WWE wants Jeff Hardy back? Are they this desperate?

[colalella2891]

I came across this on wrestlescoop.com a while back, and I thought this was interesting. Are the WWE really that desperate for Jeff Hardy? They're calling Jeff despite his current predicament with the law, and I think many are under-estimating the trouble he's really in. What are your thoughts on this?

"Credit: F4WOnline.com

According to Dave Meltzer, WWE personnel were calling Jeff Hardy on January 5th and were trying to change his mind about joining TNA. This was, of course, after his appearance on iMPACT! and after he was formerly indicted on drug charges.

It is interesting to note that it appears as if WWE is softening their stance on the company’s drug policy, even in the face of Hardy’s indictment. The WWE has usually done whatever it can to avoid bad press to uphold their image."

 

[lghikas]

Well I really don't think it is desperate but just that they want Jeff back and any Wrestling company looking to make a lot money should want Jeff. From what I seen most of the charges will likely drop so it won't be as bad as originally thought, but he probably will be guilty of something.

As for their drug stance, they for the most part have always been like this...if you make them money they look the other way. A bit of a double standard.

 

[Blade]

Desperate is a strong word. But this feels like Bret Hart going to WCW all over again. If Jeff Hardy is in TNA, they won't know how to use him. His appearance and segments on January 4th proved that. TNA could use him as a huge draw to take him to the next level, but apparently his height of importance in TNA is Higher than all the X Division stars, but definitely not a main eventer.... Right.

I'm sure WWE does want WWE back. It's frustrating to see one of your top draws in another promotion, it's even more frustrating knowing that the wrestler won't be used properly. It's a shame too, because it seems Hardy learned nothing from his first run in TNA. He has openly spoken about how much he disliked it and he knows he was used badly. Does he really think he'll be used any better or enjoy it any more if it's when Hogan's in charge? January 4th showed the Hardy won't be used properly.

Will Hardy ever go back to WWE? Yes, of course he will. Will it be in the forseeable future? Probably not. It'll be a Christian type deal. Hardy will probably be flavour of the month, then he'll slowly slip down the card. Who knows if he'll even win the TNA title between AJ, Samoa Joe, Angle and such. And that's ignoring the other young stars that TNA might try to push into the main event scene; Dinero, Wolfe, Anderson etc.

Maybe TNA will shock me. Maybe Jeff Hardy will end up as one of the top guys, is allowed do his thing and leads TNA into prominance. But it doesn't seem very likely with the way January 4th went. And as Hardy's body heals more and more, that bigger pay check from WWE might start to seem more and more tempting...

 

[AMH]

I was just wondering if the the whole "WWE wanting Hardy back" was just an internet rumor, or was this an actual fact? Because often times these online rumors should be taken with a grain of salt. As for the WWE being desperate? Yeah, I think desperate is a strong word. I think the WWE is doing just fine without him. You've got to remember this is the number one wrestling promotion on the planet. They know what they're doing. If it doesn't work out with Hardy, I don't think it will effect them one iota. Sure it was a jab for him to go to "the competition" but I guarantee he'll never be used to the proper extent that he'd been with the WWE. And as for them bending the wellness policy? No. WWE has taken a lot of flack in the past from the media, so assuming they're changing their policy to accomodate Hardy is a never will happen situation. He'll be back. It's a no-brainer. They all end up back where the money is.

 

[themic59]

Well with the recent tapings spoilers out going into February and still no sign of Hardy, who knows if him showing up on the the live show was just a one shot deal. Its entirely possible that TNA grabbed Hardy for the show, gave him a nice chunk of green just for showing and that's it. If you asked me that could probably be the smartest thing for them to do because:

a. You stick it to WWE while everyone is watching Impact during that first hour. I'm sure they ever got Vince himself to do a double take when first seeing Hardy appear. This way viewers can be thinking, holy shit TNA is serious and I can't wait to see who else appears. Although we all know now that besides Flair, Hardy was the biggest name to show up.

and b. With all of Jeff's legal problems on the horizon, this pretty much leaves TNA with there hands clean. They got the buzz going around that Jeff appeared on Impact when everyone thought that he would be going back to do battle with CM Punk and now with him facing charges it wouldn't be their problem to worry about.

