The Latest Episodes of INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet
Jan. 14, 2025

Jeff Hardy On Sobriety, Owning His Mistakes, Returning To TNA, Possible WWE Return, Hall Of Fame

Jeff Hardy On Sobriety, Owning His Mistakes, Returning To TNA, Possible WWE Return, Hall Of Fame

https://cvvtix.com - Tickets are on sale now for INSIGHT LIVE in Toronto and Indianapolis with VIP Meet & Greet!

Jeff Hardy (@JeffHardyBrand) is a professional wrestler currently signed to TNA. TNA Genesis is Sunday, January 19 live from the Curtis Culwell Center in Dallas, TX. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Dallas, TX to discuss why he and his brother Matt Hardy returned to TNA, the origin of the signature Hardy Juke, their signature theme song, the most scared he has ever been in a professional wrestling match, his worst injury, hitting Brock Lesnar with a vicious chair shot to the head, his battles with addiction, getting sober, what he remembers from his match with Sting at TNA Victory Road 2011, if a WWE return could happen as part of the ongoing TNA partnership and more!

Quote I'm thinking about: "Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become." - Heraclitus

Sponsors:

PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank which was designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/?ref=tibcloux

TIMELINE: Go to https://timeline.com/insight33 to get 33% off your order of Mitopure while supplies last

ORGAIN: For 30% off your order, head to https://Orgain.com/INSIGHT and use code INSIGHT

SQUARESPACE: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/INSIGHT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code INSIGHT

VUORI: Get 20% off your first purchase! Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at https://vuori.com/cvv

ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv

ZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at https://zocdoc.com/insight

BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv

BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at https://bluechew.com

RHONE: Rhone’s premium performance clothing is made to move you. Use code CVV to save 20% at https://www.rhone.com/CVV

MANSCAPED: Get 20% off plus free shipping when you use the code CHRISVAN at https://manscaped.com

PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at https://plunge.com

On The Hardys’ iconic music:

“There is, yeah. Even when I returned, it was so weird how everything worked out. I had no idea Matt was going to go to TNA. I finished a workout one morning, went upstairs and my wife said, ‘Did you know Matt was going back to TNA?’ I said, ‘No, I had no idea.’ Then I watched the footage, oh my God, that was amazing. And naturally, I asked him how it felt. It’s just so strange and bizarre how everything just worked out. My nose was broke when I was in AEW, so my contract was a little extended, but it ran out the night before I was able to show up and save Matt once again in the world of professional wrestling, back in TNA.”

On where The Hardy dance came from:

“It definitely came from our wrestling daddy, Michael PS Hayes, when we hooked up with him. Because back in the days the Free Birds, I think he would do it and then do a moonwalk and make the tag to Jimmy Garvin. So that’s where it came from, just the way he goes, like this. So I might bust that moonwalk out at some point. But, yeah, it came from Michael Hayes. I just modified it, and it became such a big deal for me.”

On leaving WWE:

“I’m not sure. It was so weird. When I left WWE in 2021 my dad had been real sick. 2017, right after we went back to WWE at Mania, that was probably around the time that he felt good for the last time before he slipped back into this dark depression. But yeah, I’d been taking care of him, and it was just 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 when he needs me, I’m going to take care of him. I just did everything I could to get him excited about life and all that stuff. So that’s definitely when my drinking got carried away during those times that I’ve never really talked about. The year 2021 is when I miss 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 just 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, and naturally screwed that up as well. I feel so bad about Matt’s position, because now being in TNA, I feel like I can really kind of pay back for that to the fullest extent.”

On drug and alcohol addictions:

“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 DUI 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. 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.”

On the current iteration of Jeff Hardy:

“I feel more than ever, not even like The Charismatic Enigma, [I’m] The Enlightened Enigma, I’m so grateful for the gift of life I have. I was born to be a pro wrestler, and it’s just crazy how it worked out. I had such an opportunity to be a huge wrestling star in my younger 20s but I just went another direction. It would be amazing if I wouldn’t have fell into that dark place in my life from drugs and alcohol to see what would have actually happened. But I’ve also had all these other hobbies that I just love. I love motocross like crazy. I eventually broke my leg in 2015 and that pretty much ended my motocross career. I got into music. I just had all these things I never could commit fully to pro wrestling. That’s kind of, I guess, that’s kind of been, it’s hurt my career, definitely a little bit. But again, that’s kind of what makes me interesting as well.”

