There is no denying that Jeff Hardy is a once-in-a-lifetime talent in wrestling. During his early days in wrestling, very few expected Jeff Hardy to achieve success in his WWE career as a singles competitor. Well, at least not until the Charismatic Enigma proved his doubter wrong and won the WWE Championship in 2008. Although Hardy was not one of Vince McMahon’s ideal wrestlers with a large frame and big muscles, he had the gift of high-flying prowess in the ring.
One of Jeff Hardy’s most commendable performances as an underdog was his ladder match against the Undertaker in 2002. To everybody’s surprise, Jeff Hardy pushed the Big Evil Undertaker to the limit in their match. As time went by, Hardy made a name for himself in WWE swimming with the top sharks of the company.
His first-ever WWE Title victory against Triple H and Edge in 2008 shocked the WWE Universe. However, not everybody was on board with seeing him as the face of the company due to his erratic personal life.
Matt Hardy recalls Triple H voting ‘nay’ on Jeff Hardy’s first WWE Title win
As noted above, Jeff Hardy made history after he defeated Triple H and Edge in a triple-threat match at Armageddon in 2008. However, before WWE decided to book Jeff as the winner of the title match, Vince McMahon held court backstage as not everybody was on the same page with Hardy being the face of WWE given his troubled past.
During an edition of the Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, former ECW Champion Matt Hardy recalled when the idea to put Jeff Hardy as the new WWE Champion was up for discussion. According to Matt, Triple H was against the idea considering Jeff’s unpredictable lifestyle. On the other hand, former WWE writer and actor Freddie Prince Jr was all for it.
“There was a lot of division there because there was Hunter and the people that kind of sided with Hunter, and then there was Freddie and Michael Hayes. Vince wanted to I think roll the dice on Jeff, but he also understood where Triple H was coming from, about his dependability and how much can the company rely on him, representing WWE as the champion.” Said Matt Hardy.
Matt Hardy even pointed out that Edge voting in favor of Jeff Hardy winning the title played a big role in the debate. Ultimately, the majority voted in favor of Hardy and the title was put on Daredevil. It was conspicuous that Jeff’s talent was overlooked because of his marred reputation with addiction.
However, Freddie Price Jr was insistent that Jeff would make a great champion. Freddie reportedly also brought up Jeff’s merch sales and warned Vince that fans would stop caring about him if they did not capitalize on the opportunity to put Jeff over.
Matt Hardy comments on whether Triple H voting ‘nay’ for Jeff Hardy was due to personal reasons
Further during the podcast, Matt Hardy was asked if he thought Triple voting against Jeff Hardy as Champion was due to personal reasons to which Matt empathized with the former that he was thinking in the business’s best interest.
Matt pointed out the difference between Triple H and Jeff Hardy’s approach to the business. While Triple H’s viewpoint was more business-oriented, Jeff Hardy’s approach to the business was just entertaining the fans and doing what he loved.
“No. I think Triple H, overall he liked Jeff, and he respected the sacrifices. He just saw him for who he truly is, which is this human being who doesn’t put politics first, doesn’t put WWE, doesn’t corporate stuff first, isn’t really a businessman so to say.” Said Hardy.
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