Like I said if they didn't sign him to a written and it was more just and open appearance contract then I see it as TNA doing good business with a free agent that has the name and star power but is in a little bit of hot water. For Jeff its great because he gets the dough for basically doing nothing. And if these rumors of WWE are true about calling him then shit he could be in for another big payday if WWE does indeed bring him back and send a fuck you back to TNA.

 

[PsychoWard]

Blade is defiantly right! He's Jeff Hardy for crying out loud. Any talented free agent should be sought after by any promotion. Just take real sport stories for example. One being Michael Vick, the eagles really didn't need him, but you can't argue his talent. SO they signed him at he sat most the time.

The point I'm getting at is, Hardy's legal troubles will eventually take a back seat. And a guy who is a proven star, your gonna want him in your organization.

Now whether he still goes to TNA. Who knows, used right he can have some great feuds and probably scare Vince, juuust a little bit. But eventually you would have to think going back to WWE is something he would do?

 

[dimice76]

Credit: F4WOnline.com

According to Dave Meltzer, there are still conflicting reports going around regarding the TNA status of Jeff Hardy. People in TNA are saying that he signed a deal while people close to Hardy are saying it isn't true. The fact that Hardy didn't appear at the PPV or this week's TV tapings seems to indicate the latter.

WWE is still interested in bring Hardy back but it's unlikely something will happen until after his trial is over.

According to one person close to Hardy, it's possible he showed up on the January 4th Impact as a way to get back at WWE. Apparently, Hardy was upset about WWE and CM Punk mocking his arrest on television when he (Hardy) wasn't an active member of the roster.

People close to Hardy also feel that he wasted his time making the TNA appearance since he comes off as a much bigger star in WWE.

I read this report this week and i agree that it looks like Hardy didn't sign a TNA deal. With all the new talent that debuted on the 4th Hardy and Moore were not added to the TNA roster page. So for the WWE to want him back, doesnt make them desperate, it makes them smart. Unless something drastic changes, Hardy will be back sooner rather than later. Its funny how when the WWE goes after him its called desperate, but when TNA goes after him its "great" and "awesome" and such a "swerve". Hardy vs Punk with the current Punk direction will be a MILLION times better than Hardy vs Homicide that they teased on Jan 4th.

 

[Alex]

Explain how it's desperate to have a guy who can perform well and is a proven draw??? This is smart by Hardy in a way, he showed TNA has interest in him, since WWE want him back they might offer him a certain deal e.g. less time on the road

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I wouldn't call it desperation on WWE's part. Despite what anyone thinks about Hardy, this guy was way over with the fans, a proven draw, and a merchandise selling machine. Since it's unclear whether he's signed with TNA or not, I wouldn't be surprised if he returned to WWE in the future. I don't think it will be to soon though, seeing as how he said he wanted to take time off from wrestling, and Summerslam wasn't that long ago.

TNA might have the lighter schedule for Hardy, but he won't be as big as he was in WWE with TNA. Jeff's legal troubles also can be a problem, but I think WWE would find ways around this. What I mean by this is, even if they do push him as a world heavyweight or WWE champion, they probably wouldn't leave the belt on him for that long. They would probably throw him in the title picture every once and a while to keep the fans happy.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Desperate? In what way exactly? As has already been stated, Jeff Hardy is a very bright and very big star at this point. In 2009, Jeff Hardy was more over than he's ever been at any other point in his career. In 2009, Jeff Hardy made the move to main event status and showed people that he is a legitimate main event player. He had some of the best matches of the year, the best feud of the year in my view and elevated his overall stock as a pro wrestler. Jeff Hardy can mean a lot of money and if the WWE is willing to look over his legal troubles for purposes of capitalizing on such an opportunity, I don't think I can blame them for that. Hardy's legal troubles don't seem to have dimmed TNA's interest in him at all, in spite of the fact that he may well be heading to prison before too long.