On paying tribute to Bray Wyatt:

“Oh, the feedback was incredible. Just the love that came back from that and people being grateful of that, because he was such an amazing human being. Matt got to work with him. Naturally, I would have loved to, but I still watched the little pre-tape we did backstage when I was coming back from shoulder surgery, and we did a little thing back there. I was about to go out with Finn Balor and Seth Rollins and me, Matt and Bray did a little thing back there, and it warms my heart every time I see that.”

On breaking his leg in a dirtbike accident:

“The worst injury, that was the first time in my life that I could not get up on my own. We had just won the TNA World Tag Team titles, and I’ll never forget my buddy was out there. He was filming it and he came up. He said ‘Oh man, you can walk it off.’ No, I can’t walk it off. I can’t get up. I thought both my legs were broke. It was just the impact was so powerful. My wife coming out there and said ‘Oh my God, do I need to call Dixie?’ I said, ‘Yes, call Dixie.’ My buddy called 911 and then naturally, Dixie needed to know what happened. I think she might even have said to post a video, which was smart, just because I was going to take a while before I was healed from that. It was a good year before I was able to just referee that match when Matt won the title from EC3, I was the referee. I tried to paint up all the zebra stripes and all that. But I was my leg was still throbbing so bad. It took me a good year to come back from that and it was way worse than any wrestling injury.” 

On the most scared he has been in a wrestling match:

“Definitely my first huge Swanton Bomb in my first run in TNA. It was the one against Abyss and Rhino over the stage and there was one little area. I don’t think I told him that I was going to go up to it, but I just noticed that area about three foot taller that I might get up to just make it more impressive. I jumped over Jim Mitchell and I cleared it, it was so, so scary, because when I got to that peak, I looked back down at the monitor area where people were watching the show, and I was like, Oh my God, this might be it Jeff, this might be the end of your career. Let’s go. I did it and then I think I even made it back to the ring to take a power driver off the second rope from Rhino. But that was, I think, the scaredest I’ve ever been.”

On that chair shot to Brock Lesnar:

“Man, I had been taking the three power bombs so much like night after night, and I just felt like it was my chance to get it in. We were out there and Matt followed up with a chair shot. But the echo in that building that night was just crazy. Matt followed up, and he just went out of the ring. I was like the adrenaline was flowing because it was such a loud chair shot. He didn’t go down because he is a beast of a man. But then I think after that I found out through Paul Heyman that that was the first chair shot he had ever took to the head. And I was, Oh, my God. I had no idea, but I guess I’m sorry.”

On separating Jeff Hardy the person and the wrestler:

“It’s weird too, because my personal life kind of became my professional life back in 08 09. A lot of people [thought] that’s messed up, they’re going there. But I mean, in a way, I think it helped me, but also, looking back at it now, I go, Oh my God, was that the right thing to do? Because that is my personal life and now here we are in my professional [life]. It’s super interesting. The storyline and the feud with CM Punk was just so amazing, and that kind of helped make it that way, because we were complete opposites. But yes, there’s really no difference in Jeff Hardy. That’s why I’m excited too. There’s this alter ego of mine, alter Nero of mine named Willow, and he appeared in TNA, my last run in TNA. There’s a new mask with a brand new face plate. I haven’t tried it on yet, but when I go pick it up, and if it fits real good, I’m sure I’m going to get excited about possibilities with a way darker side of Jeff Hardy, or way more just spiritual, innovative character that Willow has never actually been in the past. The original idea with Willow is like nothing makes sense, because he’s not human. He’s just some alien, and he’s the God of my imagination. That’s kind of where it all started. But for him to be my dark passenger and kind of guide Jeff Hardy into this different zone in pro wrestling, I think there might be something pretty powerful within that idea.”

