Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Jeff Hardy On Sobriety, Owning His Mistakes, Returning To TNA, Possible WWE Return, Hall Of Fame

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

https://cvvtix.com - Tickets are on sale now for INSIGHT LIVE in Toronto and Indianapolis with VIP Meet & Greet! Jeff Hardy (@JeffHardyBrand) is a professional wrestler currently signed to TNA. TNA Genesis is Sunday, January 19 live from the Curtis Culwell Center in Dallas, TX. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Dallas, TX to discuss why he and his brother Matt Hardy returned to TNA, the origin of the signature Hardy Juke, their signature theme song, the most scared he has ever been in a professional wrestling match, his worst injury, hitting Brock Lesnar with a vicious chair shot to the head, his battles with addiction, getting sober, what he remembers from his match with Sting at TNA Victory Road 2011, if a WWE return could happen as part of the ongoing TNA partnership and more! Quote I'm thinking about: "Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become." - Heraclitus Sponsors: PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank which was designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/?ref=tibcloux TIMELINE: Go to https://timeline.com/insight33 to get 33% off your order of Mitopure while supplies last ORGAIN: For 30% off your order, head to https://Orgain.com/INSIGHT and use code INSIGHT SQUARESPACE: Head to https://www.squarespace.com/INSIGHT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code INSIGHT VUORI: Get 20% off your first purchase! Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at https://vuori.com/cvv ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv ZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at https://zocdoc.com/insight BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at https://bluechew.com RHONE: Rhone’s premium performance clothing is made to move you. Use code CVV to save 20% at https://www.rhone.com/CVV MANSCAPED: Get 20% off plus free shipping when you use the code CHRISVAN at https://manscaped.com PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at https://plunge.com For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Fleet. What an intro there. Shout out to Downstate for the catchiest podcast theme song in all the land. Welcome back, my friends, to another audio adventure here on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet. How you doing? Hope everything is going well for you. Thank you for being with us on this one.

And thank you for making Insight the number one wrestling podcast on the planet and the top five all sports shows on Spotify. Amazing. Hit a swan tom bomb on that follow button, whether you're listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever it happens to be. We've got a big announcement for you. Big announcement.

If you're going to be in Las Vegas for WrestleMania, we're doing a live episode of Insight on Thursday, April 17th at Circa Resort and Casino. Tickets are available now at CVVTX.com. That's CVVTX.com. They also have room deals for anyone who hasn't booked their room yet for WrestleMania. Sorka's pretty incredible. It is absolutely amazing.

That's where I'm going to be staying. So I hope to see you there as well. CVV-T-I-X.com. This interview today was a long time coming. The last time I did a one-on-one interview with Jeff Hardy was 2011. It was in like a back alley slash part- parking lot area of the TV station that I worked at in Cleveland, CBS 19, W-O-I-O-O-I-O. You might have seen that interview on my YouTube channel. That was actually the first year

that I started my YouTube channel, and that video got well over a million views. Jeff has had an incredible career as one half of one of the most popular tag teams ever, the Hardee's. He's also had an amazing career as a singles competitor. He's experienced some very high highs and equally some very low lows and he opens up about all of that during this conversation. We cover a lot of ground here. But as of right now, the Hardys are back in TNA. They're currently the TNA World Tag Team Champions. They put those titles on the line this Sunday, January 19th in Dallas at TNA Genesis against the Rascals. Also on the show, Nick Nemeth defending his TNA World Championship against Joe Hendry.

It's live on pay-per-view or if you live in the Dallas area, you can grab tickets at TNASK. A wrestling.com. Snap a screenshot. Let us know you're listening. Let us know what stood out for you the most from this conversation and tag us. He's at Jeff Hardy Brand. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And here we go.

Ladies and gentlemen, the charismatic enigma, Jeff Hardy. It's been a long time. It's been a while. It's good to see you. You too, man. Yeah. Congrats on everything. I mean, the championship's sitting right here.

Yeah, it's so cool to be back in TNA, man. And I had so many good moments and memories created my last run in TNA, and it's just so exciting to be back. There's something special about hearing that music hit. There is. Yeah, even when I returned, it was so weird how everything worked out. I had no idea Matt was going to go to TNA. I finished a workout one morning, went upstairs, and my wife said, did you know Matt was going back to TNA? I said, no, I had no idea.

Then I watched the footage, and I was, oh, my God, that was amazing. and naturally I ask him how it felt. And it's just so strange and bizarre how everything just worked out when my, my nose was broke when I was in AEW, and so my contract was a little extended. But it ran out the night before I was able to show up and save Matt once again in the world

of professional wrestling back in T&A. Yeah, that's perfect timing. Perfect timing. And there's something about that music. And I know that people might not know this. that's like a song that anybody can find or use, right? For sure. I think it's titled Loaded.

Loaded. Yeah. I remember hearing it in like a commercial on it. And I was like, wait a second. It's a Hardy Boys song. That's a hard one. I saw it on Ghost Hunters and I was just start going like this. I was like, whoa, that's amazing.

Do you remember, do you remember when you heard it for the first time? Yeah, I think I do. We had some wacky music, our first music. And it was, I don't know what it was, but I remember I liked it a lot more than the previous song that we came out to. When did the dancing that you were just doing there? When did that become part of the entrance? Oh, God, it definitely came from our wrestling daddy, Michael P.S. Hayes, man, when we hooked up with him,

you know, because back in the days, the Freebirds, I think he would do like a moon, he would do it and then do a moonwalk and make the tag to Jimmy Garvin. So that's where it came, just the way he goes like this. So I might bust that moonwalk out at some point, man. But yeah, it came from Michael Hayes, man. I just modified it and it became such a big deal for me. Now, it's impossible to hear that song and not start to do it a little bit. Have you seen these memes where people will be like,

every time I climb a ladder and you're climbing the ladder and then you start to, you know, just the average person starts to hear your theme song. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. And also when people don't have paper towels to dry their hands, I've seen that before, You know, it works pretty well, man. Dry them off in the air. What made TNA the right spot for you to land?

