Matt Hardy reveals details on Jeff Hardy’s AEW debut, new contracts

AEW has signed Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy to new contracts.

As noted, Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite on TBS saw Jeff make his debut for the company, saving Matt from an attack by the AFO after they booted him from the group. Jeff had just become a free agent earlier in the day as his 90-day non-compete clause with WWE expired when the clock struck hit midnight.

In an update, Matt and Reby Hardy went live on Twitch tonight and revealed details that led to Jeff’s big debut on Dynamite. He also revealed that he has signed a new contract extension with AEW as the company matched up his deal with Jeff’s new contract.

Matt noted that he flew back home after Revolution, instead of having an off-day in Florida, and spent time with family on Tuesday. He and Jeff spent time together on Tuesday, and Reby took new photos of them for their upcoming indie tour, and she also filmed video footage around the Hardy Compound, and some of that footage was used for The Hardys’ AEW entrance video.

There was an interesting exchange when Matt talked about how they knew on Tuesday night that when the clock went to midnight on Wednesday, then Jeff would be a free agent. Reby joked that “Papa Khan” or AEW President Tony Khan was waiting on the other end with a “panic button” just in case.

“Nah, he wasn’t. He was going to be super protective of that,” Matt responded.

Reby added, “I’m just kidding, I was just kidding. He knows what’s up, now they ain’t messing around over there [AEW]. I know people like to throw all the shade and the jokes, and stuff, but that is one thing they will not be messing around or taking chances on, they gonna cover their ass for sure.”

Matt continued and noted that he had to fly out to Estero, FL for Dynamite that night, and before he left his house around 7am he checked in with AEW and asked if they wanted to do anything with Jeff that day. Matt said they arranged travel to Florida for Jeff later that morning, and he claimed that’s when “talks opened up” between AEW and Jeff.

AEW flew Jeff to Florida but he didn’t get there until late in the day, and had to fly into Tampa because the flight into the Fort Myers area was sold out. Jeff arrived in Tampa and a car service brought him to Estero for Dynamite.

Matt then revealed that he extended his deal with AEW, and noted that they are both allowed to still make outside appearances. Matt joked that “Papa Khan” wants them to make all the money, and be healthy and happy.

“And it was wild man, he got here late that day, and we started looking over our contracts,” Matt said. “And it was so fun, he looked over like… I’m very happy, too. I’ve extended my contract with AEW, I’m gonna be there a little while longer. They matched myself and Jeff’s contracts up, which was very cool. And Jeff was like, ‘Whoa, this is so cool.’ And he kind of skipped through it [the contract], and was like, ‘And we can still do outside appearances?’ I said, ‘Yeah, Papa Khan wants you to get all the money.’ You know what I mean? Papa Khan wants you to be healthy and happy.”

Matt also talked about how nervous Jeff was at Dynamite, and how the AEW environment is different from what they experienced at WWE.

“So that was really cool,” Matt said. “And just him getting there, Jeff was like a kid on the first day of school, he was so nervous, it was so funny. Because I mean, it’s also very different… I feel like, when you’re at WWE, you know, the stresses and you almost have to walk around on egg-shells, and it’s like such a different environment there, it’s like, so much more laid back and even the creative process is so different. But it was… very cool, it’s very cool and he really seemed to enjoy it. He really did have a huge smile, like he was just smiling with happiness.”

Matt also said he feels like being able to license the “Loaded” theme song added a huge boost to Jeff’s debut.

Stay tuned for more on The Hardys in AEW. You can see Matt’s full Twitch video below, along with footage from Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite segment: