8 Amazing Wrestlers That Flopped In AEW

8. The Hardys

The Hardys heading to AEW after their middling third run in WWE made a lot of sense on paper. Matt and Jeff were both still massive household names, were still only in their 40s, and had plenty of juice left in the tank. All this, and both Matt and Jeff had good runs on the indies when AEW's EVPs were selling Bullet Club shirts by the truckload, not to mention the Hardys had done stellar work in TNA. 

The Hardys in AEW should have worked a charm, but it really, really didn't.

Matt Hardy arrived in AEW in February 2021, just over a year before his brother. Sadly, none of Matt's storylines had captured what made him so beloved during his 'Broken' days, and this somehow only got worse when Jeff arrived. Jeff was booked strongly in the first Owen Hart tournament, getting through Darby Allin via DQ on the way to being beaten in the semi-finals by eventual winner, Adam Cole, but The Hardys as a team just felt flat compared to AEW's existing tag team scene. 

Their only PPV appearance came in a limp victory over The Young Bucks at Double or Nothing 2022, in a match that felt a little sad compared to the incredible Ladder Match the teams had at ROH Supercard of Honor XI just five years earlier. Unfortunately, Jeff Hardy picked up a DUI charge three months into working with AEW, and things fell apart from there. It also didn't help that Jeff would regularly complain in public about appearing on Rampage, calling it "the B show", but neither he nor his brother did anything to justify A-list billing.