AEW: Jeff Hardy Contract Update, Chris Jericho on Being “Very Important” for AEW to Keep Adding Big Stars, Early Estimates for Double or Nothing 2024 PPV Buys

Jeff Hardy AEW Contract Status Update – Hardy’s Contract Believed to Expire This June

As noted before, Matt Hardy’s contract with AEW expired at the end of this past March and Jeff Hardy’s contract was originally set to expire at the same time as his brother Matt’s contract but had been extended to make up for time he was away from the company due to injuries and his suspension from a DUI arrest.

In a recent episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, co-host Matt Hardy provided an update on the status of his brother Jeff’s current contract with AEW.

“He’s been cleared, he’s just sitting at home, waiting on the call. Unlike me, he’s not someone who really gets out and makes things happen. He just kind of waits on someone to call him. He’s sitting at home, just waiting on that phone call, jumping on the trampoline, up and down with dumbbells. But yeah, he’s got til like mid-June or so, I think, and then his deal’s up, so I guess we’ll see if he ends up re-signing or not re-signing. Who knows?”

In response to a question from co-host Jon Alba about his brother likely has not complained about being stuck at home since it means he spend more time with his family, Hardy stated:

“No, he’s not. He’s very happy to be home. But I do know it’s important to him too to finish up his career and our run on a high note. I know that is something that he wants to do, so it’s gonna be interesting to see what happens.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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Chris Jericho Comments on It Being “Very Important” for AEW to Keep Adding Big Stars

TMZ Sports held a recent interview with Chris Jericho. One of the topics discussed included Jericho’s thoughts about his belief that it is very important for AEW to keep signing and bringing in big star talents to their company.

“It’s very important. Because the best thing that ever happened to pro wrestling in the modern era was AEW existing. My dad played for the NHL for 10 years. And he was playing for the New York Rangers in 1972 when Bobby Hull signed with the WHA. Got a million dollars to jump from the NHL. And what did that do? It raised everybody’s salaries. He went from $35,000 to $135,000 just so they wouldn’t go to the WHA.

That’s what happened when All Elite Wrestling started. When Chris Jericho signed there, suddenly everybody’s getting these huge raises in WWE to not come to AEW. Tony Khan, our owner, owns the [Jacksonville] Jaguars. You know, they have a lot of money in the family, so he can play that game all day long. And that’s why we brought in Will Ospreay, and Mercedes Mone, and Kazuchika Okada. You mention Becky Lynch, five years ago, Becky would have no other options. Not saying that she’s coming, but there is an option. And who knows what could happen? No one thought that Jericho would come to AEW. No one thought that [Jon] Moxley would come. Or Bryan Danielson. Or Adam Cole. Or any of these guys that have come over. So it’s exciting for the fans. And it’s exciting for the wrestlers, the talent. Because now suddenly if there’s a bidding war, that just benefits us.

So I think it’s very important. And listen, that was one of the things of being in the Attitude Era and the Monday Night Wars with Nitro and Raw, you never knew who was going to show up. And when somebody new would come from whatever side it was to the other, it made things so much more exciting. So many more matches that you can have. So many more possibilities of seeing guys go up against each other that you never thought about. So it’s a really exciting time in wrestling, and that’s another reason why.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com

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Early PPV Buys Estimates for AEW Double or Nothing 2024

AEW reportedly is currently estimated to have generated around 133,000 pay-per-view buys for this past Sunday’s Double or Nothing 2024 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s issue that cable television PPV buys were up 9.5% compared to this past April’s Dynasty event. Meltzer reported that Double or Nothing 2024’s streaming numbers in the United States were higher than Dynasty while international streaming numbers were around the same as Dynasty.

Meltzer reported that based on these estimates and current data, this would give a total PPV buys estimate of around 133,000 for Double or Nothing 2024 although this estimate would be affected by slow reporting from cable PPV tracking companies due to issues related to the recent Memorial Day weekend holiday.

In regards to comparisons with last year’s event, Meltzer reported that cable TV buys were way down from last year’s event but streaming buys were higher and have been picking up some of the slack.