Jeff Hardy Backstage at WWE SmackDown

Former WWE Champion Jeff Hardy hasn't wrestled a match for WWE since April 2019, but it sounds like the "Charismatic Enigma" is getting closer to comeback. PWInsider reported over the weekend that Hardy was backstage at this week's SmackDown and is expected to do the same for the Feb. 28 episode, indicating he'll be back on the Blue Brand once he's given the green light for a return. Hardy suffered a leg injury last year that forced him to undergo surgery, but while recovering he wound up getting two alcohol-related arrests. WWE reportedly opted to keep him off television even longer so he could sort out his personal problems.

Meanwhile Hardy's brother Matt has been counting down the days until his contract expires in early March. He was seemingly written off television (again) on Raw this past week after a brutal attack from Randy Orton, and has been heavily hinting at a gimmick change in his new Free The Delete series on his personal YouTube channel.

"To everyone out there that is watching 'Free The Delete,' which is continuing on with that cinematic feel, I hope you've been enjoying them. I've been doing them in a very specific way where... I think in the professional wrestling business now if you're or a performer or especially if you're a promoter and you're putting together events, we serve two masters," Hardy said during a recent video. "I think there's the diehard fan that knows the deal and knows what's going on. And I think that fanbase is growing exponentially and is getting larger every single day. That's one audience that we definitely have to take care of cater to them. And the other audience is the casual fans. And there are casual fans out there that just love the casual concept of wrestling and this larger than life story, a good guy versus a bad guy. And they want to see a story happen that culminates in a match and there's train wrecks along the way.

"There's two masters we're serving, and the point that I was saying was in 'Free The Delete' I'm trying to cater to both of those. That's kind of how I try to perform in this day in age. ... So if you see something in 'Free The Delete' that stands out and you think, 'Maybe this means something?' It means something."

Many fans have assumed that once Matt is free to leave, he'll move to All Elite Wrestling. Meanwhile, Jeff's contract has been extended to compensate for the time he has missed while injured.