WWE adds Jeff Hardy to Alumni section despite every indication he's staying with TNA

Well this is interesting timing.

Jeff Hardy, who currently holds the TNA heavyweight championship and has been headlining that promotion's shows for months on end, has been added to the WWE Alumni section on WWE.com, as announced by Joey Styles in this tweet:

New addition to @wwe Alumni section...Jeff Hardy! wwe.com/superstars/jef…

— Joey Styles (@JoeyStyles) February 7, 2013

The reason the timing is so interesting is because Hardy's contract with TNA is due up soon. It's believed his deal expires by the end of the month and he's been so heavily featured on Impact Wrestling week in and week out as a way for the company to try to sway him to re-sign instead of going back to WWE.

Based on the way he speaks in interviews, it seems that strategy has worked. Dave Meltzer talked about the situation in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required):

Jeff Hardy did a Michigan Live interview and seemed to indicate he's staying. There hasn't been any talk in the indie scene in months regarding the idea that Hardy would be doing indies, as there was several months back. It seemed the strategy of giving him the title and having him headline the shows worked and we've heard no talk at all of him leaving. His original contract was to expire at the end of this month. Hardy talked about enjoying the easier schedule than he was used to in WWE, noting, "There's so many things I have to do other than wrestle. Here at TNA, what's so cool is that they've given me more time to focus on all those things. And they've put me in a great position to be a great professional wrestler. Things are really starting to happen now. My evolution is really in full effect and the music is going great. Everything is just kind of going real well." Regarding TNA vs. WWE, he said, "We're way different than WWE. We may never be as big as WWE, but the cool thing about TNA is that we are the alternative. So people who get tired and bored with WWE, I've been there, I understand, there's an alternative and something else to watch. For special wrestlers, there's somewhere else to go, as long as you're not brainwashed by that WWE mentality."

Considering the fact that Hardy was making plans to sing at Bound for Glory later this year, as well as there being no guarantee he could ever get back to the main event level in WWE assuming he went back, it seems clear he'll be back with TNA.

Still, WWE is featuring him on its website for the time being. Here are a couple videos they've posted.

Hardy wins the world heavyweight championship from CM Punk at Night of Champions

Hardy wins his first WWE championship in a triple threat match with Triple H and Edge at Armageddon