Jeff Hardy did not have a good experience debuting for the Ring of Honor, continually referring to the promotion as “Ring of Horror.”
The revelation was made by Jeff’s brother Matt Hardy, who recalled the events that took place following Jeff getting released from his WWE contract in 2003. Jeff Hardy would first appear in ROH as the Willow character in a Triple Threat match against Krazy K and Joey Matthews, but did not receive the positive reaction he was used to while in WWE.
Jeff Hardy Details the Backlash From Debuting Willow In Ring Of Honor
Speaking on The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy podcast, Matt would go into detail about his brother’s first match in Ring of Honor, referring to the promotion by a different name after being upset by the experience there:
“That was a very famous night where he first like debuted Willow there on ROH, came out in that and that match was actually put together by Thomas Simpson, who you just saw there, if I’m not mistaken. It was Jeff, he was doing something with Kirby Mack, who was a student of Thomas Simpson back in the day. And somehow he enabled a deal to get Jeff to come to the ROH show. But I remember Jeff never wanted to go back to ROH. After that, I remember for the longest time he called it Ring of Horror and he was so upset about the reaction he got there.”
Jeff Hardy would go on to compete for TNA from 2004 to 2006 before returning to WWE in August of 2006. Hardy would go on to have multiple appearances in WWE, ROH and TNA before signing with AEW. Jeff Hardy is currently still suspended by All Elite Wrestling after being arrested in June 2022. Hardy is also not expected to return to AEW in the near future.
In the same episode of the podcast, Matt was asked what he thinks Vince McMahon saw in Jeff Hardy and why he became a breakout star.