In the past 20 years, perhaps no one has endeared themselves to the WWE fanbase more than Jeff Hardy. The Charismatic Enigma has an unspoken quality about him that fans are drawn to. His patented reckless abandon earned him plenty of emotional capital, but when Jeff started using face paint in his solo run in the early part of this century, he deeply connected to the audience.
However, since returning to WWE at WrestleMania 33, Hardy has yet to adorn a speck of face paint on WWE television. With it being such a successful part of his image, why has he forgone the paint?
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In an interview at Wizard World Chicago, Hardy claimed that he probably will not be wearing paint on WWE television anymore. It’s possible he could use it for a big match as a solo competitor, but other than that, it won’t be happening.
The big reason? Finn Balor. Hardy was instructed by Vince McMahon to lay off the paint when cameras are on because Finn Balor’s Demon gimmick is currently being given the monopoly on face paint in WWE.
However, Jeff has been using his colorful design at house shows.
Unfortunately for Hardy, he won’t even be able to adorn ring gear for the foreseeable future. Hardy is set to undergo shoulder surgery in the coming days. WWE.com reports that Hardy has a torn rotator cuff and labrum. The report claims that Hardy hurt himself during the Six-Pack-Challenge won by Jason Jordan last week on RAW.
“Jeff is dealing with a rotator cuff tear right now,” said WWE Senior Ringside Physician Dr. Stephen Daquino. “It’s a full thickness tear of his supraspinatus tendon and a couple of other areas in the shoulder. He’s going to go for evaluation and probably for surgery next week.”
Hardy would go on to personally address his injury and future.
“Once they get in there, they’ll figure out more about what they have to repair,” said Hardy. “But for sure, the rotator cuff has to be repaired, and then they’ll look at the labrum when they get in there.”For Jeff, this comes at a tough time as he was appreciating his career more than ever before.
“It’s depressing,” Hardy told WWE.com. “More than any time in a career, it’s those times that make you go, ‘Wow, I love professional wrestling.’ It sucks that I can’t be involved in [a] match or can’t get in there and do what I normally do because I’m injured, but I just have to get over that, stop worrying about it and look forward and push myself to get repaired and healed and come back better than ever with a brand-new shoulder.”
There’s still no word on how long Hardy will be out but we can guess he’ll be missing the rest of 2017.