I'm not sure. Like, it was so weird when I left WGB in 2021, I think it was. My dad had been real sick. Like, 2017, like right after we went back to WB at Mania, that's my dad. That was probably around the time that he felt. felt good for the last time before it slipped back into this dark depression. But yeah, I'd been taking care of him, man.

It was just bad to where he did not want to be here. He was ready to go. And our mom died at a young age. I was 10 when she passed away. So I've always told myself, I'm like, man, when he needs me, I'm going to take care of him. You know, and I just did everything I could to get him excited about life and all that stuff. So that's definitely when, you know, my drinking had got carried away during those times. that I've never really talked about in WrestleMania.

The year 2021 is when I missed WrestleMania because my dad had just passed away somewhere. Oh, yeah, April 6th, 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, and it's sad the way it worked out, but that I refused to go to rehab. And so I ended up waiting my 90 days out and showing up in A.A.W. you and naturally screwed that up as well. And I feel so bad about, you know, Matt's position because now being in T&A, I feel like I can really, you know, kind of pay back for that, you know, to the fullest extent. What's your headspace like now?

Where are you at now? Oh, I'm super excited about wrestling again. When we had the tables match against the system, and I did the swanton bomb off the thing around all those people, it was so similar to me doing it to Devon Dudley. at Madison Square Garden, and I was so excited after all that worked out. It was a lot more sketchy because the table was diagonal, and it was scary. But it all worked out because that's the kind of stuff I live for, man. I do that.

And just getting through that match and thinking about the possibilities in the future and the way I feel, I mean, it's just I'm so blessed to still be here. And I'm so grateful that I didn't kill myself, you know, through my drug and alcohol issues. Did you feel like you were ever close? Like, no, not really. There were times when I would wake up and it was just so, I was like, oh my God, what am I doing? And I would tell myself all the time. And I never got to the point to where I had physical withdrawals from not drinking.

So with that, I was like, okay, I must not be an alcoholic because I don't get sick from not drinking. And I would be sober for weeks and then give into it again. But then, man, when the DUI started happening, that's, oh, God, that's when it really got. that got crazy how how much denial I was in. Because, man, I never have any intention of hurting anybody. So I thought of I could have possibly hurt somebody else out there on the road. I'm so, oh my God, I'm so sorry for that, especially for people who have lost loved ones in DUI accidents. But, you know, I needed something big to happen, and that's what happened.

And I went to rehab for the long haul, and it's exactly what I needed, man. And I've been so enlightened. There was a moment with the sun, actually, when I was in treatment in Florida. And I was like, okay, and the moon at night, I'm like, okay, there's something very special going on here with me getting sober again. Because every time, my second time when I came back to T&A, I had gotten sober. And I was great. In 2012, was one of my best wrestling years in my career, in my opinion. And that's because of sobriety.

And to be back in that zone now approaching three years of sobriety. man, I mean, it's just super exciting to keep doing exactly what I've been doing and, you know, prove people wrong in the process. And look at the Hardee's now. How many times have you won a tag team championship? I have no idea. That's great. I have no idea. Yeah, I know the Dudley's are on. Third team between you and Matt, but you guys, you've won, you know, with other people as well. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not sure. This is great that it doesn't matter. You don't know. It doesn't, man. I would. say 12 or 13, that might be way off.

Well, it's more than that. Okay. Okay. How many is it? I don't know. Troy can look it up for you. He'll shout it out there. Okay.

But that's amazing, though. So is the way that you approach wrestling just like the match that's in front of you right now? Yeah, for sure. And I get so excited. I've been watching Rascal matches like crazy because we're going to be wrestling them at Genesis this year. And I've been watching like matches from the 80s, man, free birds, Von Erich, Rock and Roll Express, Midnight Express. And I'm like, I feel like I'm pulling all of this stuff from the 80s and going to make it cool again in 2025,

which is just super exciting. And I'm starting to feel really good in the ring again, like in that table's match. And it takes a while, as you know, to get conditioned again after you have you've been out of the ring for a while. But yeah, it's just super decided. I'm even doing the poetry in motion like I used to do it, throwing the leg. And it's feeling better and better and better. So, yeah, 2025 is going to be a super exciting year for the Hardee's. Do you feel like there's anything in the ring that you can't do anymore?

I can't do a shooting star press anymore. Well, what was the last time you got a shooting star prize? It's been a while. That Phoenix splash, that reverse 450. I used to do that all the time, but I never could control it. Like it was always just a massacre straight face-first into the mat. and people would always move. I could never hit it.

I think I tried to hit it one time and completely missed the guy and just crashed. And that was the first and last time. Pretty much. Yeah. Yeah. And I used to do the 450 from time to time. I don't do that anymore.

I don't care to do any of that stuff anymore. But the swan ton is feeling good again. And just other little combo type stuff that I'm kind of seeing, mainly like the way I see wrestling, I try to envision counters to, like, unique counters to certain moves. So that's why I've been studying the run. rascals and all these crazy fast combos they do like trying to find some counters within that who's

this version of jeff hardy now as a wrestler uh i feel more than ever uh not even like the charismatic enigma like like the enlightened enigma like i'm so grateful for my the gift of life i am and have and and i mean i was i was born to to be a pro wrestler and it's just it's crazy how it worked out you know, I had such an opportunity to be a huge wrestling star, man, in my younger 20s. But, you know, I just went another direction. And it would be amazing if I wouldn't have fell into that dark place in my life from, you know, drugs and alcohol to see what would have actually happened. But I've also had all these other hobbies that I just love. I love motocross like crazy.

