On Wednesday's AEW Dynamite, Jeff Hardy made his return to the promotion after being away since June 2022. Hardy was arrested on June 13, 2022 in Volusia County, Florida and charged with DUI, driving with a suspended license and violating restrictions placed on a driver's license. He was subsequently suspended by AEW without pay until he finished substance abuse treatment.
Hardy's case was closed in February 2023.
Speaking on his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast with Jon Alba, Matt Hardy detailed his brother's return.
"This literally came together the last few days. We've been talking about this for a while. Jeff's eye will take a while -- I kept making jokes, 'How did you fly here today, did you take a red eye? Ahahaha.' -- He still has blood in his eye. They said that would probably take six to eight weeks. I put it out there, 'In six to eight weeks, he should be good.' His vision is fine, his eyes are stable, they're working in sync now. He got cleared at the end of last week to do stuff physically. We had an idea of bringing him in and interjecting him into this scenario. The segment cut a little short, but here's a great spoiler, watch Rampage on Friday and you'll find out where this match is going to be and who the official competitors are. Jeff will be involved, HOOK will be involved, Isiah (Kassidy) will be involved. You'll find out who from The Firm we'll face on Rampage," said Matt.
Jeff returned to save HOOK, Kassidy, and Matt from a beatdown at the hands of The Firm (Ethan Page, Lee Moriarty, & Big Bill) after Matt explained that he could get out of his contract with The Firm in an upcoming multi-man match.
Asked if The Firm owned Jeff's contract, Matt said, "It's still owned by AEW. Now that he's back to work, I guess they'll start paying him again. His contract was frozen for a while. It's owned by AEW, hopefully he'll make a few bucks out of this."
Given Jeff's addiction and history, many fans were skeptical of him returning to the company and if it was the best environment for him.
Asked about fan skepticism and whether Jeff had changed, Matt replied, "This is the most work I've ever seen him do on himself. He had ten months. He seems different. He seems different. I don't want to sit here and vouch for him, I don't want you to take my word for it or take anyone else's word for it. Watch him and follow his actions. He'll make you a believer. I am confident that his actions, conduct, and behavior will make people a believer. He's made me a believer. I've seen a lot of him and gotten to follow his journey and I know the work he's put in and how dedicated he's been to legitimately changing and trying to get his shit together once and for all. I'm so extraordinarily proud of him. He's done great. Everyone was happy to see him. He's happy to be there. It was so adorable, right before we went out, he was so nervous and so worried because he hasn't been in a ring, at all. He came out to my house on Monday, got in the ring, ran the ropes, took a few bumps. He was worried how the people were going to react to him. Jeff is one of the few individuals who has 'it' and people are connected to him. When he came out and the people went nuts and were cheering and chanting, it was great, a magical moment. Really glad we got to this point and very excited to see where we go forward from here."
Matt continued, "Coming off his past, he has stuff to prove to people. I'm the ultimate optimist. My mentality doesn't work for everybody, but I say, people change, give them a chance, especially if they've legitimately put the work in and have tried. I do that with everybody. Either he'll prove you wrong or prove you right. I have a very good feeling about this point Jeff is at in his life."
Fightful Select reported on April 13 that there were alternate plans for Jeff over the next few weeks that don't involve him wrestling.
If you missed anything from Wednesday's AEW Dynamite, check out Fightful's report on the show by clicking here.
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