Jeff Hardy and WWE could part ways this summer, according to reports.

PWInsider.com report that Hardy’s current WWE contract will expire over the next few months and as things stand, Hardy is ready to walk away from the company.

The 31-year-old, who returned to the company in August 2006, has been offered a long-term deal and reportedly also been given the option of signing a one-year deal with a view to negotiating a longer deal over the next twelve months.

Hardy is in a unique position in that he has the ball in his court. With the draft taking place (well, supposedly) its left him as arguably the #2 babyface on Smackdown behind The Undertaker. And should Hardy leave WWE, it leaves the company with a pretty big void to fill since its clear that WWE (read: Vince) don’t see Rey Mysterio as a main event guy and CM Punk isn’t anywhere near Jeff’s level yet. Unless Edge or Chris Jericho were to turn, I can see an Hardy exit resulting in somebody from Raw being moved over to the blue brand such as Batista.

There’s nothing to indicate that Hardy has an eye on a return to TNA, with whom he spent eighteen months with from Summer 2004 through to December 2005, when he no-showed the company’s Turning Point PPV and was not seen on TNA programming again. That said, I’m sure that the subject will be a topic for conversation in the TNA locker room over the next couple of nights in Orlando where Impact is being taped.

With TNA seemingly not on his radar, it may just be that Hardy, who has always been something of a free spirit, just wants some time away from wrestling. Whether that gives him the power to request an extended leave of absence to take a few months off in return for agreeing a new deal remains to be seen. Its a position that very few in the company could find themselves in.

But a lot can happen over the next couple of months. Although we don’t know Hardy’s contract expiry date, I’d hazard a guess at it being July since he returned to WWE programming at the start of August in 2006 so there’s certainly time to work things out. As things stand though, I think its a fairly safe bet that Matt picks up the win at this Sunday’s Backlash PPV to continue the booking trend of WWE covering themselves by making Matt look the stronger of the two in case Jeff does leave the company.

Phil Lowe
phil@ifight365.com