Following the news that Jeff Hardy has been released by WWE, more details have seemingly come to light about his condition and the events which led up to his departure.
On December 5th it was first reported that Jeff Hardy had been sent home by WWE after what was described as a “rough night” at a live event. At the time, details were scarce, with the only confirmed news being that Hardy was sent home.
In the aftermath of the incident, Matt Hardy appeared to try and allay fans’ concerns, commenting on his Twitch channel that Jeff was doing ok and that he would be fine.
However, only a matter of days later, Jeff Hardy was released by WWE after reportedly turning down “help and rehab.”
A further report has now aimed to shed some light on the details behind Hardy’s departure. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp has revealed that things came to a head with the former World Champion on Saturday. (December 4th) Hardy was competing in a tag team match alongside Drew McIntyre and Xavier Woods against The Bloodline, but it became clear early on that all was not well.
Sapp notes that the match had to be built around Hardy as it was clear he wasn’t able to be properly involved. While the match was still going on, Hardy jumped into the crowd and starting taking pictures with fans.
“This stemmed from various things but it came to a head on Saturday night. There was a house show, I believe, in Edinburg, Texas and the match was Jeff Hardy, Drew McIntyre & Xavier Woods against The Bloodline. After that match, Jeff Hardy was sent home and what happened between that was… pretty wild.
Jeff was barely used in the match, from what I understand they had to construct the match around Jeff. People didn’t see him for a lot of the day and then when he got to the ring, it was very clear [his behaviour] was a little unusual. When I asked if it was like Victory Road with Sting, I was told ‘Well, not exactly.’ But it was pretty clear he wasn’t gonna have a ton of offence or anything like that.
From what I heard from people around the situation, he worked the match, he tagged out and then he just hit the bricks. He went into the audience. He started taking pictures with people and his teammates were looking for him and going ‘Where’s Jeff? He’s in the audience taking pictures.’”
Sapp continued, explaining that it was unclear as to whether Hardy was under the influence but it was a dangerous situation. As well as his behaviour being erratic during the match, it was also highlighted that Hardy had recently missed some signings and appearances, where others filled in for him.
“WWE sent him home, he went home, Matt Hardy said that Jeff was doing okay. I mean, doing okay in the moments following is one thing but… It’s pretty clear it was a rough situation, it was a rough day and it was a dangerous situation. I can’t speak to that moment, I can’t speak to Saturday night and say that he was under the influence of something because I don’t know that to be true. Maybe it was crazy circumstances but I can’t say for sure he was under the influence.
Saturday night, Jeff Hardy was in a 6-man tag team match and his behaviour was erratic. We have not reported if he was on some sort of substance, under the influence of a substance or intoxicated. We don’t know. The match was changed and adjusted on the fly because Jeff was not gonna be able to do his moves – it was very clear.
By the time they knew something was off off, Jeff had tagged out, rolled out of the ring and went into the audience [mid-match]. He was sent home the following day and WWE has released him. They offered him rehab and help, he did reject it.
We’re told that he missed some signings and appearances, things like that, in the past and other wrestlers would step up and fill in for him.”
Seemingly in response to the reports surrounding the health of her husband, Jeff Hardy’s wife Beth tweeted that “Jeff is good. We are good. Post that you ‘heard’ that.”
Jeff Hardy recently competed as part of Team SmackDown in the traditional 5 vs. 5 tag team bout at Survivor Series. Since then The Charismatic Enigma has competed on SmackDown teaming with McIntyre to face Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss.
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