Matt Hardy revealed a storyline pitch he made directly to Vince McMahon in 2017 that was ultimately rejected. The idea was designed to keep his brother, Jeff Hardy, on WWE television while he recovered from shoulder surgery.
The concept drew inspiration from the TV show Dexter.
Hardy suggested that Jeff, though sidelined with a real-life injury, could appear to him as a ghostly apparition. This version of Jeff would act as a conscience or guiding voice that only Matt could see and interact with.
This pitch occurred after The Hardy Boyz’ 2017 return, a period when Jeff was expected to be out for five to six months. Matt was beginning his “Woken” persona and starting a program with Bray Wyatt. He explained the pitch on his podcast, The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy with Jon Alba.
“I said, ‘What if we do a thing where Broken Matt’s here, he’s in this dilemma… and then all of a sudden, Jeff is there, and he’s talking to him, and he’s hurt, you know, he has the shoulder sling on whatever else,’” Hardy explained. “‘Someone walks in the room and they see me talking to someone, but there’s no one there, and Jeff is just a figment of my imagination.’” h/t Wrestling News.
According to Hardy, McMahon was not receptive. The former WWE Chairman was unfamiliar with Dexter and disliked the idea of a character appearing as an internal vision.
“Vince hated it,” Hardy stated. “Vince was not a fan… I could tell that it just wasn’t, it wasn’t his cup of tea.”
The storyline was never used.
Today, Matt and Jeff Hardy are active competitors. They currently hold the TNA World Tag Team Championships and feature regularly on TNA programming.