Matt Hardy Says Jake Roberts Let The Hardys Know They Were Close To Being Signed By WWE In 1997

The Hardy Boys (Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy) were often used as enhancement talent on WWE television throughout the mid-90s.
They were eventually given contracts in 1998 and regularly used as part of the tag team division, helping bringing it to new heights.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on the Ariel Helwani Show, the Hardys were asked if they ever got discouraged during the early years with being used, but not being signed.
“Jake ‘The Snake’ [Jake Roberts] (in 1997) was having a tryout doing creative, so he was in all of the meetings. He had done the meetings and came out and said, ‘Hey, do you guys know what you’re doing tonight?’ ‘No, we haven’t heard.’ He said, ‘You’re doing this and that. Just wanted to tell you. They’re planning on doing something with you guys. Just keep doing what you’re doing. They’re going to sign you.’ We’re like, ‘Is that for real?’ We had been doing it for almost four years and we were probably a little frustrated. ‘They’re going to sign you.’ They did, just a few months later. He was being accurate about that. It gave us motivation to keep your chin up and keep moving forward,” said Matt.
The Hardys were launched into superstardom in 1999 during their feud with Edge & Christian (Cope & Christian Cage in AEW).
Elsewhere during the interview, the Hardys reflected on what went wrong in their AEW run. You can find their full comments here.
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