The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, Matt gave an update on his brother Jeff Hardy:
“The first thing Jeff did whenever he got the opportunity, he traveled to Florida and he stayed 90 days and did an extensive rehabilitation stint. Really, really intense work on himself, and then even after that ended, those 90 days, he was doing outpatient where he was going every week. He probably did 170 days, I would say altogether, when it was said and done of treatment on himself being there and trying to rehabilitate himself and get to the bottom of this. Why do you have issues? What causes these? How can we correct this? How can we change this? My brother, obviously people who know him for many years, he has had so many addiction problems through the years, but he’s never been this specific and never in detail, tried to work through it so much, like really committed himself to this.”
On seeing the change in Jeff Hardy:
“He goes to TNA. There’s the Victory Road incident with Sting. That was the final point when it came to pills, He would never touch a pill again, and he hasn’t. He never did. Then once drinking came along, that became like his main vise. It’s the worst. Alcohol is the worst. The reason it’s the worst is you can get it anywhere at literally any time, and if you have an addictive personality, it’s the worst. That’s where that started and that’s where those problems started happening there, and obviously, it continued to grow and build and build and build and then it led to what we have with him right now.”
“Alcohol was harder than anything else for him to kick. There were times when he first came to AEW, I mean, he would go weeks without doing anything, but once he would get a little started, it would quickly turn into an avalanche. That’s just kind of how he is. That’s kind of how his personality is. I think he understands that now more. Just the fact that he had so much on the line, and like, legitimately, this could have cost him a large chunk of his life. He was trying to do the work in treatment. He had legal people that were trying to help him out as much as he possibly could.”
“At the end of the day, he’s not someone who’s done violent, bad things that come from a terrible place. He’s someone who had an addiction problem, and I hate it. There’s no way to justify someone being intoxicated and getting behind the wheel and driving now. It can’t be justified. In this day and age, it should never happen.”
“The help that he went and got during this time, I have just seen such a different version of him and it’s not one that’s trying to play the game. He’s just happy he got out. He’s just changed in so many ways. I don’t want you to take my word for it here. I just want you to follow him going forward, and we’ll see what happens. I mean, could I be wrong? Of course I could, but this is the most drastically different I’ve ever seen my brother, and I will say that over the course of decades. I mean, this is going back to like 2003 when he first had issues.”
On if Jeff Hardy will be coming back to wrestling:
“So many people say, ‘Oh my God. I just smell Jeff Hardy coming back.’ Dude, that hasn’t been talked about. Will it happen? I mean, maybe. Will it happen? Maybe not? I don’t know. But I mean, that isn’t something that has been talked about at all at this point.”
On the fans saying Matt Hardy’s current ring style is boring:
“People might say, ‘Well, Matt Hardy is boring. He doesn’t do everything he used to do.’ Yes, because I work in a way that I can stay healthy and maintain a normal life. That’s why I do it. If you’re not entertained by it, I’m sorry. I’m sorry it’s not for you, but there are plenty of people that are. I mean, when I come out at the venue each week, I mean, people dig it and it is what it is. That’s, once again, me taking on the role of being smart. Me taking on the role of being responsible and working in a certain way that I need to work so that I can continue to work and so that I’m not in pain, so that I don’t have issues. Then when I come back, you know, I’m still beat up as it is anyway. I’m going to put ice on or I’m going to soak in my bath, or I’m going to do this. You can best believe I’m going to be up first thing in the morning to make sure I get in 30 minutes of cardio and get my stretch in or whatever it may be.”
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