On the April 12th episode of AEW Dynamite, fans were shocked to hear Jeff Hardy’s theme music play throughout the Milwaukee Panther Arena as he reunited with his brother Matt.
His return came after having been out of action after being arrested back in June 2022. The former World Champion was arrested on numerous DUI-related offenses and suspended without pay by AEW. Hardy attended a rehabilitation facility in an effort to banish his well-documented demons before his DUI case was settled in February.
Hardy submitted a written plea of nolo contendere to all charges relating to his DUI arrest, and the case was closed. This is where a defendant agrees to accept punishment but does not accept or deny responsibility for the charges brought against them.
On Dynamite, Matt Hardy and Isiah Kassidy were being beaten down by The Firm before Hook ran in to save the day. However, despite briefly being on the back foot, The Firm was quickly back in control until Jeff Hardy entered to a loud ovation.
Jeff took out the group with a chair before hitting a crowd-pleasing Swanton Bomb on Lee Moriarty.
Bully Ray Thinks It’s Up To Jeff Hardy To Make The Most Of His AEW Return
One man who’s very familiar with Jeff Hardy after their shared decades in professional wrestling is Bully Ray, who spoke about Hardy’s return on the latest episode of Busted Open. Ray noted how many opportunities Jeff has had to return to wrestling after getting clean from substance abuse problems, and says he believes this will most likely be his final opportunity.
“And truth be told, Jeff better not f*** this opportunity up. Because Jeff’s been given a lot of opportunities. This probably will be the final opportunity for him.”
Continuing, Ray pointed out that wrestling locker rooms don’t provide the level of temptation they did in decades past, so it’s up to Hardy not to fall back into his previous patterns of behavior.
“Listen, the world of pro wrestling does not present nearly as much temptation these days as it did 20 years ago,” he continued, to which co-host Tommy Dreamer immediately agreed. “So if Jeff were to have another slip-up, I would say that’s mostly on Jeff going out of his way to look for the slip-up as opposed to the slip-up just being around you at all times.”
h/t WrestlingInc