Matt Hardy on Jeff's Future; Kevin Owens Talks NXT 2.0; Lacey Evans Teases WWE Return

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.

Matt Hardy Wants to Reunite the Hardy Boyz

Matt Hardy continues to publicly push for AEW to sign his brother, Jeff Hardy, to reunite one of the greatest tag teams in wrestling history. 

Appearing on The Drive with Josh Graham podcast (h/t Eric Mutter of Wrestling, Inc.), Hardy said it "would be fabulous" if Jeff joined him in All Elite Wrestling when he's eligible to do so: 

"I know both of us have stated on quite a few occasions that we both want to end our careers the way we began our careers. And that is as a tag team. That was our dream, as two kids growing up, we wanted to be the tag team champions of the world, at least one time. Obviously we have very fortunately exceeded that many times over. But I think us teaming together and having one last run as a tag team would be amazing. And I couldn’t think of a better place to do it than All Elite Wrestling."

Matt previously told Ishan Chavan of EssentiallySports.com (h/t Mutter) he's hoping Jeff joins him and they can work a match with Sting and Darby Allin. 

Jeff's status is uncertain right now following his release by WWE earlier this month. Mike Johnson of PW Insider reported the younger Hardy brother was sent home by WWE after walking out in the middle of a match during a house show main event. 

Per Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post, Jeff declined WWE's offer to go to rehab before being released on Dec. 9. 

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of RingsideNews.com) did note AEW might not be so quick to sign Hardy unless it was "on a zero-tolerance deal."

If a deal can be reached between Jeff Hardy and AEW, it would certainly make sense to put him with Matt as a tag team.

They work perfectly together as a unit and would give the company another main event-caliber team to work with the other superstar duos in AEW, including the Young Bucks, Lucha Brothers, FTR and Private Party. 

Kevin Owens Talks NXT 2.0

One of the biggest changes to WWE this year was the complete overhauling of NXT to a true developmental brand. 

Kevin Owens, who got his start in WWE working on the NXT brand, appeared on the French-Canadian podcast Les anti-pods de la lutte (h/t Mutter) and spoke about what he's seen from NXT 2.0 thus far:

"Today’s NXT is very different than the NXT I was part of, to the point I believe it should have a totally different name. And I don’t think it’s better or worse, but it’s just too different. So when I’m watching NXT, I don’t see the NXT I was part of. It’s not the same thing. It’s a little bit like Ring of Honor. The ROH of old days and the ROH now, it’s just not the same thing."

Owens did say the new version of NXT does have "very talented people working there, and I have watched the last TakeOver show they did and there were parts of it that I thought was really good," but he wouldn't be eager to work on the show "because it’s not the same thing" from when he worked on the brand. 

At its peak, NXT was putting out one of the best weekly wrestling shows in the world. TakeOver events were must-see television with future WWE Superstars like Owens, Finn Balor, Charlotte, Bayley and Sasha Banks in main events. 

Owens signed with WWE in 2014 and made his debut four months later at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution. He defeated Sami Zayn to win the NXT championship at TakeOver: Rival in February 2015. 

The 2.0 rebrand took effect in September, with most of the featured players being true developmental wrestlers instead of already established indie stars. The show has been given a new logo, color scheme and lighting format. 

Several standouts from the original NXT, including Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, Neville and The Revival, have since left the company and joined AEW. 

Lacey Evans Teasing WWE Comeback

It's been more than 10 months since Lacey Evans has been on WWE television, but her return appears to be getting closer. 

After a fan tweeted a video of their daughter getting an Evans action figure for Christmas, the Sassy Southern Belle responded with a simple message:

Evans was in the midst of a feud with Charlotte Flair when she announced on the Feb. 15 episode of Raw that she was pregnant with her second child. 

The United States Marine Corps veteran announced on Oct. 16 that she gave birth to her second child with her husband, Alfonso Estrella-Kadlec. 

On Dec. 4, Evans tweeted an image of her in training six weeks after giving birth:

WWE has given no indication on television when Evans might return. One potential idea would be to have her come back as a surprise entrant in the women's Royal Rumble on Jan. 29. 

Regardless of when Evans returns, she will certainly inject new life into the Raw women's division with Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley. 

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