now and to feel that energy. There’s something left for me to do in WWE, I don’t know what that is, but I want to make it happen.”

In addition to those comments, Hardy said he didn’t know what was in his brother Matt’s future in wrestling while adding that his daughters are 8 and 5 years old now while also saying maybe they’ll be the Hardy Girls in wrestling one day. Hardy also talked about wanting to work with Roman Reigns.

You can check out Jeff’s interview below.

Matt’s Musings: Glad to see Jeff Hardy back and seemingly doing well. Hopefully, he can continue to keep whatever issues he has had in the past at bay and continue doing what he loves for years to come.