During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Jeff Hardy opened up about when his alcohol problem really “got carried away.”
Jeff said that when he and Matt’s father passed away back in April 2021 at 87, his drinking became worse during that time, as he was taking care of their ill father. It was December of that year, WWE released Jeff following an incident at a house show in Edinburg, Texas in a in a six man tag team match with Xavier Woods and Drew McIntyre against The Bloodline. During the match, at a house show in Texas, Jeff Hardy, Drew McIntyre and King Woods competing in a six-man tag team match against The Bloodline. Footage had surfaced that showed Hardy collapsing following a shove from Jey Uso and that also included Hardy as appearing sluggish. He dropped off the apron and then hopped the barricade and rushed through the crowd and did not return. WWE wanted him to go to attend rehab, but Hardy refused to do so.
Hardy told Van Vliet the following:
“When I left WWE in 2021 my dad had been real sick. 2017, right after we went back to WWE at Mania, that was probably around the time that he felt good for the last time before he slipped back into this dark depression. But yeah, I’d been taking care of him, and it was just bad to where he did not want to be here. He was ready to go…Our mom died at a young age, I was 10 when she passed away. So I’ve always told myself when he needs me, I’m going to take care of him. I just did everything I could to get him excited about life and all that stuff. So that’s definitely when my drinking got carried away during those times that I’ve never really talked about. The year 2021 is when I miss WrestleMania because my dad had just passed away. April 6…my wife’s birthday, is when my dad passed away, which was strange in itself…but yeah, it just got out of control and I needed something extreme to happen.”
Jeff then went on to say it was sad on how it all worked out, admitting that he had refused to attend rehab and thus waited out his 90 day no-compete clause with WWE so he could join his brother Matt in AEW. He then further said that he “naturally screwed that up as well.” He continued by saying he felt so bad about Matt’s position, but because now being in TNA, he feels like he can really kind of pay back for that to his fullest extent.
Jeff said by the time he actually ended up in AEW, he did not believe that he had any type of alcohol problem because he was not dealing with any withdrawal symptoms. He did go on to say that now he does realize that he was in denial, which led him to making a bad decisions that could have caused him hurting someone. he now realizes that he was in denial, and it led to him making a decision that could have led to him hurting someone.
“I never got to the point to where I had physical withdrawals from not drinking. So with that, I was like okay, I must not be an alcoholic because I don’t get sick from not drinking. Then I’ll be sober for weeks and then give into it again. But then, man, when the DUI started happening, that’s when it really got crazy how much denial I was in because, man, I never have any intention of hurting anybody. So the thought of I could have possibly hurt somebody else out there on the road, I’m so sorry for that, especially for people who have lost loved ones in DUI accidents. But I needed something big to happen, that’s what happened. I went to rehab for the long haul, and it’s exactly what I needed.”
Jeff was last arrested in Florida back in June of 2022, which at the time was his third DUI arrest within the past 10 years. The Florida Highway Patrol stated in their report Jeff had been been driving erratically and “appeared to be in a stupor and confused.”
Officers performed two breathalyzer tests with readings of 0.294 and 0.291. These came in well above the legal limit of 0.08. He was later charged with a DUI, driving on a suspended license and failing to have a DUI interlock installed in his vehicle.
During his appearance in court, Jeff had plead to a nolo contendere plea, with is the same a pleading to a no-content. This means that at the time he neither admitted his was guilty, not and did not dispute any of the allegations of charges that had been made against him. AEW would then suspend Jeff without pay and that he would not be able to return to the company until after he completed rehab. Jeff returned to AEW 10 months later, but both he and Matt were not given by Tony Khan the same push they had prior.
The Hardy’s were set to win the AEW World Tag Team Championships in a ladder match against The Young Bucks had Jeff not been arrested.
Jeff and his brother Matt are the current TNA World Tag Team Champions. The Hardy’s are scheduled to defend the tag titles against the Rascalz at this Sunday’s Genesis PPV at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas.
You can watch the full interview with Jeff Hardy below:
Jeff appeared on WFFA-TV in Dallas, Texas last week. During the interview, he said if he was living life the way he is now, today he would probably be bigger than John Cena because he was born with such a gift to be a professional wrestler.