And that eventually broke my leg in 2015, and that pretty much ended my motocross career. But I just, oh, motocross. and I got into music. I just had all these things. I never could commit fully to pro wrestling. And I guess that's kind of been a, it's hurt my career definitely a little bit. But again, that's kind of what makes me interesting as well.

Well, how incredible is it that you've had a Hall of Fame career as a tag team, Hall of Fame career as an individual? And you're saying, I really didn't go all in on it. It is. It's crazy. It's crazy. And I think while I brought that up about my dad, I've never really spoke about that.

And there was so much dark times. but back in the day, I think Nikki Six wrote this book or put this book out called The Heroine Diaries. And I think it was Nikki Six. But anyway, I read that. And so the first time I went to rehab for alcohol, I started journaling every day. So I've got like five years of journal entries, man, throughout all the good and bad stuff. And especially those, that year when my dad was, you know, slowly dying. I mean, I've documented it all.

And I started going back through that first journal entry today. And the plan is to just take my time and maybe in a couple of years, I'll have my own alcohol diaries. And it can be a very powerful thing for people that are going through tough times to kind of read and feel comfortable with knowing that they're not alone. Prize Picks is America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over 5 million active users. It's the easiest and most excited.

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That's rocketmoney.com slash CVV. During your toughest times, who do you feel like you let down the most? Was it your fans? Was it your family? Was it yourself? probably the fans Matt I feel bad about it because we were a team we started together and just letting him down

I always felt bad but then again myself myself too and it's always weird when I think back to like 08 and 09 I was on top of the world in professional wrestling and just looking back at that now oh my God I had the opportunity to be this huge wrestling star but sadly man and and it's obvious i mean it's been public for a long time i pretty much

uh in o nine i pretty much chose drugs and alcohol over professional wrestling the chance to be a huge wrestling superstar just because i i was scared i was going to fail another drug test or something and that's sad what the kind of blur i was in uh but but i can't dwell on that at all and that's what i've been doing good about lately i just don't focus on that at all i know it is what it is what it is it is, it was what it was, and I survived and got through it. And now here I am, I have this chance, this last chance to really make an impact approaching 50 years into this life. But you're not the person that you're sitting in front of me right now if it's not for all of those things that happen. And that's the amazing thing about life, right?

For sure. If you didn't have these highs and these lows, then you don't become this person right now. Exactly, yeah. That's so true. Yeah. So I think I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. And everything happened exactly how it was supposed to happen. I think that why this book, man, that I started writing today is going to be extremely powerful and so rewarding if I can really pull it off. It's going to be tough, but I'd set a goal for myself at home with my motorcross track. Again, I love motocross, and I pretty much extended our front yard. The motorcross track is part of our front yard now, and it is effing beautiful.

But like when I started cleaning it up, I was like, oh, I can, no, I can do this. this. I'm going to do it every single bit of it. I'm going to do it on my own. And, man, I'm very close to it being completely finished. And it's just gorgeous, man. I fly my drone up and get a shot of, and I'm so proud of what I've created. And by the end of my wrestling career, I'm going to look back at it and be extremely proud of what I created with that as well, especially through the ups and the downs. And, you know, never giving up and always being so grateful of this gift of life I am and have. I love when you're passionate about something, you're passionate about it. We see it with you in wrestling.

We see it with you in art. We see it with you in motocross. We see it with you in music. What part of your personality is it, do you think, that allows you to just dive into something? Well, there's a lot of, like, really cool things have happened since this last time getting sober. One of the scary things that I've always loved, like, translating what the music is telling me to write. and even the songs are kind of like journal entries. It's just been so therapeutic for me.

But about two years in, I was going, oh, my God, I'm mad. I don't think I'm that great of a singer. I was like, and this was from getting sober. I'm going, oh, my God, should I quit? And I was like, no. And you can definitely listen to my old themes in TNA, like the first, you know, two or three. And I'm going to re-record those. And that'll be, it'll be obvious.

Oh, wow, he has improved as a singer. He's improved a lot. People love those original versions. Yeah, and I mean, the new version of Modest is going to be incredible, man. So we just got to re-record them. And that's my next goal in T&A to where the music, the art, and the wrestling will all kind of be at one with each other. I just need to sing Modest on the way to the ring before a full middle mayhem match

reimagined with the artwork everywhere or something like that. And that's just, it's so exciting to imagine. that it's funny i'll show it to you after but i got your autograph when i was 17 i think so i was 2000 your autograph then looks so different from now what what is what are the components of your autograph now it's like uh it's art it is it matt calls it an arduraft uh i think that's pretty slick yeah and um but it's it's it's more of a symbol man like i do these little paintings i sell at comicans and and all this stuff and they're just my autograph is in there and then all these faces like I do. I just get still, to this day, get so much joy out of sitting down and get

into that peaceful zone of art. And I'm able to make money off my artwork now. It's just so, so cool, because I still love it just like I did in elementary school, high school. I still get so much joy out of painting my face, even, because I'm always coming up with these images that I know are possible to put on my face. And a good example of that is when I did a tribute to the fiend. That just turned out incredible. And that's, oh my God, I've never painted teeth on my lips before. So naturally the fiend, Ray White, I had to, you know, show him some love. What did it mean to you to pay tribute to him like that? Oh, the feedback was incredible, man. Just the love that, you know, came back from that and people being grateful of that because he was such an amazing

