Jeff Hardy Reveals What’s Left on His WWE Bucket List, His New Feud With Elias

It’s been an eventful month for Jeff Hardy. Back at Clash of Champions Hardy saw his latest reign as Intercontinental Champion come to an end after a show-stealing ladder match with Sami Zayn and AJ Styles. He was then drafted back to the Monday Night Raw roster, where he was promptly attacked by Elias — who still thinks he was behind the hit-and-run accident in the WWE Performance Center back in May. The two will clash at Hell in a Cell on Sunday, and Hardy sat down with ComicBook to talk about the match this week.

Hardy said that, despite their ongoing feud, he was actually has a lot of respect for what Elias is doing as a musician and as a character.

“Elias is amazing, man, especially in front of those live audiences, man. When he hits that guitar, the boos, the whole ‘Walk With Elias,’ is just amazing and the silly little songs that he sings,” Hardy said. “What’s cool about this new album he put out, I dig the songs, that ‘Amen’ song he used, I heard it many times the other day and I said, ‘Wow, that was pretty good, I kind of like it,’ and I’m not ashamed to admit that. But overall he’s a good wrestler too. So it’s the first time that we kind of got in the ring and mix it up with one another, so I’m looking forward to the chemistry that is created between us.”

The aforementioned ladder match saw Hardy take a number of hellacious bumps, including a Swanton Bomb from the top of one ladder onto Sami Zayn (who was laying on another ladder that snapped upon impact).

Even though he’s 43, Hardy said he’s still got plenty of more ladder matches left in him.

“That [match] was so stressful, before it actually started flowing in motion and it looked like after it was over, I mean, I was really proud of it, but in the moment it was really chaotic,” he said. “That’s kind of the beauty behind it as well, because A.J. Styles and Sami are just awesome entertainers, pro wrestlers, storytellers, all that. Just being in the mix with them, was just incredible. But yeah, I think I’ve got a few more, but I can’t put a number on it, it’s kind of one of those things, kind of, when the time, when the opportunity arrives, I’m just all for it. Because the ladder is my claim to fame. Ever since that tag team ladder match, Matt and I had against Edge and Christian, our lives pretty much changed and it was all history after that.”

Part of the finish for the match saw Zayn handcuff one of Hardy’s ear gauges to a ladder, preventing him from trying to climb up and grab the two Intercontinental Championships. Hardy admitted he was worried that the gauge had been ripped open during the spot.

“I’ve got my ladder fell over and I thought for sure it ripped right away,” he said. “My first reaction was I check for blood. That was pretty tough and I survived it without having to have it surgically repaired.”

Since first debuting in WWE in 1994 Hardy has worked for the promotion on three separate occasions, becoming a Grand Slam Champion while capturing tag team gold nine times with his brother Matt. He recently revealed that he’s under a new contract with the company, and has a bucket list of things he still wants to do in WWE.

“Three things that I’ve already set a goal for myself to be the WWE champion one more time, to be the Universal Champion one time and main event a WrestleMania one time,” Hardy said. “And hopefully, I can get that in before it’s all said and done.”

He later mentioned one more — bringing his Willow alter-ego (previously seen in Impact Wrestling) to WWE television to feud with The Fiend.

“Just seeing The Fiend, from week to week and Bray Wyatt, there’s got to be something there. And I’ve even talked about it many times, as far as I can see something, this vision I have of Willow and The Fiend being in the same ring and I’m not sure what it is, but I think there’s a way to figure it out,” Hardy said.

Hell in a Cell takes place at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday night on the WWE Network.