Jeff Hardy: Victory Road 2011 “Was My Eye-Opener”
It's no secret that current RAW Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy has had a history with drug addiction.
It's what caused him to leave the WWE back in 2003, and what led to the most infamous moment of his career back in 2011 while performing with then TNA Wrestling.
Hardy was slated to face Sting in the main event of the Victory Road Pay-Per-View for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Hardy came to the ring in no shape to compete because of his drug use, causing the match to be changed and drastically shortened on the fly.
In a recent appearance on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast, Hardy spoke about the low moment. He admitted to how bad of a situation he was in, but also called it the "best thing that ever happened" to him.
"2011, with Sting, I was taking somas and I went out there f–ked up, and, man, I couldn't even wrestle," he said. "For the first time in my life, I went too far. I couldn't wrestle my idol, basically, Sting, and he had to do the right thing and shut me down and pin me."
He continued:
"That deal with Sting, man, honestly, was the best thing that ever could have happened to me to straighten my ass up. That was my eye-opener, for the rest of my life, it was that night with Sting. And, man, I love him so much. He was so great after that and coming back in the best shape of my life in 2012, whenever that was when I won [TNA's] world title again or whatever.
Basically, in a way, in a sick way, that was kind of an eye-opener for me to see that and to feel pitiful for myself. 2012 was one of my best years ever, coming back from that tragedy of a story and just… So basically being on the road so much, I got carried away. The addiction got the best of me."
He also touched on what led to him becoming addicted in the first place. You can listen to the full appearance via Soundcloud.
