Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy makes his way to the ring during the WWE World Cup Quarterfinal match as part of as part of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Crown Jewel pay-per-view at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh on November 2, 2018. FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images

The Hardy Boyz – more so Jeff Hardy – is likely to remain with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for the foreseeable future after the promotion decided to make some modifications to Hardy’s contract. He is currently sidelined with a knee injury that required surgery and it will be some months before he returns to the squared circle.

The Hardy Boyz – Matt and Jeff – returned to WWE at WrestleMania 33 and have since been part of the regular storyline for most of the last two years. They returned on two-year contracts in 2017 but WWE activated an option and extended it for another year until 2020.

However, according to Comicbook, they have now added around a year to Hardy’s contract due to all the time he has missed because of the injury, which will see him now contracted to the promotion at least until 2021. Matt, on the other hand, is contracted until March 2020 and barring any sudden injury, he will be a free agent once his deal expires – that is if he fails to sign an extension.

The emergence of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a genuine threat to WWE’s dominance in North America has seen the latter look to tie down all their major stars to new deals. If AEW were considering a move for the Hardy Boyz – one of the most decorated and popular tag teams in WWE history – they will be disappointed as they will not get the entire package until 2021.

WWE is taking the threat seriously and have in recent months tied down a number of top and mid-card stars to new deals to ensure they are not tempted to make the switch to AEW, who are offering lucrative deals similar to WWE. The likes of Roman Reigns, Brawn Strowman and AJ Styles have signed new deals.

Vince McMahon is ensuring that no wrestler walks out on the promotion to join AEW which has seen him deny release requests and add time to any wrestler’s contract for missing ring time due to injury. Luke Harper was a recent example of a wrestler denied a release and after an extended period on the sidelines, he has been reintroduced into the storyline by starting a feud against Reigns.

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