Jeff Hardy’s WWE Status, RAW Announce Team To Feature New Faces

What Is Jeff Hardy’s WWE Status?

Jeff Hardy is currently sidelined with a knee injury, but the WWE superstar is expected to return to the active roster later this year.

According to a report by Fightful, Hardy’s contract has been extended for at least another year while he recovers from the injury. The 42-year-old year returned to WWE for his second run prior to WrestleMania 33, reuniting with his brother, Matt Hardy, as participants in a ladder match for the RAW tag team championships.

The Hardy Boyz won the titles that April night in 2017, marking their seventh reign atop the division. It was also the first time they had won a match as a tag team at WrestleMania, and was Jeff’s first victory at the yearly mega-event.

Jeff’s latest injury forced the Hardy Boyz to vacate the SmackDown tag team titles this past April. During his career, Jeff became a Grand Slam and Triple Crown winner in the WWE, having held the heavyweight championship twice and the WWE championship once.

Hardy is one of just two wrestlers alongside Chris Jericho to win all the original Grand Slam titles.

205 Live’s Dio Maddin, Vic Joseph Set To Join RAW’s Announce Team

We previously reported that the WWE announce teams will receive some major changes right alongside the upcoming WWE Draft. Now, it appears the picture is becoming clearer in regards to who will be going where.

According to @Wrestlevotes, the WWE RAW announce team will include current 205 Live announcers Vic Joseph and Dio Maddin. That would leave current RAW announcers Michael Cole and Corey Graves to head to SmackDown, with Renee Young hosting a weekly WWE show on FOX Sports 1.

With Joseph and Maddin moving up to the RAW brand and Cole and Graves heading over to SmackDown, the NXT announce team will feature Mauro Ranallo, WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix and Nigel McGuinness.

Maddin, who has competed on NXT, is a former professional football player. He was drafted by the NFL’s Houston Texans in the third round out of North Carolina in 2013, training under legend Booker T and Reality of Wrestling. He replaced McGuinness on 205 Live earlier this month.

Joseph previously worked as the Cleveland Browns Network host and was the announcer for House of Hardcore. Cole started with the WWE back in 1997 and has worked on RAW, SmackDown and NXT, while Graves is currently the only person to be doing commentary for both RAW and SmackDown.

The WWE Draft is scheduled for October, right along with SmackDown heading to FOX.