Matt Hardy Explains His Presence At Recent WWE Raw Taping, Gives AEW Contract Update

Fans in attendance for last week's episode of "WWE Raw" were treated to an exciting evening of in-ring action as WWE inches closer to WrestleMania 40. Many fans were also treated to the surprise of meeting former WWE Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy, who made an impromptu visit to the venue alongside his wife, Reby. On the latest episode of "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy," Matt laid out the series of events that led him and Reby to "Raw" recently.

"Literally, myself and my wife, which we try and do once, maybe twice a week when we can, we had a date night where it was just me and her, without kids," Matt said. "We were having a great dinner in Raleigh, and she was contacted by one of her friends that she does a spa with in Raleigh, and Raleigh is just a few miles from the Hardy Compound, everyone knows that. They had a suite, which they always have, over at the PNC [Arena], and they invited Reby over. They said, 'Hey, you wanna come hang out? There's free food. We'd like to see you.'"

Though he was initially hesitant about going to "Raw," Matt noted that Reby was insistent on meeting her friend there. As such, the couple made the short drive to the PNC Arena, where they situated themselves in one of the sky box suites. Matt and Reby's trip to "Raw" spanned about 90 minutes, as they arrived at approximately 9:00 pm before exiting the building around 10:30 pm. In addition to hanging out with Reby's friends, Matt recalled that he was also approached by a long line of fans, with whom he estimates he took 200 photos with.

The timing of Matt Hardy's visit to "WWE Raw" has sparked a myriad of speculation, particularly since his contract with All Elite Wrestling is set to expire this month. While some believe his presence at "Raw" may be indicative of an imminent WWE return, Matt attests that he is still in the process of negotiating a potential new deal that would keep him in AEW.

"I do love AEW," Matt said. "There's some things I would like to change about my personal career there and some of the things that we're doing, but I do say, overall, I love AEW because it is very important to the pro wrestling industry. AEW needs to do well, just because the pro wrestling industry doesn't need just one huge company that is in control of everything. They need competition. Competition is what makes it thrive. It's what makes it better. For all the young kids that are coming up, competition needs to exist. So yes, I want AEW to do well and I want AEW to thrive, but I want to be in a satisfactory position in what I'm doing in AEW. And that's kind of where we're at, still negotiating, figuring things out ... Hopefully, in a few weeks, I will know what the future holds."

Matt made his AEW debut in March 2020 by reintroducing his "Broken" persona and joining forces with The Elite. Two years later, Matt's brother, Jeff Hardy followed suit as he rescued Matt from an attack at the hands of Andrade El Idolo, The Butcher, The Blade, and Private Party on "AEW Dynamite" in his respective debut appearance.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.