Raw is still averaging 2.5-3 times the audience of TNA iMPACT, Smackdown is back to drawing firmly in the 2s despite being on the worst network on television, ECW has sometimes outdrawn iMPACT and WWE events fill arenas that hold 12, 15 or 20,000 people. Whatever complaints anyone may have about the WWE product or the WWE in and of itself, thinking of them as being desperate just simply doesn't hold water.

 

[C.Msupporter]

I don't know what WWE's getting so worked up about. they weren't able to convince him so stay and now they wan't him dispite their wellness policy just because TNA picked him up, great. If jeffs court case goes bad no one will be getting jeff till he'd be old enough to go retire cause his body and his back just won't do it anymore(or maybe no one will want to hire him after that).

anyway I didn't see WWE try so hard to get Kennedy or Kendrick back when they joined TNA and they didn't abuse the wellness policy. soon we're gonna start seeing low-rent superstars from WWE show up at TNA and WWE won't care because they won't bring the ratings they did with them. and when WWE sees how stupid they really are(they should of noticed when they released jeff) when more of the WWE rejects show up on TNA in the
X-Division or something, I have one thing to say "you didn't want them, you gave em' away TNA made treasure out of your "trash" and Vince McMahon is a dumbass".

 

[Nicole13Edge/HardyFan]

Okay bottom line is that Jeff Hardy is way over with the fans. Fans are going to watch the show that he is on because he is very entertaning and the WWE knows that.

Vince wants Jeff back in his company because a lot of people tuned in or bought tickets just to see him perform because he is an awesome performer. Vince also got a lot of money on Jeff's WWE merchindise because a lot of people buy Jeff Hardy shirts and stuff like that.


WWE knows about his problems with the law I guess they justed wanted to use him until he went to court. With Jeff in TNA they are losing a lot of merchindise sells and fans, so that is helping TNA improve and Vince doesn't want that at all.

 

[axl626]

If he goes back, fine. If not, cool. Just please stop with this mentality that WWE is the only wrestli-sorry- sports entertainment company. I find it funny that right after Jeff appeared in TNA these boards and their "journalists" were saying "Well, looks like Jeff just committed career suicide," "he was always a joke," or "he was never big." Of course, now that WWE may want him back it's just a smart business decision, right? This thing of if you go to TNA you're committing career suicide is ridiculous and needs to stop.

These guys may actually want to wrestle and they may go to another promotion, get over it. If TNA starts building up you will probably see jumping happen more often. I really would have liked to have seen this board after the Montreal Screwjob. Some people would call Bret a traitor, say he wasn't anything special, and say his career is over. Then again...

By the way, does anyone else remember right after Jeff left there was a story on here that said that in his speech he said "See you in the future"? It was rather innocuous at the time but then someone pointed out the only time he's been associated with that phrase was in TNA. It was in his entrance video. Perhaps he planned to go to TNA all the time.

 

[Travaje]

Jeff was already in TNA once and they didn't know what to do with him then. The only memory I have of Jeff in TNA that stood out to me was his match with Abyss (but maybe that's cause I'm a big Abyss fan). That was back when TNA was better. Jeff in TNA is a win for TNA but a lose for Jeff.

Fact is that Jeff draws money, he is more over in WWE than anybody, even John Cena. Of course they want him back. I'm sure his lifestyle bugs the hell out of Vince, but when you're that over.....

Oh, and to add....Matt Hardy is extremely lucky his last name is Hardy or hardly anybody would care about him at all. They've tried to get him over so many times based on his name and it just doesn't work. He's definately the Jannetty.

