411’s WWE Broken Skull Sessions Report: Jeff Hardy on Winning The WWE Title, Victory Road with Sting, More

411’s WWE Broken Skull Sessions Report: Jeff Hardy

-Third review/recap of the day as I spend whatever time I can find on my vacation to get these done. This time Jeff Hardy gets to sit down with Stone Cold and this should be interesting as we don’t get much from Jeff and he has had quite the career. Let’s get to it!

-Original Air Date: 11.25.21
-Run Time: 1:19:49

-Steve welcomes Jeff to the show and thanks him for coming out from the East Coast to the middle of nowhere. Jeff says he is holding up well which is a miracle considering what he puts his body through. He just keeps saying that he is very blessed.

-They talk about the old days and Jeff admits he is taking care of himself better and does yoga every morning and especially before he has a match. Austin asks if Jeff was told by the old timers to slow down or stop taking crazy bumps. Jeff says he heard it and he just wanted to push his body to the limit and admits looking back it seems stupid.

-Austin talks about the research he did on Jeff and didn’t know about the music he has put out or the art he has done. Jeff says that Matt was more into athletics, and he was into art and being creative. He tells Steve he has a new song he is working on and he has so many voices going on with lyrics he has to sort it out. He talks about seeing Sting, Ultimate Warrior, and Road Warriors with their face paint and he always dug that. He talks about his art and doing things for his daughter, Ruby. His new thing is weed eating lawn art.

-Steve asks what keeps Jeff motivated nearly 30 years into his career. Jeff says he is inspired still by the creativity, and it is also a challenge to find new things to do. He feels like a paranormal in the locker room as at times he feels he shouldn’t even be there anymore.

-Austin brings up life on the road and Jeff says it has been strange going from pandemic to being back on the road. Jeff felt like it was The Twilight Zone getting on a plane with 8 people to head to the PC and wrestle in a building with no fans. He mentions things aren’t bad right now as he is only doing one night a week and has done a few live shows and hopes to be able to do more.

-They discuss Jeff being drafted to SmackDown. He has a lot of good ideas and he will pitch them and the worst that can happen is they will shoot him down. Austin follows up and asks if he pitches to Vince. Jeff says he never pitched ideas to Vince and that Matt pitched the ideas. He pitches the ideas to Michael Hayes who takes them to Vince.

-Steve asks if Jeff ever felt boxed in and Jeff feels he has always been given the creative freedom. Jeff talks about the face paint and how at times it hides his face where you can’t see him sell things with his face. With that he has never felt held back by the WWE. He says Matt is not here anymore and it is up to him to share his ideas and commit to his ideas.

-Steve asks Jeff how much the fans mean to him and Jeff says they are his foundation. He has to paint his face because he knows some kid will have their face painted and this may be the only time they see him. His fans believe in him until the end and have been there for his low points and the comeback. Jeff admitted before this was his last chance to get it right because he knows he is done if he screws it up again and he knows he has one more good run in him. He says it is a miracle he is still in the WWE and he can’t mess up because he has two daughters and a wife at home.

-They flash a photo of Matt and Jeff hanging out in Cameron, NC. Jeff says he was working at a landscaping job cutting 40 yards a day and he received the call they (He and Jeff) were signed to a developmental deal. He calls it a dream come true and remembers the first house shows they did and how Road Dogg would joke with them.

-He says it was a blessing to have Matt as his brother and partner because he was the business man. He was just the high spot guy and let Matt basically be his agent.

-They talk about The Funkin Dojo with Dory and Jeff says it was awesome. They had the hard rings and Jeff remembers knocking himself out doing a reverse 450 where the guy moved. He knocked himself out cold and of course they have the footage, and yeah, that had to suck! Kurt Angle was there with them along with Edge and Christian. He learned a lot and says Dory was very open minded about what they wanted to do in matches.

-We go back to high school as Jeff was on the high school team and Jeff asks if he stretched Dory as he laughs. Jeff laughs as well and says he was going to wrestle in his junior year, but he was working as an underneath guy for WWE. He was being paid $150 by WWE (having to be $100 booking fee to Italian Stallion) and because he was paid, he was told he had to choose between that and amateur high school sports. That was an easy choice for Jeff!

