Jeff Hardy shouldn’t return to wrestling full time
Jeff Hardy should not return to professional wrestling. On a recent episode of the Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, Matt talked about his brother’s pending return to All Elite Wrestling. However, leadership within the company should make a decision that perhaps its time for Jeff to step away from the ring, at least full-time competition as he’s shown that his personal challenges continue to pop up in his life.
“We’re getting close to the point where we meet the new Jeff and we figure out his future and what he ends up doing,” Matt Hardy said during the podcast. “I’m pretty excited because I feel like his mentality is like – he knows he has to make some changes and do what’s right. I feel like he’s at a point where he will this time around.”
While it’s clear that Matt loves his younger brother, those words sound awfully close to enabling behavior. At 45 years of age, it’s hard to imagine that Jeff suddenly has the new mentality that Matt mentions. And even if he does, is it a good idea to put him back in the world of wrestling where he’s shown an inability to fully stop himself when that control is necessary?
Jeff’s legal issues are not a new phenomenon. His first run-in with the law was more than a decade ago in 2009. From there he’s had multiple arrests, with the most recent occurring back in June, less than two months after joining All Elite Wrestling. He was indefinitely suspended on June 14 and would only be allowed back in the organization if he could complete rehabilitation and “maintain his sobriety.”
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The one thing the professional wrestling industry will do is always welcome back its legends. Regardless of despicable behavior or other issues, the profession and its fans are always waiting with open arms. The same could be said about Jeff Hardy. However, the real conversation needs to come up about whether he should return as his legacy of behavior points toward problems that aren’t fully managed and could lead to the worst outcome that no one wants to see for the future Hall of Famer.