Former WWE & Current TNA Star Jeff Hardy Gets Candid About Drug And Alcohol Addiction

Jeff Hardy is known for many things in wrestling. His death-defying style, his unique look, and his years of success as both a singles wrestler and as part of a tag team alongside his brother Matt. However, he is unfortunately known just as well for his issues outside the ring. Hardy has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction throughout the majority of his career, to the point where both his career and life could have ended prematurely. Appearing on the "Insight" podcast, Hardy was asked how close he actually came to dying from his issues, and while he didn't feel like he was dangerously close, he knew there was something wrong with him.

"There were times when I would wake up and I was just like 'oh my God, what am I doing?' I would tell myself all the time, and 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 DUIs 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."

Hardy's most recent DUI came in June 2022, when he was arrested in Florida for being almost four times over the legal blood alcohol content limit. This led to him being suspended from AEW, and he wouldn't return to television until 10 months later.

One of the conditions of Hardy's suspension from AEW was that he was not allowed back into a ring until he had gone to rehab and could prove that he was fully sober. This wasn't Hardy's first time in rehab, but given that he is now coming up on three years of sobriety, even Hardy admitted that rehab was exactly what he needed.

"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, man. I've been so enlightened, there was a moment with the sun, actually, when I was in treatment in Florida and the moon, and I'm like, Okay, there's something very special going on here with me getting sober again, because every time, my second time, when I came back to TNA, I had gotten sober and I was great. 2012 was one of my best wrestling years in my career, in my opinion, and that's because of sobriety. To be back in that zone now approaching three years of sobriety, it's just super exciting to keep doing exactly what I've been doing and prove people wrong in the process."

Hardy's AEW run eventually came to an end in June 2024 after spending some time on the sidelines with a broken nose, but that hasn't stopped him wanting to prove people wrong, returning to TNA on the day his AEW contract expired to reunite with his brother Matt. Together, The Hardys won their third set of TNA World Tag Team Championships at the 2024 Bound for Glory event, and have since defended their titles against The System twice.

Please credit "Insight" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.