-Austin asks Jeff if he remembers his first match in WWE and they clarify it was the one with Razor Ramon. Jeff says he didn’t know if he ever wanted to wrestle again after that night. The next night he got to wrestle 1-2-3 Kid and that was more his speed as Kid was more his size. They had video and Jeff busts on himself as he didn’t even know how to properly do a headlock. Nice!

-Austin brings up Matt was one of the first guys he worked when he came in as The Ringmaster. Jeff says he was doing a bunch of Indy stuff as well and realized they could call Chief Jay Strongbow to get booked and avoid paying Stallion a fee.

-They flash a photo of The Hardy Boyz in their plaid days with “Faith” and “Hope” down their long tights. Jeff says it was Vince Russo’s idea to change the attire, so they went to the mall with Michael Hayes. He says wearing those pants was weird at first as they were used to spandex, but it became super cool when people on the Indys started dressing like them. Austin loved their look when they became part of The New Brood. We see footage of the entrance and Jeff says they had freedom to go wherever they wanted.

-No Mercy 99: Tag Team Ladder Match: It is not a stretch to call this one of the most influential matches of all time. These four went out and stole the show and set the building on fire. Austin and Jeff discuss the match as they watch highlights and this is always fun as Austin is a fan when he watches. Jeff grabs the bag to get the win and even takes a crazy bump that he says was unnecessary. They discuss how Revolutionary the match saw and Jeff was happy to hot the see saw spot. Yeah, we have seen how it can go wrong when it exploded Mercury’s face. Jeff says he and Matt were inspired by Shawn and Razor’s ladder match and puts over the first one Bret had with Shawn as well.

-Austin asks about The Dudley Boyz and Jeff says they knew them from ECW and were fans of them. It worked out as each group had their own specific weapon which lead to TLC Matches. Jeff says all he did was figure out his crazy spots and let everyone else figure out the psychology and where his spots would fit in.

-WrestleMania 2000: Austin was a fan of their music and Jeff says it was a generic song that he has heard on Ghost Hunters. This would be the first Triangle Ladder Match which was basically TLC before it had a name. They show the Swanton off the massive ladder and Jeff was worried he didn’t break the table as he basically landed on his ass. That was his first spiritual experience in pro-wrestling as he was standing on that ladder and posing before the dive.

-Jeff says his first dream was to play baseball for The Atlanta Braves and then he wanted to get into Moto Cross and enjoyed that, but it cost a ton of money, so he opted to use his body as his bike and doing crazy things in the ring.

-Austin asks about raising the bar and whether that was a blessing or a curse. Jeff talks about having the idea of getting handcuffed by his ear to a ladder and when it happened it terrified him. They show the clip of Sami doing it to Jeff from earlier in the year. Yeah, it’s rather sickening! Jeff says the ladder fell and he thought it ripped his ear. “Oh my God, I am going to the hospital tonight.” He says he was addicted to that and Austin jokes he wasn’t addicted to anything like that and “more power to you brother.”

-WrestleMania X-Seven: Austin puts over the entire show and thinks TLC II stole the show even though he thinks he and Rock were able to follow it. “That match was a bitch to follow.” Jeff says that when they started doing those Stadium shows he didn’t know the sound would disappear so it was an adjustment. They show the spot where Jeff tried to walk across multiple ladders and Jeff calls it The Frogger spot and it didn’t work out for him. Now the famous Spear from Edge from the ladder and it’s still breathtaking. Austin puts over Jeff for landing as flat as possible on a bump that has never been tried. Jeff says he is more of a guy that is in it for the moments and that is why he is the high spot guy. He says that spear spot is something that will never go away and is immortal. Austin says WM X-Seven was one of the greatest shows ever (yep).

