Jeff Hardy has enjoyed huge success in WWE over the years, with the popular North Carolina native capturing gold as both a singles wrestler and as a member of the Hardy Boyz alongside brother Matt. The WWE, however, never pulled the trigger on a heel turn for Hardy and a former WWE Executive has revealed why.
Jim Ross claims Jeff Hardy’s lack of reliability saw plug pulled on heel turn
Former WWE Vice President of talent relations and legendary Hall Of Fame announcer Jim Ross spoke recently on his podcast ‘Grillin’ JR’ about Hardy and claims that Hardy’s famed lack of reliability meant the company were reluctant to trust him in a top heel role:
I don’t know if he’s too big [of a merch mover]. I think maybe, my guess on this question would be another one with reliability issues. How far do you go with someone that you don’t totally trust? And I think that’s where Vince was because I gotta go through all this stuff. I gotta be, Vince is not gonna call Jeff Hardy and say, here’s this, here’s the issue. And here’s my thoughts on it. He’s gonna have JR. Do it. So I take the heat, I didn’t mind it, I was getting paid really well. So I think Jeff’s issue was Jeff. And his credibility was the fact that can he be trusted? And is he clean and sober? And can he stay clean and sober? And we know the answer to that? The answer is no. He didn’t stay clean and sober. He had all kinds of issues. He’s still [dealing with issues].
Ross provided positive news regarding Hardy’s current status and praised WWE Hall Of Famer The Undertaker for helping elevate Hardy’s career during their famous ladder match on the July 1st 2002 episode of Monday Night Raw:
They’re still ongoing, even though he’s getting help which I think’s wonderful. He’s one of my favourite talents to call matches for. I remember the match that he and Taker had. I said something like climb the ladder and make yourself famous or something to that effect. And I just admired his work so much, I adored it. It’s just really, really good. He knew how to play his game. And Undertaker, to his credit was just outstanding in that match. It put Jeff Hardy on the map. And it’s like this, I’ve heard guys say this and it’s true, it’s not who goes over as it gets over. Jeff Hardy lost but he got over in a big way against Taker and that’s credit to Taker.