Jeff Hardy’s exit from WWE recently is something that WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle can relate to.
Angle famously dealt with substance abuse problems throughout his career before turning things around. Hardy’s exit from WWE earlier this month was rumored to have stemmed from substance abuse issues, which is something he has also struggled with throughout the years. WWE even worked that real life situation into a storyline feud that Hardy had with Sheamus just last year.
During an episode of The Kurt Angle Show, Angle commented on Hardy’s current situation.
“I’ve been through it, I think Jeff needs to look himself in the mirror and see what he wants to do,” Angle said. “Does he want to change or does he want to stay the same? I personally think he does need help but that’s something that he needs to deal with inside himself. He needs to realize what’s important in his life, is it the stuff or is it his family and his job? It really comes down to Jeff making the decision on his own.”
Hardy was sent home from a WWE live tour on December 5th. This followed an incident at a show in Texas on December 4th where Hardy walked out through the crowd during the middle of a tag team match. He was subsequently released from the company on December 9th.
Of course, Hardy and Angle are far from stranger. Their careers in WWE overlapped for many years, and they also had a significant in-ring feud while with TNA Wrestling. The majority of their matches together actually happened with TNA.
Since his WWE release, Hardy has stayed in the public spotlight. He announced a meet and greet tour right after his release. Matt Hardy has also defended his brother, stating that WWE may have jumped the gun in releasing him.
“Before anyone rushes to judgment, obviously they [WWE] drug tested him after all this stuff, wait until you hear the results of that and when that comes back clean then hopefully people will feel better about it,” Matt said. “They [WWE] felt like they were backed into a corner because of his [Jeff’s] history. Even though they may have jumped the gun with this a little bit, they made a decision and it is what it is.”
He continued, “Jeff is in the best place I’ve seen him in a very long time. As far as the details of what went down on that evening, and in that match, I’ve talked with Jeff, I feel good about everything he said and that’s Jeff’s story to share. And he told me he will when he’s ready to.”
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H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcript.
