Backstage Update On Original Plans For Last Week's AEW Dynamite Ladder Match

New information surfaces on Matt and Jeff Hardy's involvement in recent AEW Tag Team Title contest.

Jeff Hardy AEW
AEW

While the Young Bucks defeated Jurassic Express to become the new AEW Tag Team Champions in a ladder match on this past week's episode of AEW Dynamite, that bout was originally intended to be a three-way contest also featuring the Hardy Boyz. Of course, those initial plans were changed after Jeff Hardy was suspended by the promotion.

Since then, there have been rumblings and rumours that Matt and Jeff Hardy were never actually meant to compete in the match in the first place. Such speculation claims that the legendary duo were to be attacked before the contest, which would rule them out of competing for the AEW Tag Team Titles.

As per Fightful Select, those stories are said to be false.

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The belief is that the Hardys were always intended to be a part of this match, so long as Jeff was medically cleared to compete. If you remember, prior to his DUI arrest, the Charismatic Enigma had been pulled from a Dynamite ten-man tag bout due to being banged up. Should Hardy had been cleared, the brothers would have indeed butted heads with the Young Bucks and Jurassic Express in the aforementioned ladder offering.

Following this latest arrest, AEW would suspend Jeff Hardy without pay, with a company announcement stating that the star can return to action once he completes treatment for substance abuse issues.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.