Nobody should be surprised by this - was always going to be the outcome the second AEW signed him.
I actually think the Hardy's were probably going to win the Tag Titles this week, so will be interesting to see what happens now.
No certainly not surprise by it. The bottom line is that both the WWE and AEW knows this guy is a train wreck, he's clearly self medicating, and his body is breaking down, and he's probably going to live the rest of his life in pain. And nobody has tried to stop him from doing the stupid shyte that he does, and he does it for absolutely no reason.
I'm still of the mindset that when he left WWE after they told him he was going to treatment, and Matt came right out and pretty much enabled him and helped him get into AEW. And once he was there, every stupid booking decision around him was keep doing your stupid stuff.
Now Jeff is going to pay a price for this. He's had multiple arrests for DUI and public intoxication for example. He's probably and hopefully at the very least get some kind of court mandated treatment. At worse he's probably looking at jail time.
But at some point, Wrestling Organizations like AEW and WWE and all of the others have to get together and say nobody hire this guy unless he seriously gets help. And no more of letting him destroy his body for a stupid TV show match.
I've never been a fan of Jeff Hardy, he's never been able to tell a story in a wring. He's awful at the fundamentals of wrestling, but he jumps off of stuff. Most wrestlers that get really hurt are able to change their style and go to story telling as they get older. Austin, Danielson, Angle.
Not Jeff though.
He's likely going to die early, and his brother is going to have to live with that for enabling this stupidity.
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I have sympathy for the disease he has, but the drink driving is a choice hes making, especially when it sounds like he was supposed an interlock device on his car and just never put it on
One of the really sad parts about this is that right before WWE released him he did the Stone Cold show and said he was 100% clean and sober. So, he's clearly lying to himself too.
He's been lying to himself for years. The sad thing, and the thing that makes him a POS is this is a guy with a young family at home. He's been offered help a ton of times and refuses to take it.
At the same time, his brother seems to cover for him constantly. I go back to Tammy Sytch who's now facing up to 20 years in prison for killing a guy, and she's been caught drunk driving among other things multiple times.
The fact that the interlock system wasn't in his car, makes me think that he doesn't want help and he's a remorseless POS
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He's become a threat to others in addition to himself, and that's the point where intervention is badly needed. The Sytch case is paramount to establishing the importance of intervention before absolute tragedy occurs, and I hope that means intervention for his enablers too - including his brother.
I don't know what's going on in detail (most people don't), but I think the simplest answer is the right one here. Jeff needs corrective action, and that includes time away from wrestling.
He's addicted to the business, and he needs to remove himself from this world as it seems to breed bad behavior for him (e.g. using alcohol as a distraction or painkiller).
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The Tammy Sytch thing is an extreme example of destructive behavior and she's been jailed repeatedly in the past. Actually went through rehab and then fell back into her bad life. I'm of the opinion that she was absolutely destroyed by the business which had a much more permissive attitude when she was working in WWE, ECW and WCW. In fact it sounds like the only person that tried to force her to change was Paul Heyman, but at the same time it sounds like he screwed her over financially as well. The death of Candido didn't help her at all.
But with Jeff, he came from a different generation and a different type of locker room. From all aspects he has a sane family life, he had mentors in WWE and TNA and he kept screwing that up. The real red flag should have gone up in TNA, but instead people kept giving him chances because he sold tickets.
I agree, the business needs to basically say all as one, "You're going to kill yourself, you could kill others, what your doing is unsafe for your fellow workers. Get help or find something else to do with your life, because wrestling is going to kill you". I've been hoping that sanity would come into focus as his body breaks down. But producers and bookers keep letting him hurt himself, and that's a big bad for me especially for WWE and really for AEW.
I like the line from Jerry Mcquire with the son of the hockey player in the hospital with his millionth concussion. And his son simply asks Jerry Mcquire if someone should make him stop playing. Hardy needs to stop wrestling. I do think though that choice is going to be taken away. Any self respecting judge is going to look at Jeff's record and he's going to get jail time which is up to 5 years.