-He asks about Edge and Christian and Jeff says they were the perfect opponents for them. They were also great friends and hit it off with them so well. They had great chemistry and they could get through a match without having to save a word to each other. Jeff jokes they were lucky to find him to even go over a match. He says they were easy to work with and had no issues with compromises. Austin mentions again that TLC II was a bitch to follow and Jeff gives Austin and Rock credit because they didn’t have ladders and tables to use and did their story telling with just their bodies.

-Austin is blown away to learn that Matt and Jeff did ladder spots at home because of Shawn/Razor and that is where they learned some of the things they would do in TLC and ladder matches. There dad would get mad at them for breaking the ladders, but it ended up being a blessing as the ladder helped make their careers.

-Jeff says all this was before his wife and kids, so he didn’t think about the future and being safe inside the ring. Now he wants to show a different side of Jeff Hardy that is less extreme.

-They discuss the initial Hardy split and Jeff says he and Matt wanted to see what they could do on their own. He thinks it is cool they can go to different promotions and get over and then always get put back together.

-Undertaker vs Hardy: Ladder Match! Famous RAW match here as Taker defends his WWE Title against a young and now solo, Jeff Hardy. Jeff jokes he can’t do Whisper in the Wind like that anymore. Taker takes a weird roll off a rana and that draws a laugh from Steve. In a wonderful touch they add in JR’s commentary and Jeff puts that over which Austin agrees that JR made a lot of guys with his commentary. The crowd is freaking out as this is just a great piece of business. JR: “Make yourself famous.” Taker chokeslams Jeff off the ladder, grabs the WWE Title and then shakes Jeff’s hand as a sign of respect even though Taker was a heel at the time. Jeff just gushes over what Taker did for him that night. Jeff says he realized if he fully committed himself, he could be a big star. They discuss working with someone as big as Taker and Jeff calls him a genius.

-WWE releases Jeff in 2003 after JR called to offer him rehab and Jeff says he didn’t want anything to do with it. He says it was a bad decision at the time and he just didn’t understand his denial.

-TNA in 2004: Jeff says he was out of the business for about a year and he thought he had it under control, but he ended up getting fired for missing shows. He mentions TNA didn’t offer rehab and just fired him. He realized he needed to change things and went to some TNA and WWE shows and told whoever listen that he was clean. He was offered a contract by both companies and decided to go back to WWE. He mentions he never did drugs until he was 21-22 and they were on the road. Matt slowed down, but he kept going.

-2006 WWE Return: Everything went great that first year and then The Wellness Policy came into place and he was about to fail his first drug test. He talks about how creativity and addiction goes hand in hand with certain people. He has never experience withdrawal from anything, but rehab freaked him out as he saw people come in as zombies and come out as new.

-Armageddon 2008: Edge vs. HHH vs Jeff Hardy for the WWE Title. They talk about Sting and Jeff calls him an inspiration and says he remembers touching Sting on the shoulder at WCW show when he was twelve and he wanted to make people feel the way he did that night. Great match though they did an awkward cut back to Jeff and Hardy to stop us from seeing a chair shot to the head. Jeff steals the pin with a Swanton and is the New WWE Champion to a crazy pop. Jeff celebrated it like it was a big deal and no matter what you think, a first time winning the WWE Title should be treated as a big deal.

-Jeff feels he was born to be a pro-wrestler and figured he could become World Champion one day. When he won it his thoughts were “now what?” He never felt like the face of the company, but just getting that belt was a huge compliment.

-WrestleMania XXV: I was there! Jeff loved having that match and tells us they had their time cut which pissed him off. That was one of the few times he had words with Vince and he thinks Vince appreciated his passion. Jeff says hitting the Twist of Fate on his brother is the best. Brother vs Brother was a dream come true!

-Hardy talks about failing two drug tests and getting taken out of Money in the Bank (Mania XXIV), but he came back from that and had the run with the WWE Title and got to the end of his contract in the Fall of 2009. A few days later he was busted for getting pills illegally and the SWAT team came knocking on his door and Jeff thought his life was over. That scared him straight and after that he and his wife welcomed two daughters into the world. Austin asks about the SWAT Team and Hardy calls it terrifying as he watched his wife handcuffed on the floor.

