WWE Rumors on Jeff Hardy, Vince McMahon, Austin Theory, Johnny Gargano, Kyle O’Reilly

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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from WWE and AEW. 

Jeff Hardy Reportedly Sent Home From the Road

Jeff Hardy did not make his scheduled appearance at Sunday’s live event in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported he has been sent home from the road.

Hardy was reportedly “sluggish” during a six-man tag team match the previous night and left through the crowd midway through. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported Hardy had a “rough night.”

No circumstances regarding Hardy’s issues were made available. The 44-year-old has a history of substance-abuse issues that have at times followed him into the ring, and he said last year that he is “done” if he has another slip-up.

It’s unclear if Hardy’s issues were substance-related.

Theory Being Put With Vince to Help Get Him Over Internally

Few would have guessed Vince McMahon’s return to an onscreen role would have involved Austin Theory, but it appears WWE has had plenty of success with an Austin-McMahon pairing in the past. The two had several segments on last week’s Raw, culminating with the boss slapping his young protege.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported the segments are an attempt to get Theory over with McMahon. Theory’s segments before the last couple of weeks reportedly tested high with young audiences, something WWE covets as it competes with AEW.

Theory is one of the youngest wrestlers in the company at age 24, so it would make sense that WWE is trying to push him as he finds his onscreen persona. 

It’s not known whether the McMahon-Theory pairing will keep moving forward, but it’s always welcome to see the boss on television. 

Gargano, O’Reilly Expected to Depart WWE

Fightful Select reported it’s the internal belief that Johnny Gargano and Kyle O’Reilly will leave WWE once their contracts expire this month.

Gargano and O’Reilly were each in action during Sunday’s War Games pay-per-view, and there were several allusions to Gargano’s departure in particular. Johnny Wrestling is expected to address the NXT crowd during Tuesday’s episode, where it’s almost certain he will announce he’s leaving.

The only question is whether it’s for the main roster or AEW.

It would be unprecedented for WWE to allow a wrestler to announce he’s departing for another company on television, so that does leave a glimmer of hope Gargano will wind up sticking around. AEW is a virtual lock to land him if he does leave given his relationship with Adam Cole and The Young Bucks.

Same goes for O’Reilly, who is set to take on Von Wagner in a cage match Tuesday on NXT. The match may be a way to write him out and put over Wagner as a monster heel. 

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