Jeff Hardy has spoken about his exit from the WWE before joining AEW.
The former WWE Champion infamously walked out of the WWE in December 2021. He left through the crowd during a house show match before being confronted by WWE officials backstage.
Despite taking (and passing) a drug test, Jeff Hardy was still told to go to rehab. He refused and left the WWE, joining up with AEW once his 90-day notice period had expired.
Jeff Hardy spoke about this time during an interview on Insight With Chris Van Vliet. He was asked what makes TNA the right place for him, to which Jeff Hardy discussed the end of his WWE run.
The TNA Tag Team Champion spoke about his father and caring for him while struggling with depression. This is where his drinking reared its ugly head and eventually caused him to leave the WWE and join his brother in AEW.
Jeff Hardy On Leaving WWE In 2021
“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.”
RELATED: Jeff Hardy Wants To Revisit CM Punk Feud, Believes It’s Completely Possible