human being and Matt got to work with him naturally. I would have loved to. But I still, watched the little pre-tip we did backstage when I was coming back from shoulder surgery and we did a little thing back there I was about to go out with Finn Baller and um Seth Rawlins and and me Matt and Bray did a little thing back there and I just oh man it warms my heart every time I see that what's the significance behind each time you paint your face uh it's like a blank a blank canvas for the day um or night you know and and it's not really war pain, I think it's just from the joy I get of like, I call it my

alien skin a lot just because it's like nobody else's and, but because of staying in the ultimate warrior, I mean, that's why I paint my face to this day. But the last time in TNA is when I really took it to the next level. When I'd gotten sober, you know, and I'd start painting

eyes on my eyelids and I was, okay, this is my deal. Stone and Cold has his beers and his middle fingers, the rock which is so charismatic and great on the mic. And this is what I do. paint my eyelids and I come out and people touch me and they reach out and touch me. And hopefully they feel like I felt when I would reach out and touch sting when I was a kid. And it's just, I get so much joy out of painting up each and every night.

How do you paint your eyelids? Not one at a time. But it just feels like it'd be. And I guess, I don't get for some. Is that drying the paint? Oh, so I can put the pupil in there on the next go around and the other side. And people come in. and out and it's the best when I can get in like a peaceful little private zone a quiet bathroom but

like sometimes I paint it in that crowded bathrooms people are coming in to put hot stuff on or put baby old on her and oh my god and there's there's sometimes oh god you're up next you better you better put the house show paint on you know things like no I can't do this I I got to like just take my time and getting that peaceful zone and every time and naturally when I see it in action figures that's when okay that's why i do that that's why i take because it's a mortalized right here on the toy and i get so much uh i'm so grateful for each and every act you actually figure this came out that has the design exactly like i did it on one night and it's never the same man so are you able are you able to do it if you can't find a mirror no i can't do it at all if i if i can't find a mirror i got a little mirror

i keep my bag just in case and we do and we did this thing at uh fourth row wrestling a while about it was the most uncomfortable I've ever been trying to paint my face. I mean, photography and people video and it was all around me. And it was this little bitty mirror. And I was just trying to paint half of my face. But it was all so uncomfortable. But I got it done. And it was good enough for that evening. But no, it's really good when I can get away and just get in that little peaceful zone in a bathroom to myself and just have me in the mirror and their creation evolve. Who's the person who walks into that bathroom with no makeup on their face? and who's the person who walks out

with a full face of makeup? It's definitely the charismatic enigma, Jeff Hardy, and the enlightened, enlightened Jeff Hardy, I think now more than ever because I put that on and I just own it. I'm not, I feel right at home, okay, this is what I do. And there's something about being all painted up and going out and just talking to people so normal.

And a joke, you know, that I do from time to time, all right, after a match is over, I say, all right, I'm about to go to the right, I'm about to go to the rodeo and distract some bulls. Here's this autograph. It was 2001. So you guys were promoting King of the Ring. It was at a Pizza Pizza in Pickering, Ontario, which is my hometown.

Oh, my gosh. And the line was so big, and they wanted the line to move so quickly. We weren't allowed to take photos with you guys. But I snuck a photo of you guys signing your autographs at Pizza Pizza. Wow. that is that is such a pitiful looking autograph i'm sorry oh my god compared to what it is now and it can be done fairly quick man that is that was that's a rush job you only had like an hour or two and there was a lot of people oh my goodness i'd be glad i got to give you an autograph painting man

just to make up for that oh my gosh it's just it's so funny how different your autograph looks compared to that yeah it's it's evolved like crazy for the longest time i didn't put the the face of the profile face in there. It was just the swirls with the J&H. And my daughter's an amazing artist, man. She paints stuff really, like realistic. And she, a couple years ago, she started working on her autographs. She's got her own little, it's just, it's amazing to live vicariously through our children. And both of my daughters are just such amazing artist. There's a, I mean, look at a stack you had to sign there. I don't, come on. It's not your fault that the autograph was rushed. Look at that stack of paper. Come on my God.

Yeah, that's a lot. Oh, my God. That's a lot. There's no excuse for that, man. That is a big stack. And it just took me a while to make it what it is today. And I said it yesterday doing interviews. I was like, man, if nothing else, I might have the, in pro wrestling, I might have the coolest signature on planet Earth.

And I know that. It is just, and I feel that. It's completely unique and different. Hard to argue with that, right? really is for sure man yeah can't think of a better autograph than that thank you man yeah and a lot of people don't see things the way i see them so i know it's not gonna but i mean for the most part it's yeah it's pretty it's pretty amazing how do you see the world people don't see things the way you see i think i have an abstract mind man and i kind of see things in an abstract view uh an abstract world

oh you're gonna give you hold on now we're gonna give me another autograph right now apparently oh yeah cool okay wow yeah this will be great Let's see. How about, how about this guy? Wow. Wow. Yeah. What color do you like to sign in? This green might look good on this one.

Now it's turning into art, maybe. Yeah, maybe the pink will look good on this one. Okay. Maybe the pink and blue, you know. Oh. I do a thing with Matt a lot of times. He'll do that little eye and I do the lips for me. And I say, man, you remember how to do the eye and the lips?

like when we were these big signings. You able to sign on your knees there? Oh, yeah, for sure, man. You want to sign on top of the old one? That's what I'll do. Yeah. This was so cool to do the retro Hardy that night. No face pain.

No face pain. Yeah. That's old school Jeff Hardy, just from the tag team ladder match. Yes. Days. That's like 2000 Jeff Hardy there. Yeah, so that felt so good, man.

