5 Ways WWE can revive Jeff Hardy's career
Jeff Hardy's WWE run since 2017 hasn't lived up to expectations. While he has enjoyed multiple (brief) runs as a Tag Team Champion on both RAW and SmackDown, he hasn't been too successful on the singles front.
Perhaps the most singles success that Jeff Hardy has had since returning was his Intercontinental Championship reign in 2020. Many fans believe that Jeff Hardy is done in WWE and will never reach the heights he did in 2008-09.
Jeff Hardy is physically past his prime, but in WWE, it only takes a magical moment or two to restore somebody's momentum.
Despite Jeff Hardy being on the losing end of many matches recently, he is still a popular nostalgic act for fans and could have a big role once they return regularly.
Here are five ways WWE can revive Jeff Hardy's career:
#5. Not using Jeff Hardy's past all the time
When Jeff Hardy returned to WWE in 2020, he began a feud with Sheamus on SmackDown. It was a personal rivalry, with The Celtic Warrior addressing Jeff Hardy's real-life past issues with alcoholism and drug use.
It was uncomfortable for many fans to watch, but Jeff Hardy told The Daily Star that he agreed to the storyline because he knew that there was going to be a positive payoff:
“The stuff with Sheamus that’s happened most recently, I knew there was a great outcome in it. I knew that bar fight was going to be cinematic and good. All the stuff building up to that match, I just knew the outcome was going to be fantastic. And it’s good to face challenges like that because there’s so much negativity in the world.”
While Jeff Hardy has an understandably positive perspective on it, WWE fans felt that the storyline wasn't in good taste. Jeff Hardy's issues have been brought up numerous times on WWE TV, most famously by CM Punk in their early PG era rivalry.
The story was taken overboard regardless of the positive payoff that it had. WWE needs to move on from using Jeff Hardy's real-life issues if they want to revive his career.