Fantasy booking Jeff Hardy's return

If Jeff Hardy had remained with World Wrestling Entertainment back in 2009, you could argue that he would’ve turned into one of the top stars in all of professional wrestling. In a way, he already was before he made the jump to Impact Wrestling, but given what went down over in TNA, it’s fair to say that staying in WWE would’ve been the best move.

But we’re not here to talk about the past, and instead, we want to focus on what’ll happen when The Charismatic Enigma eventually makes his long-awaited return from injury.

First of all, we wouldn’t have him join the Woken Empire alongside Matt because let’s be honest – he’s best suited away from something like that. Of course, we wouldn’t ignore the situation altogether and would instead have Jeff confront Matt on the Raw after Mania 34 before being brutally attacked.

Jeff declines the chance to have a match against his brother for the time being and decides to focus on doing what he came here to do: have one last great run at the top of the card.

Hardy reverts back to his solo career and racks up a string of impressive victories on Monday Night Raw, all the while attempting to lure Matt back from the dark side.

Eventually, after numerous attacks from his deranged sibling, Jeff snaps and decides to try and end Matt once and for all at Backlash.

Prior to the match, Hardy is preparing backstage when Finn Balor, who would’ve captured the Intercontinental Championship by this point, and who the Hardys have a history with, wishes him the best of luck before jokingly calling him ‘old man’ as he exits.

Fast forward to the bout in New Jersey where Jeff has Matt on the ropes and goes up to the top for a Swanton Bomb, but he hesitates. He appears to be in deep thought when all of a sudden Matt capitalises on this mistake and finishes off his brother once and for all – leaving Jeff in a heap on the canvas.

For weeks we don’t see Jeff Hardy with some rumours suggesting that he’ll be retiring, and then in a #1 contender’s battle royal match to determine the next challenger for the Universal Championship, Jeff pops up out of the crowd and eliminates Finn Balor before escaping to the back.

The following night Jeff explains his actions by saying that Finn’s one comment changed his entire outlook on how he views himself not only as a performer but as a person. He was destined to become the new face of the WWE and he blew it, and Balor’s rise to the top just reminds him of everything that he could’ve had.

But at the same time, Hardy knows that he’s still one of the best in the business – and he wants to prove that to Finn once and for all.

Balor demands to face Jeff but general manager Kurt Angle claims that Hardy hasn’t earned the right to challenge for the title, which, of course, makes him a little bit angry.

Jeff proceeds to go on a three-week winning streak, and with the last victory coming over Dean Ambrose in something of an upset, Angle rewards him with an Intercontinental Championship match against Finn Balor at SummerSlam.

While the former multi-time world champion isn’t an explicit heel he’s certainly a tweener by this point, and Jeff lures Balor into accepting a Ladder match as their stipulation at the biggest party of the summer.

The two spend the entire build-up trying to out-work each other, with Jeff claiming that he was the man who made the IC title relevant during his last run in WWE. Eventually, it becomes clear to Finn that he’ll be at a massive disadvantage in this match given Jeff’s experience, which leads him to call upon The Demon.

At SummerSlam, the two have a blockbuster match with ends with Balor winning the belt, and the two follow it up by shaking hands in the middle of the ring.

From that point on you can have Jeff continue to be a solid upper midcarder, meanwhile, Balor can carry the white strap forward with pride.