Artograph. I've seen you guys at these conventions. many, many times. The line is huge. There's no line like a Hardy Boys line. And you spend this much time signing an autograph. Amazing. You know, how many wrestlers just do a quick little initial,

little scribble? I know, man. I always think back to when I think about scribbles, flying, Brian, and Sting. We were in Fedville, North Carolina, and they were in a rush, got in their card, and Flying Brian's autograph was Brian Pilman. It was just, it was like a circle

and a little scribble. When it was, I was, oh, my God, that's, that's not an autograph. Oh, we're getting the second color here, okay? Oh, man. This is great. Yeah, I think that there's something about that. There's something about the idea of like you're meeting your hero, your legend, someone you've looked up to your entire life,

and they're just going to give you a little squiggle with their wrist. And yet, hold this up to the camera. Yeah, for sure. That's more along the lines of what I, the last. sign it now. Man, look at that. That's cool. Yeah, so I take pride in autographs, man, especially.

Did you want it personalized? Oh, my gosh. Yes. My one from 24 years ago was not personalized. Oh, my God. Oh, my goodness. This is the 17-year-old of me who's getting very excited. This is Chris.

Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Did you ever have a gimmick name when you were doing Swin' time? in the backyard. Chris Sharp. He's sharp talking, sharp walking,

sharp dressing. Yeah. Chris Sharp versus Jeff Hardy. That would have been a pretty good match. For sure, it was a battle of the swan ton. It would have been the... Ooh, first person to hit a swan ton wins.

A swan ton match. There you go, yeah. Ooh. Wow. That's cool. Thank you. Yeah, it's hard to argue that there's a cooler autograph in wrestling.

Oh man yeah for sure I always think about Emaga man In my career My most favorite feud Man was with Imog and I had no idea That he used Pascar markers To paint his face until I saw it one evening

I was like whoa what do you use to paint your face Because I was just using some Halloween latex Or the real greasy Halloween makeup Just from Walmart or something But from that point on I ordered me some POSCA markers And that's that's why I can do the eyes on my eye

It's so, man. I was heavily, heavily inspired by the Hardy Boys when I was a backyard wrestler. The Pist of Fate was my setup move, and the swan ton was my finisher. Oh, wow. But I'm sure, I'm sure you have a lot of people telling you that, like, oh, man, I jumped off of a lot of high things because of you guys. Man, we all the time, man. And we, like, man, you actually, jump off my bunk bed and break the couch and all this stuff. And my mom was so mad.

And, you know, I broke my bone. my arm because of you, man. It's so cool to hear that, oh, my God, you were my childhood. We hear that so much. So I'll show you. This is like a compilation. This is when I showed.

I showed math some of them. You'll see some of my backyard wrestling highlights come in there. And this is probably where I saw that swan time before. Yeah, let me know what you think of this swan ton bomb. You get it, man. There's a few of them in there. Did you ever do the 450? I'm terrified to do something like that.

Into a pool, maybe. Oh, okay. I always wanted to try that backflip, leg drop. There we go. What do you think? Oh, that's a good form, man. Okay. Spinning DDT, twist of fate.

Whoa. Drop kick to the back. This is action-packed, man. Wow. And y'all had tables out there, too? We were just jumping off. We weren't putting people through them. Yeah.

Oh, my God. Very impressive, man. And I'm just glad that I never got seriously injured. for sure yeah somehow somehow you too right for sure yeah we we started in the trampoline wrestling federation i think it was called teens wrestling federation at first like the ring was like the trampoline was actually a ring but then we we got more professional and just and called it um the trampoline wrestling federation because that's what it was we were on a trampoline bouncing around on a trampoline you're fearless like i can sure i can do a 450 on a trampoline sure yeah but anywhere else no

I don't want to fall in my face. Yeah, man, I think the last one I did, I thought I broke my shoulder. I kind of over-rotated. I think it was too cool or something. It was probably the last 450 I ever tried to pull off. You've had such good luck in the ring. Like, it's actually pretty crazy to think that your major injury happened on a dirt bike, not in a wrestling ring.

Yeah, and the worst injury. That was the first time in my life that I could not get up on my own. And we had just won the T&A world tag team titles. And I'll never forget laying my buddy. he was out there because he was filming it and he came up he said oh man you can walk it off you can't walk it off I can't get up I said I thought both my legs were broke it was just the impact was so oh my god so powerful uh but my and my wife coming out there and then oh my god do I need to call dixie yes called dixie and I was like oh my god I just really screwed up

like a foreign ambulance called dixie yeah I think it was before it no I think we'd already called 911 yeah for sure my buddy called 911 And then naturally, Dixie needed to know what happened. And I think she might even have said, like to post a video, which was smart, just because, I mean, I was going to take a while before I was healed from that. And it did. It was a good year, man, before I was able to just referee that match when Matt won the title from EC3, I think. I was the referee.

I tried to paint up the zebra stripes and all that. But my leg was still, like, throbbing so bad. So, yeah, it took me a good year to come back from that. And it was way worse than any wrestling injury. What's your worst wrestling injury? Oh, there's not really one, man. I always just say like... Which is insane.

It is. With the way that you've wrestled your entire career. Yeah, it is, man. There's not real... It might be, I would say, like, when I had to have rotator cuff surgery, but I just threw an uppercut and heard a pop. Like, oh, my God, something happened. That was my first surgery from pro wrestling.

But I always say RVD, there's when I just admired and loved, I loved watching RVD and Saboo, you know, in ECW. And that's like where the poetry and motion came from. And to be working with RVD, I just wanted to do something unique off a 14-foot ladder and go through the table vertical instead of sideways like you would normally put somebody through a table. And I remember, like, Vance was like, why do you want to do it like that? I've never seen anybody do it like this before. I just like to do it.

