Matt Hardy Recalls Jeff Hardy’s WWE Release After Walking Out Of House Show

On the latest episode of Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy, the TNA star talked about Jeff Hardy walking out of a WWE house show in December 2021. Hardy was released by WWE after the incident, which saw him walk out in the middle of a tag team match and get sent home.

Hardy would join AEW in March of 2022 and stay there until his contract expired without being renewed in 2024. You can check out some highlights below:

On Jeff Walking Out of the House Show:

“I remember hearing about it afterwards, and that afterwards he regretted that he did walk out. I think he was frustrated. I mean, there’s frustration that comes with all this place, especially if you’re not in the right headspace. If you’re not in the right headspace in a major wrestling company, frustration very easily enters into you and your thought process.”

On Jeff’s WWE Release:

“Anyway, this happens, he’s out. They want him to take a drug test. He said, ‘I haven’t taken any drugs. Haven’t taken any drugs.’ Whatever. He did take a drug test, he was negative. He didn’t do anything, and they ended up ultimately releasing him. I want to say before maybe even that came back, but the drug test did come back as negative when it’s all said and done.

“That’s where there was a bit of a point where they reached back out to him, like, ‘Hey, we would really like you to come back.’ And remember, they offered him the Hall of Fame deal? Like, ‘Hey, could we get you to resign? We’ll do a Hall of Fame thing with you, blah, blah, blah.’ He said, ‘No, I don’t do it without Matt.’ Once again, Jeff was not in the best headspace at that time. He was still obviously having issues with alcohol. So that is how that all came to be.

On Jeff Joining AEW:

“And then he took time off, he chilled, whatever else. And then he ended up coming to AEW. And you know, it seemed like he was okay, but he still wasn’t okay. He finally got okay a little later. And during that time, I remember it was kind of back and forth about what he’s gonna do. I mean, Tony said, like, ‘Hey, when he’s free, would would you want to talk to him or have him come [in]?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, sure of course.’  I mean, we want to go out at the end of our career together as a team. That’s always been our goal, and I think we’ve always had that thought process. And it was able to work out where he did come into AEW, and when he first came and debuted, it was like a big deal.”

On If He Thought Jeff Would Join Him in AEW in 2020:

“I don’t even know if we thought about it, because Jeff had so much injury time. He’d been injured. He had a couple major surgeries, you know? And it was the first time he’s ever had surgeries in his whole career. I think one time he was out for eight or nine months, and then the next time he was out for 10 or 11 months? So he got a lot of time tacked on to his deal, right? So my deal was coming up — and I’ve explained this stuff here, where I could tell Vince was ready to move me into a producer role. I was going to be like Bobby Roode, or Shane Helms, or whatever else. I’m like, I’m a kid who still loves wrestling. I’m like, ‘Hey, while I can still do this. I want to do it. That’s my goal. I want to do this as much as I can, because I love it. While I’m doing it, it’s like my passions, my dream. It always was, and it always will be,; until I decided to actually hang it up and then move on to the next stage.

“And Vince was already trying to push me into that. And he’d offered me a couple of things. I was like, ‘Eh, I just know how this works.’ So I would do something for a couple of months, and he’s still going to push me into that role, or whatever. So I told Jeff, like, ‘Hey man, we’re buddies with the Bucks.’ We talked with the Bucks, and they kind of set up a good deal. And with Jericho, I talked with him quite a bit, and ended up making that decision like, ‘Hey, if I still go to AEW, I’ll still be able to actively wrestle,’ and that’s what I wanted to do at that point. And if later down the road, whenever Jeff finishes, because they obviously had so much more time tacked on, right? You know, if he decides to come, then great, and if not, then great, whatever. But yeah, I think both of us at the end wanted to finish our careers together when it was all said.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.