Jeff Hardy is reportedly backstage for Monday’s episode of RAW in Cleveland, OH.
PWInsider has confirmed that the 40-year old WWE fan favorite is in attendance but there still is no word on if he’ll actually participate in the penultimate episode of RAW before WrestleMania 34.
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Surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff has kept Hardy sidelined since October. However, March saw Hardy return to in-ring drills and he very well may be ready to make his official return to WWE action.
By now the question isn’t if Hardy is healthy, but rather, what he’ll be doing once WWE sticks him back in fray.
Originally, it appeared he’d join his eccentric brother, Matt Hardy, inside the Woken Universe. After all, Jeff’s alter ego, Brother Nero, was an essential part of the earliest chapters of Matt’s bizarre world. However, that may not be the case.
In a comment section from an Instagram post, Reby Hardy (Matt’s Wife) was asked if Matt Hardy and his Woken Universe needed Jeff, aka Brother Nero. Her response is hard to misinterpret:
“Matt has busted his ass to get to this point. He & I have been fighting for this to happen for nearly a year. After the hard work & $50k+ in legal fees that *WE* paid, I’m gonna have to say NO. He is not “needed”. Jeff is clearly doing his own thing & it has nothing to do with us right now,” she wrote.
We’re not certain what “Jeff is clearly doing his own thing” means, but it sounds like Matt and Reby will be moving forward without Jeff.
Given Jeff’s remarkable popularity with WWE fans, it’s probably best he moves forward outside of the Woken Universe. As fun as Brother Nero was in Impact Wrestling, Jeff Hardy simply has too much to offer Vince McMahon and WWE.
At the moment, there isn’t an ideal place for Hardy to land. The biggest splash he could make is being named as Braun Strowman’s mystery tag team partner at WrestleMania—an announcement that would likely blow the roof off of the building. But outside of that, Hardy may have to wait until after WrestleMania to find a significant role.
