WWE News: Jeff Hardy Opens Up About Drug Addiction And The Moment That Saved His Life

Matt and Jeff Hardy made their huge WWE return at WrestleMania 33 when they shocked the crowd as surprise entrants in the Monday Night Raw tag team title ladder match. The Hardy Boyz won the match and are now a mainstay in the WWE once again. Jeff Hardy was on a recent episode of the Art of Wrestling podcast with Colt Cabana and openly spoke about his drug addictions and the demons that almost killed him.

According to Jeff Hardy, he has always struggled with addictions, saying the first time he ever took a drug was when he was 22 and that was the “date rape” drug GHB. Hardy said that when a person takes that drug “it’s over,” and he started to get really crazy in his life.

Despite that, the Hardy Boyz were able to keep their lives together well enough to succeed in the WWE, winning multiple tag team titles. Jeff Hardy pointed to his last stint in the WWE, which was when his drug addictions spiraled out of control. It was around 2009, and Jeff was the WWE world champion.

At the time, Jeff Hardy had suffered a neck injury and two herniated discs in his back, in addition to suffering from restless legs syndrome. With all the pain, Hardy was looking for outlets to try to get his mind off the problems, but the WWE schedule would not allow it.

Jeff said that he was on the road from Friday through Monday, and then came home Tuesday and had his weekends on Wednesday and Thursday. Hardy said that he loves to be able to have other outlets to let off steam and paint, record music, or take part in motor cross. In the WWE, with their schedule, he had no chance to let off the tension, and he turned to drugs.

Jeff Hardy pointed to Vicodin, opioid addictions, and somas, adding that those drugs ended up becoming a problem bigger than he could handle. Hardy said that it just drove him over the edge, and he knew that he had to get out because he couldn’t live his life like that.

Jeff Hardy left the WWE to heal up but then signed on with TNA Impact Wrestling and never cleaned up his life. Hardy said that he was still abusing the drugs, and that all led to the infamous event at Victory Road in 2011 and a world title match with Sting. Hardy said he was taking somas and couldn’t wrestle that night.

Eric Bischoff, who was an authority figure in TNA Impact Wrestling at the time, explained what happened. Bischoff said that he saw Jeff Hardy was in no condition to wrestle. He made his way out to the ring and pretended to be his character while silently telling the two wrestlers that he was ending this before anyone got hurt. Sting hit the Scorpion Death Drop quickly and forced Jeff Hardy to remain down for the pin.

According to Jeff, that moment changed his entire life. Hardy called Sting one of his idols and said that he messed up that night. Jeff said that was the moment he realized he’d gone too far and had to turn things around for the rest of his life.

Jeff Hardy was also arrested in 2010, and it was in 2011 that he ended up in jail. Jeff said that he watched the match with Sting and spoke to his wife about his life after the jail sentence and knew that he had to turn things around or he would lose everything.

Now that Matt and Jeff Hardy are back in the WWE, the spotlight is back on Jeff once again. Sportskeeda reports that Hardy had two strikes in the WWE drug policy when he left, and the policy reads that anyone who leaves with strikes will still have them when they return. If nothing else, that will have Jeff Hardy thinking twice in the future, but from the sounds of his interview, his life changed six years ago in an Impact Wrestling ring.

[Featured Image by WWE]