Jeff Hardy’s legacy as a pro wrestling veteran spans various promotions throughout his illustrious career. He’s known for his ability to reinvent himself and remain relevant in the ever-changing landscape of pro wrestling. However, his ongoing struggles with personal demons continue to plague his existence, even today.
Even though his numerous successes and championship titles were won in solo and tag team competitions as one half of the Hardy Boyz, Jeff Hardy never experienced a heel turn during his tenure with WWE. This is a curious decision recently shed light on by former WWE executive and Hall of Famer Jim Ross.
On his podcast ‘Grillin’ JR,’ Ross revealed that Hardy’s unreliability, which had been well-documented then, was the main reason behind WWE’s decision not to turn him heel. It’s a sobering reminder of personal struggles’ impact on one’s professional career, even for a veteran as accomplished as Jeff Hardy.
I don’t know if he’s too big [of a merch mover]. I think maybe, my guess on this question would be another one with reliability issues. How far do you go with someone that you don’t totally trust? And I think that’s where Vince was because I gotta go through all this stuff.
I gotta be, Vince is not gonna call Jeff Hardy and say, here’s this, here’s the issue. And here’s my thoughts on it. He’s gonna have JR. Do it. So I take the heat, I didn’t mind it, I was getting paid really well. So I think Jeff’s issue was Jeff. And his credibility was the fact that can he be trusted? And is he clean and sober? And can he stay clean and sober? And we know the answer to that? The answer is no. He didn’t stay clean and sober. He had all kinds of issues. He’s still [dealing with issues].
