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Jeff Hardy is a great Cinderella story going into the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV.

Along with his brother Matt, the rainbow-haired warrior helped define high-risk tag-team wrestling throughout the 1990s. When the time came to split the pair up and allow the brothers to move on with their singles careers, the process caused so many migraines, Jeff left WWE for TNA, where Jeff Jarrett eventually put the championship strap on him.

So far, Jeff is the only WWE-to-TNA refugee that Vincent Kennedy McMahon has brought back into the WWE. That in itself is a minor miracle; even Kurt Angle hasn’t been offered that deal.

But now, the big question that is plaguing the McMahon family is whether they can swallow their pride enough to put the WWE title on a wrestler who once abandoned them for a minor-league TNA promotion and wore their strap. Certainly, there has been a huge push behind Randy Orton as a heel champ, and the preferred plan would be to keep the strap on him until John Cena returns.

But is that what’s best for Raw ratings and the WWE? That’s what we’re all waiting to find out.

Finally past the holiday break, expect Raw, ECW and SmackDown to really gear up from here on out, not only for the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV, but for WrestleMania as well. Like a sturdy colon cleanse, this time of year usually sees WWE jettison storylines that aren’t working and concentrating on building toward big ultimate showdowns for each of their brands.

In ECW, the push seems to be putting off too many clashes between John Morrison and CM Punk, so that they can have their biggest clash at WrestleMania. Here’s hoping it will be an ECW Rules match.

Over on Raw, it’s a bit tough to guess where the Fed is going with Randy Orton. Would they risk switching champs at this late date, putting the strap on Jeff Hardy at the Royal Rumble? Could the Rumble winner become the presumptive challenger for the WWE title on Raw, or the World Championship title on SmackDown? There are more players and uncertainty here, considering John Cena’s out of the picture until after WrestleMania, perhaps returning in time for SummerSlam if things go well.

On SmackDown, as usually, things are grim. Batista is the most overpushed superstar on their roster and yet another Undertaker showdown seems inevitable. While Edge is providing some freshness, Finlay is both annoying and boring. The Great Khali might figure into the picture, but the best all-around personality would be the under-utilized MVP.

The next few weeks could determine a lot.