 

[Tastycles]

Not being funny, but that news story doesn't say they want him to join WWE, it says they don't want him to join TNA. Which is obvious. Out of all of the people that TNA used in the last few weeks, he is by far the only one that can make an ounce of difference. I imagine the WWE want to have him back after these drug issues are sorted, and I sincerely doubt that they will be making an offer before then. I don't expect that he'll be in TNA either, to be honest with you, its just too much of a risk right now, and I think what we are seeing is the two companies manouvering to be there when he is ready to come back.

 

[ForzaItalia]

Jeff Hardy is one of those guys that strives to entertain any large or small crowd and can put on a show with his variety of high flying moves and aggressive offense. TNA will probably not use him right for when he was with the company he friggin fought Raven. And his appearance on TNA was against some guy named Homicide I bet most people dont even know who the hell Homicide is. WWE has nothing against them for wanting back a performer that has made the company millions of dollars. It certainly sounds real to me that WWE wants him back to fight CM Punk at WM. Who knows we may even see Jeff return at RR if this whole TNA contract thing is a myth because I certainly have not seen Jeff and prob wont because there is no one on the show who can have an actual good storyline with him and there's also no room.

 

[Zeedeevel]

anyway I didn't see WWE try so hard to get Kennedy or Kendrick back when they joined TNA and they didn't abuse the wellness policy. soon we're gonna start seeing low-rent superstars from WWE show up at TNA and WWE won't care because they won't bring the ratings they did with them. and when WWE sees how stupid they really are(they should of noticed when they released jeff) when more of the WWE rejects show up on TNA in the
X-Division or something, I have one thing to say "you didn't want them, you gave em' away TNA made treasure out of your "trash" and Vince McMahon is a dumbass".

I just want to point out that both kennedy and kendrick abused the policy. Vince didnt give Jeff away, his contract was up and he didnt want to renew it. So the statement that WWE is stupid because they released Jeff is not valid as he had no contract to be released from.

To get on topic though even if the WWE were to resign Jeff people would look at them as being stupid because of his past, but if TNA does it its a smart investment and a way to draw in new fans. Its a smart move for both companies to show interest in him and offer him contracts that have clauses in them about his legal troubles. Doing that would be the smart thing to do for both companies

 

[Rated_R_Superstar2010]

highly doubt this is true. vince and wwe would not touch hardy right now. until he is cleared of all charges wwe wont take him. and where are he and shannon moore. they "debut" on 1/4 then never showed up again.....? maybe wwe did talk to him. they just said "if u go to tna we wont take u back" so hardy said screw it. now he's waiting for the legal stuff and gettting some rest. he'll be back by summerslam perhaps? but my guess is they just told him not to go to tna, even for a short time.

 

[BigAdz]

highly doubt this is true. vince and wwe would not touch hardy right now. until he is cleared of all charges wwe wont take him. and where are he and shannon moore. they "debut" on 1/4 then never showed up again.....? maybe wwe did talk to him. they just said "if u go to tna we wont take u back" so hardy said screw it. now he's waiting for the legal stuff and gettting some rest. he'll be back by summerslam perhaps? but my guess is they just told him not to go to tna, even for a short time.

Considering WWE never actually released Jeff, he just didn't sign a new contract, saying WWE wouldn't touch Jeff right now seems kinda moot. WWE has proven in the past they'll take on someone with personal demons and legal troubles and give them another shot at glory. Look at Eddie if you don't believe me.

Jeff's appearance on Impact was probably nothing more than a publicity stunt for him to show his fans he's still alive and will be back in the ring once his legal issues are sorted. And shit, it worked! 3 weeks after his appearance, we're still talking about his return

 

[The Viper]

I don't know what WWE's getting so worked up about. they weren't able to convince him so stay and now they wan't him dispite their wellness policy just because TNA picked him up, great. If jeffs court case goes bad no one will be getting jeff till he'd be old enough to go retire cause his body and his back just won't do it anymore(or maybe no one will want to hire him after that).

