After a long eight year absence, the Hardy Boyz are back together in a WWE ring. Team Xtreme wasted no time in reclaiming gold as they won the RAW Tag Team Championships in their return match at WrestleMania 33. And now they find themselves embroiled in a heated rivalry with Sheamus and Cesaro.
But rumor has it that WWE is keen on returning Jeff Hardy to the main event status he enjoyed before leaving the company in 2009. Whether he does as the Charismatic Enigma or their own version of Brother Nero remains to be seen. But with that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the best opponents Jeff Hardy could end up feuding with.
Dean Ambrose
Dean Ambrose has all the tools to be WWE’s most extreme superstar. From the short-lived rivalry with Brock Lesnar to his ruthless attitude during his Shield days, we have seen glimpses of how unhinged Ambrose could truly be if WWE would allow him to. But their current product is preventing his character from living up to its full potential. Having said that, if anybody could draw extreme out of Ambrose, it’s Jeff Hardy. During his best days in WWE, Hardy brought extreme to the company — never afraid to use weapons when creating some memorable spots. With plenty of Extreme Rules matches, Ladder matches, TLC matches and even Hardcore matches under his belt, Jeff Hardy could reignite the extreme fire inside of a Shield-like Dean Ambrose.
Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins is undoubtedly the future of WWE. He is capable of putting on five-star matches and will continue to do so for years to come. Moreover, some of the spots he is a capable of performing are quite literally out of this world. But nobody is more “out of this world” than Jeff Hardy. The stunts, dives and jumps would make for one hell of an entertaining acrobatic showcase and the wrestling would also be of a really high standard as well. In many ways, Rollins has made a career of channelling his inner Jeff Hardy when performing some of his amazing feats.
Furthermore, Hardy has had some amazing showings against other risk-takers, including John Morrison and CM Punk. Thus, I have no doubt that we would see the same here with Seth Rollins.
AJ Styles
AJ Styles is arguably the greatest professional wrestler in the world today. With his incredible agility in the ring and his repertoire of show-stopping moves, Styles is one of the most skilled performers of all time. And now he gets the chance to showcase that to his biggest audience yet on a WWE stage. The man can pull a four-star match out of just about anyone, and I know a lot of the WWE Universe would love to see the high-flying battle that would ensue between him and Jeff Hardy.
Both men have made careers of performing jaw-dropping feats both in and out of the ring, and a clash between the two would certainly make for some must-see TV, and one hell of a match.
Brock Lesnar
The idea of Brock Lesnar and Jeff Hardy going one-on-one doesn’t necessarily sound like it has the potential to be a classic, but given the two men involved, this match could tell an excellent story. Brock Lesnar loves to decimate his opponents, using countless German Suplexes to diminish their fight before laying them out with an F5. But as we have seen so many times before — nobody fights harder or overcomes more obstacles than Jeff Hardy. Due to their distinctly different styles, the match would be less about the wrestling and more about telling a great story — and that’s something there isn’t enough of in today’s WWE.
Bray Wyatt
Whether this is a main event level solo rivalry between Jeff Hardy and Bray Wyatt or a tag team feud between the Hardys and the Wyatts, this is undoubtedly a golden opportunity. If Jeff were indeed to return to his Brother Nero gimmick, could you imagine the promos that he and Wyatt would exchange? Throw Broken Matt into the mix and you have an absolutely incredible scenario. And remember, Matt and Bray certainly teased a rivalry when they took part in a brief war of words on Twitter in December.
In the past four years, Wyatt has been part of some amazing matches and I have a feeling that he we would gel well in the ring with a veteran like Hardy — who still moves like a man half his age.
In a feud that would be full of incredible mic work and solid in-ring action, the Wyatts vs. the Broken Hardys is something the WWE Universe needs to see.
With both Hardys back in WWE, it’s only a matter of time before the popular superstars are individually used to benefit the roster of solo superstars. But who would you like to see Jeff feud with?