But, man, that table exploded. And that's, I thought my back was all jacked up really bad after that. It just knocked the wind out of me. I mean, I was like, they carried me out on a stretcher, but I was all right, but that's probably the most pain I've ever been in from a wrestling, any kind of wrestling move. What's your relationship like with fear? God, fear is part of the fun. I say that all the time, and that's from motocross. But I've never, just because it's you, I just share this story, too.

I mean, I've already mentioned rehab and all that stuff. there was three new jumps I'd made on my motorcross track, like right before I broke my tibby. And I was scared of all three of them. I just created the, it's kind of like I always kind of viewed TLC matches like the X games of pro wrestling. Like we're going to create these obstacles and these situations and we're going to conquer them. Like, you know, I would conquer things on my dirt bike, these jumps I would create with my dirt bike. And the first two, man, they were so scared, but they went so.

So smooth and so great. I've got the videos of them. I should compare them at some point. But anyway, before those first two jumps I did, I had two beers before each jump, just because I guess like the liquid courage deal or something. And I was like, man, and they went so good. When I went to jump that 100 foot triple, I was like, no, I'm going to wait until after I make this jump to drink two beers. And, man, and I still tell myself, if I would have had them to, I would have probably, I might have overshunded.

shot that thing. Just because I would have been that little whatever liquid courage that would have went in my system might have gave me the, you know, the belief to like make it over that jump. But who knows? I might not have. But I think I would because I did. I let off right at the tip of the jump thinking I was going to overshoot it and it was such a far gap. But see, I just wonder like something I can't change. But if I would have drunk two beers, I wonder if I would have broke my leg that night that day because it was oh my god it was so the worst injury i've ever had what's the most scared you've been in a wrestling match definitely my first huge swanton bomb in t my first run in tna it was the one against abyss and rhino i think from the top of the

stage and it was over the stage yeah and and i even like there was one little area i don't think i told them that i was going to go up to it but i just noticed an area about three foot taller that I might could get up to to just make it more impressive. And I jumped over, I forget his name, the manager with the eyebrows. James. James Fender. The sinister minister. The sinister man.

Jim Mitchell. He was, no. James Mitchell, right? Yes, yeah. And I, man, cleared it and it was so, so scary because when I got to that peak, I looked back down at like the monitor area where people were watching. the show and I was like oh my god this this might be it Jeff this might be the end of your career let's go and and did it and then I think I even made it back to the ring to take a power driver off

the second rope from Rhino but that was this I think the scariest I've ever been because that one's not just high it's far like so you're you're jumping out as well yeah and there was no padding nothing either down there was just a just two it might have been two tables it might have just been one table. I can't remember, but luckily, man, it all worked out. And that's what I love about pro wrestling, because I do live for those moments when I'm, when I'm scared of something, but then it goes so good. I was okay, that's what I do. That's what I do. That's why it was so exciting to wear that retro hardy gear when we had the tables match with the system. And for it all to go so good, it's just all the possibilities in the future before my career is over. It's just, I'm super stoked

about it. Do you think about, what are you thinking about when you're in that moment about to jump? I'm about to do a swan tonne. Dear God, please, please allow me to get up from this. Be with me. Holy Spirit, great spirit, please be with me through this. And the energy from the people, too, I think, is a strange connection I've always had. Just because, man, there's really, I've never really acted that much, you know, in wrestling. It's always been me, you see out there, a guy that paints his face and, you know, goes out there

and just entertains people and don't talk that much. just growing up kind of, you know, shy and, you know, just to myself. And I just always love creation, creating things, just whatever my brain and heart, like, tells me to create. And, but yeah, it's just, I have such a good bond with the wrestling audiences for the most part. And naturally, I've heard that in a way throughout this time. And there's always going to be the disbelievers and the people that doubt me. And that's good. that's going to make it even better.

As long as I stay on the straight and error, I mean, you know, nothing will stop me. You said earlier that your swan tons are hitting better now. What were they hitting like for a while? It was the crouton bomb for the longest time. I was like killing. I just could not control it anymore. And I didn't know. It must have been I was just too anxious to get to that next bottle or something.

I don't know. It was out of control. But now, man, the poetry motion is back. Swantons haven't been croutons. So I'm in such a good place. man and my wife and daughters man without them i mean i would not be here they are my

they are my existence man for sure uh and my world you know in itself um so yeah yeah i'm glad i'm not cruton of people anymore but every now and then it's probably gonna happen i mean have they been the ones who have really helped the most with your recovery oh for sure man yeah just believing in me and not giving up on me that's and i've wrote a lot about that in music and i think what i'm trying i think something's happening in my brains where I'm starting to understand range and tone a little more.

Vocal lessons would really help. But man, I just, I love, like, and I say things differently, too, I've noticed, even when I was doing those journal entries and when I just write songs, okay, I say things a little differently, kind of like backwards sometimes, but this is good. This is who I am and what I do. But yeah, just them believing in me has been, oh, my God, everything. If she would have left me, I mean, it was, I would most, I would probably be dating. man, for sure, especially after my dad, she was such a hero in all that too. When I went in there

to help my dad, she did some crazy things to be there for my dad to get him through some tough times and situations that are very, just a lot of trauma throughout all that time leading up to my dad's death. Yeah, she is, oh my gosh, she is the love of my life. And I'm so grateful for her. And my daughters, before the WWE came out with the women's tag team championships, I was like, man, I have the hearty girls. They might be the first. tag team women tag team and they can be literally be the hearty girls this might be cool and then it was soon after that that thought uh that w v came out with the women's tag team championships i was like oh my god it must be meant to be they're going to be the hardy girls do they want to wrestle but they don't have