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Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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Hardy also has nothing left to prove. He's done everything he's ever dreamed of as a wrestler, including winning the WWE Championship and had probably the largest WM reaction in history when he returned with Matt Hardy a few years ago. He's also made millions upon millions at this point.
What's left to prove? That his body can still go with younger, more agile wrestlers (which it can't?)
There's many ways to stay in pro wrestling without actually doing the pro wrestling. But he needs time away from the whole thing to reset.
The cops had to pull guns on him and it was clear that he was pretty blasted.
Lance Storm checked in and I can't disagree with him. I honestly think that its gone beyond, get help and you can come back and wrestle. I think its get help and don't go on the road again.
“This isn’t just with Jeff, but I think one of the cruxes of the problem is anyone I know who has battled addiction, whether it be alcohol or drugs, the key to overcoming it in most cases is getting away from the lifestyle, the cycle, and the habits you had while you were intoxicated.”
“Scott Hall is a great example of this. He gets away from wrestling and often gets help from DDP, gets away from wrestling, gets sobered up and cleaned up, and then he takes bookings, gets back on the road, and falls off the wagon again. The continued cycle of going to rehab and then going back on the road also leads to another thing.”
“He (Jeff Hardy) is really hurting, he is really banged up, and he is doing swantons on the steel stairs. He continues to get booked in dangerous matches and a willingness to do stunt matches. We also have a decades-long history of injuries of guys being all beat up in pro wrestling that leads to self medication. That’s something that needs to be addressed because there are a lot of people working really hurt, and this is in every company, there are stunt matches on every show with guys that are getting hurt, and then we have people with substance issues. It is a scary combination.”
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Yup seeing a lot of reportedly reports, its been a busy day for WWE.
With Sasha, just going off of reports over the last little while, she won't be missed in the WWE locker room, she's been described as hard to work with and too much of a self mark. At the same time she is exactly what AEW needs which is a legit main event level worker. I mean, I like Baker a lot, and I've always liked Deeb who really understands the business. I watched Rosa completely sandbag her opponent the other day, Cargill is really interesting to watch. But outside of that, its a division that still is weak at the top of the card. Banks can come in instantly as a over powering heel.
I thought WWE would have released Naomi who has never been that great as a lesson. But Banks must not be worth the squeeze and with Bayley returning soon, they have a replacement for Banks.
In other news, its expected that Lauenitis (i can never spell his stupid game) has already been replaced in his role as he's linked to the McMahon misconduct, and will likely be gone. Vince is in a fight for his life, but the WWE is probably as a publically traded company going to push Vince out the window and then the company will be sold.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Looks like Orton is going to undergo serious back surgery and could be gone until next year.
That main event scene which used to be a strength is getting really thin. Brock is gone for a while. Roman is gone for a while, Orton is gone for a while. Cody is gone for a while. When you look at the Raw roster. You're looking at Seth and AJ, Lashley, and maaaybe Finn. On the woman's side of things Becky and Rhea.
On smackdown
There's really not a guy that I would call a main eventer with Roman on hiatus or part time.
On the woman's side Rousey?
I would expect that the WWE is going to toss the brand split completely here.
But its pretty dire. But its what happens when you are leaning on an older main event class.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
As weird as it is today, tossing Vince might be the best thing for WWE.
Start putting out a product the market demands, rather than what the old man thinks sells but doesn't anymore.
I'd love to see them pair things down, get rid of the 50/50 wins/losses. Build up feuds with payoffs at major PPVs, let wrestlers work on their characters and not play a script.
And get back to what works on TV. Get rid of the stupid stage they have now.
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To be honest if I was Nick Khan I'd be handing the reigns for the product over to Triple H. Dude knows the market, knows pro wrestling, knows sports entertainment, built the hottest brand between 2015-2019, and has respect among his roster.
Of course that's probably what won't happen, but WWE needs to a pivot and the current direction of the product isn't good.
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