Jeff Hardy appears ready to return to WWE SmackDown soon, and here are five possible feuds for the Charismatic Enigma.
WWE fans haven’t seen Jeff Hardy in the ring since the episode of SmackDown after WrestleMania last year when the Hardy Boyz defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Their post-WrestleMania 35 pop and ninth run together as tag champions was short-lived, however, as the Hardyz were forced to relinquish the titles on April 30 due to a leg injury to Jeff.
Nearly a year later, Jeff is scheduled to return to the ring and will be back on the Blue Brand. We know Jeff will make an appearance on FS1’s WWE Backstage this Tuesday night at 11 p.m. ET, which is another indication of his impending return.
Additionally, PWInsider.com’s Mike Johnson recently reported that Hardy was at the recent taping of SmackDown at the TD Garden in Boston.
Assuming Hardy is ready to make his return to WWE programming soon after this week’s scheduled appearance on WWE Backstage, here are five possible return feuds for the three-time world champion, nine-time tag team champion, four-time Intercontinental Champion, and United States Champion.
While there are several familiar faces for Hardy to feud with on SmackDown, the landscape has changed just enough for there to be a couple of “new” challenges.
Drew Gulak
Recently, Drew Gulak has been coaching Curtis Axel, and this led to a pretty killer match on Friday Night SmackDown this past week, as Axel challenged Daniel Bryan. As you’d expect, Bryan won, but Axel did show off his in-ring chops in the match and has an interesting dynamic with Gulak as his coach.
Gulak has long been one of WWE’s most talented superstars, having shined on 205 Live no matter the role. He’s made sporadic appearances on Raw and SmackDown programming, showing his well-rounded abilities in this capacity.
From powerpoint presentations to his menacing in-ring style, Gulak has long been one of WWE’s most popular lower-card guys. Perhaps 2020 could be the year he’s given something more to work with, and a match or rivalry with Jeff Hardy could be great for Drew.
There is undoubtedly a clash of styles between Hardy and Gulak. Hardy loves high-flying, risk-taking, and playing to the crowd. Gulak is far more grounded in a multitude of ways, as he prefers a technical game and admonishes wrestlers for taking high risks. There’s nothing Gulak loves more than making high-flying wrestlers pay by beating them, punishing their risk-taking.
Signed to the SmackDown brand, Gulak is one of the few truly fresh matchups for Jeff Hardy.
Sheamus
Sheamus and Jeff Hardy have had their clashes in the ring, with most of their recent battles occurring in tag team action when the Hardy Boyz were feuding with Sheamus and Cesaro as “The Bar”. This feud came shortly after their Raw Tag Team Titles victory at WrestleMania 33, which was an all-time great pop.
Jeff and Sheamus had one singles match together as a part of that feud in May, and, to my knowledge, they haven’t faced each other one-on-one since then.
A couple of months ago, Sheamus returned from an injury with a throwback gimmick despite having never feuded with The Fiend, Bray Wyatt. Sheamus has been as menacing than ever, looking to Brogue Kick anyone in sight, especially those smaller than him. He made Shorty G his first target.
Perhaps Jeff Hardy will also return with a new/old look a la Sheamus, and that could make a program between the two superstars more compelling than just another rivalry between veteran competitors. In his most recent stint on SmackDown, Hardy showed in matches with the likes of The Miz that he has what it takes to make matchups with familiar opponents interesting in the ring. As the fans like to chant, Jeff still has it.
Mustafa Ali
The assumption is that Jeff Hardy will return to WWE with the same alignment as before his April injury, as Hardy remains a popular babyface in the ring. Fans love cheering for him and encouraging him to take high-risk moves, and his familiar move-set is always good for a pop, particularly the Swanton Bomb and Whisper in the Wind.
That said, WWE could decide to go in a different direction with Hardy when they bring him back to WWE programming, or they could choose to slowly turn him to the dark side.
A heel Jeff Hardy feuding with Mustafa Ali could be incredible, and if Hardy puts over Ali, that could be a dream situation for the fans. Ali has all the talent to become a fan favorite and multi-time world champion like Hardy, because he’s also excellent at getting the fans on his side. The former 205 Live star is known for generating genuine sympathy, which is a rare talent.
But even if Hardy doesn’t turn heel, it would still be awesome watching these two tremendous in-ring talents going at it in a fierce SmackDown match that receives sufficient time. Jeff can still go in the ring, and we all know how good Ali is. A win for Ali over Hardy could do wonders in rebuilding Daniel Bryan’s former rival as a man to watch closely on the Blue Brand.
Killer Kross
We have yet to see Killer Kross debut in WWE after choosing the world’s largest wrestling promotion over competitive interest from AEW and NJPW. Kross was a major star with Impact Wrestling despite never holding the world championship, and Anthem’s wrestling promotion clearly dropped the ball with their best male talent.
Regardless, Kross looks poised for an immediate push and a spot on either Raw or SmackDown, with many people speculating that he could debut on Friday nights. There’s been a recent “glitch” in the arena, and while some fans believe it’s Mustafa Ali, others are sure it’s Kross.
If it is Kross, then an immediate rivalry with Jeff Hardy could be awesome. Like with Ali, getting the better of a WWE legend like Jeff Hardy could do wonders for Kross, who will be set up quickly as an upper mid-card player and a future world champion.
Feuding with an established babyface like Hardy can get major heat on Kross, and the in-ring and character dynamics of Jeff Hardy can help showcase Kross’ twisted character. Kross has a world of upside, and it would be awesome watching him and Hardy come to blows inside the ring, with Kross lashing out at a WWE icon.
John Morrison
Speaking of WWE legends, John Morrison is also back in WWE after starring as a main event talent with Impact Wrestling. He’s currently one half of the SmackDown Tag Team Champions alongside The Miz, who reverted back to his old self after a match with Bray Wyatt at TLC.
The Miz and Morrison should head into WrestleMania 36 as champions after successfully defending the titles this coming Sunday in Philadelphia in an Elimination Chamber match, but they’ll likely drop the titles to Jimmy and Jey Uso (or someone else) at the Show of Shows.
That would free up Miz and Morrison for post-WrestleMania rivalries. The Miz and Jeff Hardy had plenty of run-ins in 2018 on SmackDown, and while they could find some way of making a new feud feel fresh, it’s best to keep them separate.
However, we haven’t seen Morrison and Hardy in the ring together in more than a decade, and the nostalgia of watching the former world title opponents still pulling off big moves in 2020 would be absolutely incredible. Morrison’s return has been fun so far with the Miz reunion, but it will really heat up when he has throwback matches with Hardy and matches against up-and-comers like the ones suggested for Hardy in Killer Kross and Mustafa Ali.