Backstage Update: What WWE Offered Jeff Hardy To Stay

WWE officials attempted to convince Jeff Hardy to stay with the company until the very last minute, but were unsuccessful.

He was offered a big money deal that would allow him to avoid working house shows and only appear at television tapings and pay-per-view events. WWE has never offered a deal like that before, as even Undertaker and Shawn Michaels still work house shows, though both will be doing less than in the past.

Company officials were also looking to sign Hardy to a merchandise contract that would permit WWE to continue to create additional merchandise and cash in on his popularity during his hiatus. This would also allow WWE to prevent him from going elsewhere since he's contractually free to negotiate with whomever he chooses.

Hardy has been receiving several large money offers to wrestle on the independent circuit, but has given no indication he'll wrestle outside a WWE ring. The feeling is that if he was going to wrestle, he would do so in WWE.

Hardy wa concentrating on trying to get his reality television show off the ground in recent weeks.

You can bet people in WWE are breathing a sigh of relief right now after his arrest yesterday. If he did sign a new contract several weeks ago, they would have been forced to terminate him.

What are your thoughts on Hardy's arrest? We have a thread going on our forums about this, you can go to the thread by clicking here.