TNA World Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy appeared on Insight With Chris Van Vliet, where he talked about a number of topics including returning to the company.
Hardy said, “I’m not sure [what made me join]. When I left WWE in 2021, my dad had been real sick. 2017, right after we went back to WWE at Mania, that’s my dad — that was probably around the time that he felt good for the last time before he slipped back into this dark depression. Yeah, I had been taking care of him, it was bad to where he did not want to be here, he was ready to go. Our mom died at a young age, I was 10 when she passed away, so I’ve always told myself, ‘Man, when he needs me, I’m gonna take care of him.’ I just did everything I could to get him excited about life and all of that stuff, so that’s definitely when my drinking got carried away during those times. 2021 is the year I missed WrestleMania because my dad had just passed away, April 6, my wife’s birthday is when my dad passed away, which was strange in itself. But yeah, it got out of control and I needed something extreme to happen. It’s sad the way it worked out, but I refused to go to rehab so I ended up waiting my 90 days out and showing up in AEW. Naturally screwed that up as well, and I feel so bad about Matt’s position because now, being in TNA, I feel like I can really pay back for that to the fullest extent.”
On how he feels about his career now:
“I’m super excited about wrestling again. When we had the tables match, The System, I did the Swanton Bomb off the thing around all those people, it was so similar to me doing it to D-Von Dudley at Madison Square Garden. I was so excited after all that worked out. It was a lot more sketchy because the table was diagonal and it was scary. But, it all worked out because that’s the kind of stuff I live for man. Getting through that match and thinking about the possibilities in the future and the way I feel, I’m so blessed to still be here and I’m so grateful that I didn’t kill myself through my drug and alcohol issues.”
On if he was close to killing himself:
“No, not really. There were times when I’d wake up and it was just so, I was like, ‘Oh my god, what am I doing?’ I would tell myself all the time, and I never got to the point 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.’ I’d be sober for weeks then give into it again. Man, when the DUIs started happening, that’s when it really got crazy, how much denial I was in. Man, I never had any intention of hurting anybody so the thought of I could have possibly hurt somebody out there on the road, I’m so sorry for that, especially for people that have lost loved ones in DUI accidents. But, I needed something big to happen and 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 I was like, ‘Okay.’ The moon, there’s something very special going on here with me getting sober again. My second time when I came back to TNA, I had gotten sober, 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.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