anyway I didn't see WWE try so hard to get Kennedy or Kendrick back when they joined TNA and they didn't abuse the wellness policy. soon we're gonna start seeing low-rent superstars from WWE show up at TNA and WWE won't care because they won't bring the ratings they did with them. and when WWE sees how stupid they really are(they should of noticed when they released jeff) when more of the WWE rejects show up on TNA in the
X-Division or something, I have one thing to say "you didn't want them, you gave em' away TNA made treasure out of your "trash" and Vince McMahon is a dumbass".

im having trouble understanding this statement, for one vince mcmahon is one of the riches men in the country if not the world and owns the biggest wrestling promotion in the world (i agree his ways are not always what we want) but more people are watching his product, and it will always be that way, TNA can and will not ever contend because wwe is worldwide, tna isn't even close to that, and where is this treasure your talking about that was trash in wwe? lot of holes in your logic there

On to the topic, of course wwe wants the biggest wrestling draw of 2009 back! that would be like babe ruth coming back to life and the yankees not trying to sign him! desperate? how? because vince likes money? no thats just normal

 

[macksstream]

Like everyone else, im not going to say it's desperate. WWE can do just fine without hardy, as they've shown. but hardys popular, so having him back would be good for the company.

As for all the bits about him returning to TNA, it was a one night deal. Theres been a few articles about it on wrestlezone and of course theres his legal troubles. Plus i dont think anyones said but hes not even on the tna roster. so i think that says something

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I don't think the WWE is as desperate to have Hardy back to improve it's own programming, as it is desperate to keep him off of TNA's. I know that Hardy wasn't a huge star in TNA, I know that. But Hogan and TNA saw something in Hardy, otherwise they wouldn't have brought him out on 1/4.

Everyone seems to have a problem with the way Hardy was used on January 4th. What did you want them to do? Have him compete against Angle or Styles? Have Hogan put on the red and yellow and hop in that six sided piece of shit with Hardy? They used him in the basically the only spot they had open for him on that night. If Jeff Hardy goes back to TNA, you can bet he won't be used in the X Division..at least not for long. He was a main eventer in WWE. His last run in TNA wasn't as great as his last run in WWE, but that is my point. He was a HUGE star for WWE, and could be one of, if not the biggest star in TNA. His popularity has at least doubled since his returned to WWE from TNA. To think that Hogan would be stupid enough to have this guy mid card is outrageous. If Hogan keeps this guy in the X Division and out of the main event, then I will believe Hogan is as crazy as a lot of you guys seem to think he is.

 

[DMBlacklist]

Being a genuine Hardy Mark I must say I don't think they're desperate. I think they were banking on Hardy returning to defeat Punk at Wrestlemania hence why he kept mentioning his name over and over again. They want to end the feud strong most likely since now Punk has nothing more to do at Wrestlemania.

Hardy jumping ship does of course piss me off and the drug charges again are another thing that piss me off about him, though he has his motives. One big point, on RAW you had Cena on Smackdown you had Hardy and be honest, Hardy got a LOT more cheers than Cena did and I believe he had bigger merchandise sales, so to say desperate would be wrong, it's all about, in truth, money. There are no real cash cows in Smackdown other than Mysterio and Morrison with Hardy being their number one draw next to Taker.

It will be interesting to see how things will turn up, especially with Edge's return right around the corner.

 

[Bull_Dawgz]

WWE wants Jeff Hardy back because he draws in fans. People bitch about his drug use, but are ok with guys like RVD, Newjack, Sabu, Vampiro, and others who have done drugs A LOT harder than Jeff Hardy has done. Hypocritical if you ask me.

Whether he goes to WWE or TNA, he's going to draw in crowds.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I'd say it's not so much that WWE is desperate to get Jeff back.... but more that they did not want him to make a federation jump to TNA. WWE knows Jeff had too many wellness policy violations.... but the more stars TNA gets, the bigger of a threat they become. WWE know that TNA is becoming a threat even though they would never have anyone acknowledge it on tv. This is not about Jeff himself, nor will it ever be, because WWE just wants to make sure TNA has one less big star.