WWE Executive Explains Why Jeff Hardy Didn’t Win WWE Title Sooner
A longtime WWE Executive has given his reasons why the company was hesitant to put the WWE Championship on Jeff Hardy.
In the mid-to-late 2000s period, World Wrestling Entertainment had a loaded main event scene. Top guys like John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Triple H, The Undertaker, Edge and others were trading wins and championships all the time. There was also somebody else who was extremely popular with the fans: Jeff Hardy.
Fans of WWE got to know Jeff Hardy as a member of the Hardy Boyz tag team with brother Matt. The duo was one of the most exciting tag teams in company history from the time they became regular members of the roster in 1998 and through the 2000s decade. By 2007, Jeff was arguably the most popular wrestler on the entire WWE roster.
At the 2008 Royal Rumble when Jeff Hardy challenged Randy Orton for the WWE Championship, many fans thought the time was right for a title change. It didn’t happen because Randy Orton won.
It was at the final WWE PPV of 2008, Armageddon when Jeff finally captured the WWE Championship for the first time in his career in a triple threat match with Edge & Triple H. That title reign only lasted 42 days until Royal Rumble 2009 when Matt Hardy turned on Jeff and Edge won the championship again.
A big reason why Jeff Hardy didn’t get a long title reign is because he had issues with alcohol and drugs, which he has been dealing with his entire adult life. It’s well-known that he has had those issues, he’s been arrested and been to rehab many times as well.
Bruce Prichard is the current WWE Executive Director who has been with the company in different roles for nearly 40 years with a few hiatuses in between. While speaking on his Something to Wrestle podcast, Bruce talked about the way WWE felt about Jeff Hardy.
“You have to take a wait-and-see approach otherwise that’s bad business. You have a situation here where you have a great talent, unbelievable talent who can do any and everything with a great attitude and a huge upside, but they’ve got demons.”
How Did WWE Officials View Jeff Hardy?
As for how WWE’s top officials thought of Jeff Hardy, Prichard revealed that management liked Jeff a lot.
“The belief amongst everyone was one of, Jeff has everything. Jeff had the world in the palm of his hand and every time the demons kind of come and grab him. He’s just such a wonderful, warm, nice guy and you want to help him. But, at some point, you have to help yourself, and that’s what they were waiting for.”
Prichard would go on to say he thought that Royal Rumble 2008 wasn’t the right time for Hardy’s triumphant victory.
“It would have been great to be able to have been able to crown a new champion there, but cooler heads prevailed, and I think it was the right call.”
Jeff Hardy would go on to win the World Heavyweight Title two times in his career to give him three World Titles in WWE, but one of those title wins was an immediate loss thanks to CM Punk cashing in Money in the Bank on him. Hardy did hold TNA’s World Heavyweight Title in his career.
This past Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, Jeff Hardy lost to Jon Moxley in a first-time-ever match between the two former World Champions.