AEW Star Bemoans "Feeling Like A Ghost" Backstage
AEW star talks needing to bring their ego back.
AEW's Jeff Hardy has conceded that he feels like a ghost backstage in the promotion, likening the sensation to a similar period in WWE.
Speaking on his brother's podcast, The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Jeff said that he initially felt excited about returning to AEW, as he didn't know what was going to happen. Since then, he has started feeling like a ghost backstage - and uncomfortable even wearing his own merchandise.
Said Hardy (h/t Fightful):
“When I first came back, it was pretty exciting, I didn’t know what was going to be happening in the near future. The last time I was in this extreme dimension of your podcast, I said in WWE I felt like I was a ghost just walking around backstage. Honestly, I kind of still feel like that at AEW just because not being involved in something cool, and I feel like there is something so special that we have within us to really bring out, and that brings me to things with ego. Honestly, I’m in a place in my life where wearing this Jeff Hardy (shirt), I feel like a goofy goober for wearing my own shirt. ‘Why does this feel so goofy to wear my own shirt?’"
AEW suspended Hardy indefinitely in June 2002, when he was arrested for driving under the influence. The following February, Jeff was handed a 38-day suspended jail term and two years of probation, amongst other punishments, as part of his sentencing, with AEW then bringing him back to television in April.
Jeff has since wrestled 19 televised bouts for AEW, mostly featuring his brother, Matt.
Continuing, Hardy claimed that he might need to start showing more ego in AEW, creating his own moments in the company:
“My thing has always been, there isn’t much difference between the in-ring performer Jeff Hardy and the reality and human world Jeff Hardy. At the show the other night, at the concert, I talked about ego, and another wrestler said, ‘You’ve never had an ego,’ but I think I need to bring my ego back ten times more intense than it was when I was the anti-Christ of professional wrestling. It feels like it’s inevitable. It feels so right. You have to create the moments yourself and when you’re passionate about something, and little by little, we’re eventually going to get there.”