Jeff Hardy was released by WWE
WWE Superstar Jeff Hardy has reportedly been released from his contract per Fightful (h/t Wrestling Inc).
Hardy was sent home this past weekend following a live event in Edinburgh, Texas where the legendary tag team performer appeared unfit to continue a six-man tag team main event. Footage of Hardy’s appearance surfaced, with the embattled star appearing sluggish throughout the match.
Sources within WWE confirmed to me that the company offered Hardy help and the option of Rehab, which he declined.
Jeff Hardy’s wife Beth recently responded to reports of Hardy’s release on Twitter, posting “Jeff is good. We are good. Post that you ‘heard’ that. Thanks.”
Hardy’s brother Matt also provided a vague update on his brother’s condition during a Twitch stream shortly after Jeff Hardy was sent home.
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“We got a lot of questions about T.O.H.—The Other Hardy,” she said. “We got a lot, we can’t ignore them. We got a lot,” said Matt Hardy’s wife Reby.
“But no, I won’t ignore them,” Matt added. “I did speak to Jeff for a little bit today, and he’s OK, he’s good, and I think he’ll be fine, but once again this isn’t my business, and if he wants to go into it in more detail, then he’ll do it himself. But like, Jeff is OK, he is at home, and he’s OK.”
“Jeff Hardy is so beloved by his fans and his peers. I’ve never heard a negative word about him & he’s always treated me with such kindness. Just wishing him and his family the very best,” said WWE champion Big E via Twitter.
It’s still unclear what exactly happened with Hardy during what would prove to be his final match with WWE for the time being. But between interviews with former WWE writer Freddie Prinze Jr. and Hardy’s own sit-down interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin’s “Broken Skull Sessions,” Hardy’s lengthy history with substance abuse has been at the forefront this past week.
In somewhat of an eerie foreshadowing, Hardy discussed turning down rehab ahead of his 2003 WWE release.
“That was the first time I denied rehab,” Hardy told Austin. “I was like, ‘Nah! I got this.’ But I was in denial about my issue, my problem.”
“I thought I had it down or [had at least] controlled my addiction,” Hardy said.
“And then even in TNA I got a little wacky eventually so I ended up getting fired from there for pretty much missing some shows or something.”
Hardy’s tumultuous history with drugs and alcohol includes multiple arrests in addition to bizarre in-ring moments that will forever cast a dark cloud over an otherwise legendary career. Hardy was most recently arrested in October 2019 for a DWI. To that point, it was his second such arrest in as many years.
Prior to his release, Hardy had been receiving some of the biggest reactions of any Superstar on the full-time roster. Yet, as has been the case his whole career, Jeff Hardy seems to have become his own worst enemy at the worst time possible. In a climate where few names are safe from what have become routine cost-cuts, any controversies outside of the ring are sure to jeopardize the status of a WWE Superstar regardless of stature.