any interest in it whatsoever you're probably like thank god yeah and i'm like hey if y'all ever even my oldest daughter ruby like she's so creative and and just beautiful and grown up uh she's mentioned about like wanting to maybe get in a ring and try some stuff so if she ever like get serious about it. I mean, of course, I'll, you know, her and, you know, my, my youngest daughter would be the only people I'd probably ever train. I say that now, but just to give some secrets away to what's helped me along the way. But yeah, the way, the way everything now, it don't seem like the hearty girls are going to be a thing in the pro wrestling future. When you say your wife believed in you so much, was there a point when you didn't believe in yourself? Oh, yeah, I think

so for sure. And it was probably through that time with my dad, because as I mentioned earlier, you know, I was 10 when my mom passed away from cancer, and I think she was diagnosed like a year later is when she passed away. And me, Matt, and my dad were right there in the hospital room when she took her last breath. And I've always thought, I was, oh, my God, especially now having kids. I was like, there's going to be a time.

I was just so amazed at how he took care of us as a single parent and got us to where we needed to be to succeed in life, especially with this pro wrestling thing, because at first, he had no idea while I was working my ass off landscaping, saving up to buy a ladder. He had no idea. And then destroying it, what are you doing? Why are you doing? That's a perfectly good ladder. But ultimately, when we succeeded in wrestling, he started seeing the ladder matches.

I mean, he was our biggest fan, for sure. But when that time came, you know, for me to take care of him, I mean, I did my best, but, you know, he was just. He was ready to go, but he was to the, he'll be the legend hero for the rest of my existence here. And I see it now as my human creators being out in the stars, man. And we will, my soul will reunite with them when it's time. And I believe that. I believe we're out there in the stars when we pass away if we deserve an afterlife. So, you know, I'm very, I feel like I have a very enlightened soul.

And look, especially with this crazy world and social media now, like I try to use it a little. little bit, but I'm still kind of, like, afraid of it. I don't really understand it. Now, especially seeing Raw on Netflix, I'm like, oh, my, what is happening here? This looks so huge. And a friend of mine sent me a video package, and I was like, oh, my God, that night, the Netflix, the first role on Netflix, and I was like, oh, my God, this is powerful. The future is here. And that's what it looked like. I was like, oh, my God, this is the future. Like, where does it go from here? Is it difficult? Because your name's Jeff Hardy. You wrestle as Jeff Hardy. they're one and the same at the same time they're also different people right is it different

is it difficult because your life is on display as jeff hardy uh yeah i i don't know it's it's weird too because my my my my personal life kind of became my professional life back in 08-09 with the you know and that a lot of people you know they are that's messed up they're going there man but I mean, in a way, I think it helped me, but also, looking back at it now, I go, oh, my God, was that, was that the right thing to do? You know, because that is my personal life. And now here we are in my professional. It's super interesting. Like me and the storyline and the feudal of seeing punk was just so amazing.

And that kind of helped make it that way because we were complete opposites. But, yeah, it's just like there's really no difference in Jeff Hardy. That's why I'm excited, too. There's this ultra ego of mine, alter neuro of mine named Willow. And he appeared in TNA, my last run in TNA, and there's a new mask with a brand new faceplate. And, man, I haven't tried it on yet, but when I go pick it up and if it fits real good, I'm sure I'm going to get excited about possibilities with, you know, a way darker side of Jeff Hardy or way more just a spiritual, innovative character that Willow's,

never actually been in the past the the the original idea with willow is like nothing makes sense because he's not human he's just some alien and he's the god of my imagination that's kind of where it started um but for him to be like my dark passenger and kind of guide jeff hardy into this you know different zone in pro wrestling i think there might be something pretty powerful within that um idea so that's something we might see this year in tna i feel like it i feel like it for sure yeah so if i throw up a willow promo on social media or something and it's decent i mean it's that'll be the test i guess to see see the feedback and then you know go from there you delivered one of the hardest chair shots in the history of pro wrestling to broxler walk me through what that was like oh man i had been taking the

three power bombs so much like night after night and i just felt like it was my chance to oh get it in you know, and we were out there and Matt followed up with a chair shot, but the echo in that building that night was just crazy. And then Matt followed up and he just, you know, went out of the ring. And I was like the adrenaline was flowing, you know, because it was such a loud chair shot. He didn't go down. Yeah, he didn't go down.

He could see he is a beast of a man. But then I think after that, I found out through Paul Heyman that That was the first chair shot he had ever took to the head. And I was, oh, my God, I had no idea. But I know, I guess I'm sorry. He's going to expect them to all be like that. Oh, my God. Gee whiz.

Like you hit him like he owed you money or something. It was almost this half a second of silence doing the building. People were like, oh. It's like a time stop for a half a second there. It'd go through the bill and I go through the building. Oh, my God. That was extreme. You've had a lot of those moments where time has stopped, it's gotten silent because people are like, is Jeff okay?

You've probably had a few dozen of those moments. Yeah, for sure. And I still, even I think me being older now, I'm 47 years in. And even I've always took pride in selling, you know, and I've always said, you know, I shine when I say, oh man, just getting to the heat quick, you know, I'm that kind of guy. And then I'll make a killer comeback. And it's work for me, man. And it's how to exaggerate reality just right. And that's another thing I'm really excited about with the rascals.

You know, I've been watching some of these matches that they've had and all these combos they do and just trying to envision some counters. And it's going to be super interesting genesis. And I feel like it's going to be the genesis of a new Hardy vibe as well. There's a little bit of Hardee's in what they do, I feel like. Maybe it's all like a new generation of Hardee's. So you put you guys in there. with the rascals, that's going to be good.

