Back in 2017, The Hardys returned to WWE and they returned in a big way when they won the Raw Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 33. The return kicked off another big run for The Hardys as they both remained with the company for a few years after they captured championship gold on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Matt Hardy parted ways with WWE in 2020 after his contract expired, and he went on to join All Elite Wrestling shortly after. Jeff ended up getting released from his contract in December of 2021 after he walked out during a tag team match at a live event.
Recently Jeff Hardy reflected on his WWE departure while speaking with Chris Van Vliet, and he shared some details regarding the things he was going through in his personal life at the time.
“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.”
