wrestling / News

Jim Ross On Whether Jeff Hardy’s 2009 Drug Arrest Surprised Him, Talks Trying to Get Hardy to Rehab

August 28, 2019 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Jeff Hardy TNA Image Credit: Impact Wrestling

On the latest Grilling JR, Jim Ross looked back on Jeff Hardy’s infamous arrest for drug trafficking in 2009. As noted earlier, Hardy took time off from WWE and was written off of TV so he could get some nagging injuries healed up. He also had an MTV show that was under consideration. However, shortly after his hiatus began he was arrested on September 11th, 2009 after a raid turned up 262 Vicodin prescription pills, 180 Soma prescription pills, 555 milliliters of anabolic steroids, a residual amount of powder cocaine, and drug paraphernalia in his home.

Hardy would eventually plead guilty a year later and in 2011, was sentenced to ten days in prison, over two years probation and a $300,000 fine. Highlights from Ross’ discussion, and the full podcast, are below:

On if he was surprised by Hardy’s arrest: “Yeah, mildly, that it was to that extreme. Didn’t know he was that deep into it, quite honestly. You know, there were a lot of friendly doctors on the road, which was never a good thing all the way back to Dr. Zahorian in the days there where he was allegedly providing drugs to talents, and steroids or growth hormone or whatever the hell they wanted. But these guys on the road, it’s the same old deal. They’re gonna come back and tell you, ‘Hey, we’re on the road all the time, we work hurt.’ In the old days, if you didn’t work you didn’t get paid. That’s not the case [with] these guys. You’ve got a contract now. And if you get injured, you’re gonna get paid.”

On Chris Benoit trying to get back quick from injury once: “I remember having a conversation in Atlanta, a very emotional conversation with Chris Benoit about his neck injury. And I remember him saying, we had two options. We could go through the front of the neck and he’d be gone about a year, or he could go through the backside of his neck and he’d be back in a much shorter time. But the latter, the back of the neck, was not a full-time fix. He was gonna have to be fixed again. So I made the decision for him. He didn’t know what to do. And what he was concerned about was getting paid. And I said, ‘You have a contract. We’ve made a commitment to you. And the commitment has to be reciprocal, and it has been. So what I’m going to do is make the decision, we’re going to do the surgery through the front, and you’re gonna be off a year. And every week, you’re gonna get your check.’ And man, he gave me the strongest hug. Because that was what he was worried about, getting paid.”

On Hardy’s issues: “I think these guys, Jeff kept working hurt. It was partly by necessity, but quite frankly as much as I love the kid, still do, a part of it was just his dependence on these substances. He was having a hard time winning that battle. He couldn’t Swanton his way out of an issue with his damn opiates and stuff. So I was a little surprised from the standpoint [of] it was as much volume as it was. I never saw him as a steroid guy, I was wrong. I was also surprised there was no marijuana involved in this search. I was, because it was cheap!”

On trying to send Hardy to rehab: “So I always felt bad about it, because I just think that sometimes, he has that dependent personality. And sometimes I don’t think he knows — he’s not steering the car like he would like to, to directing his life. And then I see he gets arrested here a while back, that’s another challenging situation. Somewhere along the way — and I had the same conversation with Jeff. I wanted to send him to rehab. He was too proud, in his own words, to go to rehab. ‘I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.’ So the denial was very very strong, he should have gotten rehab, and I think that fact has been proven here lately. He still has some issues he has to deal with.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.