5 Biggest missed opportunities with Jeff Hardy's last WWE run

Over 12 years after his last departure from WWE, Jeff Hardy is gone from the company again. He returned in 2017 along with his brother Matt Hardy in one of the most iconic moments in WrestleMania history.

However, the honeymoon phase soon ended, and within a few years, Matt left for AEW, while The Charismatic Enigma re-signed with WWE, sticking throughout the pandemic era.

While the company has been heavily criticized for the mass releases since April 2020, this release isn't one that fans are disputing, debating, or putting against WWE.

It was reported by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful that Vince McMahon's promotion offered Jeff Hardy help and rehab, but it was refused. As a result, he was released.

This is the aftermath of the concerning live event incident last week when Jeff aimlessly wandered into the crowd with the security running behind him. Drew McIntyre finished the match anyway but seemed visibly confused at his partner's absence in that time.

Unfortunately, Jeff Hardy didn't want to get the help that was needed, and in the eyes of many, he became a liability in the company. All personal issues aside, we can only really comment on WWE's handling of him on-screen and the opportunities that were missed during his last WWE run:

---

#5. A feud between Jeff Hardy and Roman Reigns

Speaking to Sportskeeda Wrestling's Sid Pullar III, Jeff Hardy revealed that his biggest dream match in WWE was against Roman Reigns. While he has already crossed paths with the other two former Shield members Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, a match against Reigns was one he wanted.

Not only this, but he felt that he fit into The Tribal Chief's story and wanted to be the one to dethrone him. In the SmackDown Black Friday Battle Royal, Hardy seemed to have finally earned his Universal title shot, but it was taken away by Sami Zayn, who appeared in the last second to win.

This is what Jeff Hardy told Sportskeeda Wrestling about the dream Roman Reigns match:

"There's three (goals) I think, more than anything. The first is to be the Universal Champion, ideally, defeating Roman Reigns. That's one of my dream matches because his stuff is so powerful now. I got to mix it up with Seth [Rollins] and Dean [Ambrose] before he left. Roman's the one guy I never came in contact with. I just kind of feel like I belong in that story, and that I will belong in that story," said Jeff Hardy.

This would have been a dream match and feud, and an interesting one for Reigns as well. While Hardy would never have won the match, it would have still been amazing to see legends of two different generations clash.

#4. A chance for Jeff Hardy to elevate the US Title in 2018

When Jeff Hardy won the United States Championship, the handling of the title seemed to be all over the place. Between October 2017 and April 2018, the title had switched hands six times, going from Baron Corbin to Dolph Ziggler to vacant to Robert Roode to Randy Orton to Jinder Mahal, and then Hardy.

When Mahal won the US title, it was at WrestleMania 34 - a time where many felt the popular Rusev should have had his moment. Unsurprisingly, WWE squandered his momentum by having him take the pinfall instead.

However, his reign only lasted eight days as he put the US title on the line on RAW on the first day of the Superstar Shake-Up. It was Jeff Hardy who beat him to capture the US title.

This would have been the perfect moment for the company to bring back "No More Words" and use Hardy to elevate the US Title. He was still hot at the time and it would have made sense to use a legend like him to bring order to an otherwise chaotic title that kept changing hands.

Instead, he held it for three months and lost it in the worst way possible to Shinsuke Nakamura.

#3. Jeff Hardy and Daniel Bryan not crossing paths enough

Jeff Hardy and Daniel Bryan are technically one-a-piece in head-to-head competition. The two veterans of the wrestling business have faced off twice on SmackDown - once in May 2018 and the other time in February 2019.

In the first instance, it was a Money in the Bank qualifying match and Bryan defeated Hardy, who was the reigning United States Champion at the time. The second time they had a match was ahead of the incredible Elimination Chamber 2019 bout.

It was on SmackDown, and it was right on the cusp of KofiMania. At the time, Mustafa Ali was yet to be replaced, and Jeff Hardy faced the "new" Daniel Bryan, who not only was a heel but was the reigning WWE Champion.

Thanks to an attack by Erick Rowan, Hardy beat Bryan by disqualification. However, it was a missed opportunity before that for WWE not to book a feud between the two.

The 2019 Royal Rumble would have been the perfect stage for even a short feud. Instead, the rivalry with AJ Styles kept extending, and The Phenomenal One and Daniel Bryan had one of their most underwhelming matches on that instance.

Jeff Hardy would have been a better opponent for Daniel Bryan at the Royal Rumble than Styles.

#2. Jeff Hardy's Intercontinental Championship reign in 2020

Jeff Hardy's final championship win in WWE was the Intercontinental title in 2020. He had good momentum that year, and AJ Styles had just won the Intercontinental Championship tournament to capture the title.

While some would have argued that Styles should have had a longer reign, it was cut short by Hardy, who won the title from before SummerSlam 2020 rather than at the pay-per-view.

The pandemic/ThunderDome era of WWE was interesting, and Jeff Hardy was a big part of it. His reign as the Intercontinental Champion was cut short when Sami Zayn returned.

At Clash of Champions 2020, The Charismatic Enigma defended the title against Styles and Zayn, but it was the latter who captured the title instead. One could argue that Jeff Hardy should have retained the title in that instance and had a good reign with the title.

None of his singles titles reigns since he returned to the company were long, and he was hardly given the opportunity to enjoy a lengthy run with a title.

#1. Jeff Hardy as an opponent for Edge

Edge vs. Jeff Hardy is a match that we may never see again. While the two men have crossed paths numerous times throughout their careers, and they're essentially inter-linked because of it, perhaps one of the saddest things is that we will never see them have a match again.

The Rated-R Superstar's return to WWE has been an interesting one. Not only has he proven that he is still a top-tier superstar, but he is consistently having great matches. His feud against Seth Rollins was arguably the rivalry of the year in WWE - even though it just lasted two-to-three months.

Jeff Hardy revealed in an interview with SportBible that he spoke to Edge and expressed his desire to face him one more time:

"Actually, last month I spoke to Edge and I think he said something, ‘I think we gotta do it one more time’. Totally. Even in the rumble last year, I didn’t last no time – I was in and out and he won the rumble. I had said beforehand that it would be cool if me and Edge had this face off, just for a moment because of our history. As long as he keeps his health and I keep mine, that’s another big match,” said Jeff Hardy.

The last time the two men faced off in a singles match was in 2009 on an episode of SmackDown. It's a match that should have happened - even if it wasn't a big feud.