On if he thinks about how much longer he can go:

“Not at all. I just said a joke a few weeks ago at this show we did, and my humor is different, too. I know a lot of people don’t get my humor, and I guess it can be dark at times. But I just said that by the time I’m 50 I might go back to WWE, retire CM Punk, and then maybe go in the Hall of Fame. But there were things like that was seriously what I was manifesting, which is not the case at all. I just said that thinking I was being funny, and I think that was right after I painted my face so uncomfortably in front of all those people. But no, I didn’t mean that at all. I just thought it might be funny. But yeah, the reality is it could happen because our feud, I still get so many compliments on that with people that are adults now. ‘Oh man, you and Punk, the feud was amazing.’ So even in AEW I felt like there was a moment for me and Punk, at least just some kind of face off or uncomfortable like us running in each other in the backstage or something. But we never got to do that. But ultimately, I would love to revisit that feud in some way, and who knows. CM Punk is such a superpower in the pro wrestling game, but if Jeff Hardy getting sober made him like an asshole. I mean, come on, heel Jeff Hardy against the one and only popular CM Punk. I feel like that’s completely possible.”

On a possible WWE return as part of the TNA partnership:

“For sure. There’s never been a real heel Hardy run. I was so excited about that in AEW, but I know I own what I’ve done and it was my fault I really let Matt down with the whole AEW thing. I think even AEW, before I broke my nose wrestling Sammy Guevara my thinking was we’re not being used, what if I can be like a heel on social media and send out some tweets? It evidently wasn’t professional, but again, it’s not like I was being serious. I just said something like Collision was designed for Punks. But I ended up getting three matches out of that with Swerve Strickland, Jon Moxley, and then Sammy. In all those matches I had that feeling, that passion. I could feel it again within myself. Oh my God. I love this I can still go, I got a lot more left in the tank, and I experienced that. But then naturally, injury happens, and my nose was broken, that was going to take a while to heal and things just worked out the way they worked out. I’m so glad to be back in TNA and super excited, because TNA has been there for me in dark times. When I left the pro wrestling world in 09 and got in my situation TNA employed me, they supported me and oh my God, like I said earlier, 2012 is one of the best years of my career, I was from sobriety. I was doing really good, and I just eventually eased into that drinking alcohol again. It took a while, but it just slowly caught up to me. It got me.”

On what he remembers from TNA Victory Road 2011:

“I remember going out there, and I remember just Sting roughing me up and throwing me to the mat. So I remember, and naturally we say he shot on me, but Eric Bischoff told him to pin me because I was a zombie. It was obvious when you watched the tape and I was kind of MIA throughout that whole evening. Sting had talked about this one killer spot I was going to do. It was something like the twist of hate with the head in the chair, but I was going to take his finish the reverse thing in a chair and I was scared of that. Oh my god, I’m going to break my neck, I don’t know if I should do this. But anyway, I remember sobering up after that and Jeff Jarrett and even Hogan knew I had to go home and get straight. They gave me another chance and when I did go back I did this song called Resurrected. Bruce Pritchard was there, I believe, and he made me go in the locker room and apologize to everybody. I don’t think I’ve ever been that nervous in my life. I was so nervous in front of all these professional wrestlers that I admire and love so much, but I had to go in there and just admit, say I’m sorry for what I did on pay-per-view. But that was good for me. It helped me heal. So I just moved on from there and had a really good 2012 but yeah, such a dark time with Sting. Every time I’ve seen Sting since he’s just such a good dude and such a support. So I’ve just had a lot of dark, dark times from the alcoholism and the drug addiction stuff. It feels good to be on the other side of that.”

On his TNA return:

“That’s why I’m so grateful for TNA and I think everything did work out exactly how it was supposed to with me being able to go back. There was even one moment when I found out Matt went back to TNA, I watched the footage and I was like Oh God, maybe I need to stay with AEW to continue to prove myself and really have some of these killer matches, some of these guys are on a different level with these matches they’re having. But then I was like wait, what? I had such a good run in TNA last time and the merchandise they came out was so cool. Started doing the eyelid paint and everything was so good the last time at TNA. There were so many innovative bumps I did throughout that run and I said, No, this is exactly the way it’s supposed to be. So naturally, I called Matt and agreed to show up. But yeah, this time, I’m glad I didn’t try to run and do the Juke at the same time.  I still don’t understand why would I try to Juke and run saving my brother my first time in AEW it was so bizarre. I’ve even practiced it since to see if it’s possible and I don’t think it’s [possible], it’s not smoothly possible at all.”

What is Jeff Hardy grateful for?

“Health and family.”