-TNA Run II: Jeff mentions the screw up with Sting at Victory Road and calls it embarrassing and shameful as he was out there with his hero in a Main Event. Jeff says he wasn’t thinking at all and was high on Somas, which weren’t a controlled substance yet. He remembers going over the match with Sting and the ending was going to be a Scorpion Death Drop with a chair around his neck, but then he was out of it was the Somas. They show still photos from that night courtesy of George Tahinos. Jeff says they had to get him out of there real quick. Jeff jumps to 2012 and says that was one of the best wrestling years of his life and things just clicked and went really well.

-Jeff takes all responsibility for his choices and doesn’t blame wrestling for any of his issues. He says drugs were easy compared to alcohol.

-They discuss TNA vs WWE and Jeff says that WWE is just bigger. He mentions a big match he had with Aries that drew a large crowd. He loved TNA and to him other than WWE being bigger there wasn’t much difference.

-Broken Universe: Austin wants it explained to him and says he was blown away by what he was seeing. He puts over both men being so committed to it. Jeff says that Matt’s idea was to have Jeff hit him so hard he went crazy and then you become my servant when I beat you. Jeff loved it as it was the same thing they did as kids, but now they were adults. The first Final Deletion they filmed with a crew of 6 in one night and seeing the final product made them so proud. Austin asks how it was pitched to TNA and Jeff credits that to Matt. Austin asks about The Boneyard Match and says he can see how it played off what they did. Jeff says he wanted to have a match in a broken-down penitentiary with The Usos, but it never happened. Oh man, I want to see that now! The first match they filmed in one night and after that it took 2-3 days as they were given a bigger budget.

-Austin compliments Jeff on staying over no matter if he is pushed or beaten every night. That leads to WrestleMania 33 and their surprise return, which was kind of telegraphed when the match was changed to a ladder match, six days before the show. No matter though as the crowd absolutely loses it and Austin calls it one of the biggest pops he has ever seen. Well, that’s saying something coming from him. Jeff says that reaction was bigger than anything they ever did in the ring including The Ladder Spear. Jeff is still upset he didn’t break both ladders on The Swanton and doesn’t care he nearly landed on his head. They talk about how hard it is to be the man lying on the table or ladder taking the Swanton off the ladder.

-Jeff admits he was nervous about the schedule when they returned to WWE. He never thought he would be back after the big mistake he made, and is just blessed to be back.

-Austin asks Jeff his goals at this stage. Jeff says he wants to be Universal Champion because he has never held that title. He would like one good run with Roman Reigns and just one more good run overall.

-Austin asks about retirement and Jeff isn’t sure if he will stay in the business or go to work on his music exclusively. Creatively he wants his art, wrestling, and music to all come into play. He knows he has a lot of offer and now all his ideas will work, but he has to sort them out.

-They discuss Motocross and Jeff says he has the itch again, but his track is too dangerous, so he has to go to a safer track. He says breaking his leg still affects him as he needed surgery and there are dives he will only do for TV because of the issues with the knee.

-They show video of Jeff taking a bump from his daughter into a lake after she rides a zipline. Nice!

-Hobbies: Jeff is still into his art naturally, but his girls’ hobbies are the most important thing.

-Austin puts Hardy over as a future Hall of Famer and he can’t believe it has been nearly 30 years. He asks Jeff about any regrets and Jeff says his struggles made him who he is today and he hopes someone has learned from his issues. He loves pro-wrestling and has been open his issues and was cool with The Bar Fight with Sheamus as he doesn’t run from his issues.

-Jeff questions what have they done when he sees kids jumping off ladder and roofs to do things he did. He has apologized to mothers and reiterates: Don’t Try This at Home!

-Austin wraps things up to close the show.

-This was good, but nothing really Earth shattering covered. Jeff is in a good place which is wonderful to see, but there wasn’t a lot here as it was just a case of Jeff being happy to be there. The trips down memory lane were fun and I always appreciate when they touch on runs in TNA as it makes these shows feel complete. I would say check this one as Austin always has a blast with his guests and this was an easy watch. Thanks for reading!