Jeff Hardy Comments On His Erratic Behavior Ahead Of WWE Release

Jeff Hardy had the entire wrestling world talking in December 2021 when he hopped a guardrail during a live event to interact with fans prior to the end of his match. It's a situation that ultimately led to the end of his WWE career, and Hardy told "Talk Is Jericho" that it was something he "can't explain."

Hardy was part of a six-man tag team contest as he partnered with Drew McIntyre and Xavier Woods against The Bloodline. He recalled that when asked about his dream match, "I'd been saying Roman Reigns over and over again," when it came to who his dream match was. This was the first time they had competed in the same ring, and Hardy felt like the crowd response was "so strong and powerful."

But then, after tagging out to McIntyre, Hardy opted to leave the match before the end, heading into the crowd to take pictures with the fans. This ultimately led to WWE "rushing the drug test" in order to check that he was clean. In the end, Hardy's tests didn't bring a positive result, but he still ended up parting ways with the company.

"Even subconsciously, when I went over that guardrail, I mean, I was done," he said. "It was just some unpredictable, erratic behavior that Jeff Hardy does from time to time ... Then the next day they say, 'Go to rehab or we're going to release you.'" Hardy refused and is now back by the side of his brother, Matt, in AEW.

Hardy feels that he's "got such a great connection with any wrestling universe" which he believes is down to "never really changing, letting ego take control," and that is likely why WWE wanted to induct him into the Hall Of Fame this year. But even though he maintains he was drug-free that night, and he apologized to his co-workers afterward, his reputation for substance abuse had WWE suspicious of any behavior that seemed out of the ordinary.

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but evidently it was because honestly, it's my history," Hardy said. "The person I had to talk to every week, or every other week as far as after I went to rehab, I had to report to him, and I got so sick of that. Because I felt like I had to do it to keep my job. I guess I could have just said, 'Look, I am not doing this anymore,' but I felt trapped.'"

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Talk Is Jericho" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.