Yeah, for sure, it's exciting, man. So, yeah, I look forward to Genesis being the first big main match of 2025. And oh, my God, by the time January, 26 rolls around, who knows, like, where TNA is going to be at, how good the shows are going to be, how much it's evolved and grown, and what are Matt and Jeff Hardy like, you know, as pro wrestlers, you know, we manifest all the time. And that's one thing in recovery. This go around, I really, I really studied meditation

and really took time to learn about meditation, just out of fear of having to, like, do, you know, a long stint in prison. And so I just, I really, now I finally understand what meditation is, like just giving your brain a break. And when you can do that now, I'm able to do it, like, so kind of flawlessly And being out in nature, it helps a lot. But just, man, I can, 30 minutes can feel like two minutes, man. When I get in that zone of actually giving my mind a break from all the daily stressors and worries that all of us human beings have.

But meditation is huge. And along with meditation, I kind of manifest as well, I think about my wrestling future and what I would like to achieve and visualize. And I see it exactly like it's going to happen. And it's been so far, so good. Well, like, things I've seen, and they end up, like, coming into reality. And they're just, just like I saw them before. What does it look like right now? Do you think about how much longer you can do this?

Not at all. No. I just said a joke a few weeks ago at this show we did. And my humor's different, too. Even at my music shows, I'm like, I know a lot of people don't get my humor. And it can be, I guess it can be dark at times. But I just said that, oh, I can. you know, by the time I'm 50, I might, you know, go back to the E and, you know,

retire CM Punk and then maybe go in the Hall of Fame. But there was things like it was, like, that was seriously what I'm manifesting, which is not the case at all. I just said that thinking I was being funny. And I think that was right after I painted my face so uncomfortably in front of all those people. But everybody took that as gospel. Yeah. And Harvey says he's going to retire CM Punk.

Yeah. And that becomes like a real, no, but that's, I didn't mean that at all. I just thought it might be funny. But it could happen. And yeah, and the reality is, it could happen, man. Because our feud, man, still, I get so many compliments on that, man, with people that are adults now. You know, so, man, that's you and Punk, the feud was amazing. So even in AW, I felt like there was a moment for me in Punk, like at least just some kind of face off or uncomfortable,

like us running in each other in the backstage or something, but we never got to do that. But, man, ultimately, I would love to revisit that feud in some way. And who knows, man, if CM Punk is such a superpower in the pro wrestling game. But, man, if Jeff Hardy getting sober made him like an asshole, I mean, come on. Heel Jeff Hardy against the one and only popular CM Punk. I mean, I feel like that's completely possible. Well, there's a working relationship with TNA and WWE. it seems completely plausible that the Hardy Boys would be in WWE at some point this year.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And, man, there's never been a real heel hardy run, and I was so excited about that in AEW, but I know I own what I've done. And it was my thought. I really let Matt down with the whole AEW thing. I think even AEW, man, before I broke my nose wrestling Sammy Gavar, man, I was, I had my thinking was like,

like, man, we're not being used. What if I can be like a hill on social media and sent out some tweets? And it evidently wasn't professional. But again, it's not like I was being serious. I just said something like, you know, collision was designed for punks. And that just – but I ended up getting three matches out of that with Swerve Strickland, John Moxley, and then Sammy. And in that match, in all those matches, I had that feeling, that passion.

I could feel it again within myself. I was, oh, my God, I love this. I got a lot more left in the tank. And I experienced that, but then naturally, injury happens, and my nose was broken, naturally, that was going to take a while to heal. And things just worked out the way they worked out. And I'm so glad to be back in TNA and super excited, man,

because TNA has been there for me in dark times, man. When I left the pro wrestling world in 2009 and got in my situation, And, man, TNA employed me and they supported me. And oh, my God, like I said earlier, 2012 was one of the best years of my career. I was from sobriety. I was doing really good. And I just eventually eased into that drinking alcohol again. It took a while, but it just slowly, it slowly caught up to me and got me.

Was 2012 such a great year because 2011 was not? Probably, yeah. It took the little, as everybody knows, the thing with Sting, my hero. you know that oh my god the embarrassment from that i was really able to to go home and and get straight before my conviction from the the arrest in in 2009 and uh god just coming back from that it was it was such a good feeling to to know that i i still could offer tna a lot you know and i was i still had a lot left to prove but yeah that's definitely why because 2011 was yeah all that was stressful leading up to that conviction. So I needed to go home for a while. And yeah, my daughter

had just been born too. So it was, yeah, yeah, that's definitely what made it such a good year because 2011 was still kind of dark. Do you remember anything from Victory Road? I remember going out there and I remember, I remember just sting roughing me up and like throwing me to the mat. So I remember, and naturally we say like he shot on me, but Eric Bishop told him to pin me because I was a zombie. it was obvious when you watch the tape face pain and i was kind of in my a throughout that whole evening me and sting had talked about this one killer spot i was going to do it was something uh like the twist of hate with the head and the chair but i was going to take his finish the reverse thing in a chair and i was i was scared of that because i was oh my god i'm going to i'm going to break my neck

i don't know if i should do this and and uh but but anyway and yeah i remember like sobering up after that and Jeff Jared and even Hogan, man, and just knowing I had to go home and get straight and they gave me another chance man. When I did go back, I did this song called Resurrection and Bruce Richard

was there, I believe, and he made me go in the locker room and apologize to everybody and I don't think I've ever been that nervous in my life. I was so nervous in front of all these these professional wrestlers that I admire and love so much, but I had to go in there and just, you know, admit

say I'm sorry for what I did on paper view. But that was good for me. It helped me heal. And, yeah, and so I just moved on from there and had a really good 2012. But, yeah, such a dark time with Sting. And Sting, every time I've seen Sting since, I mean, he's just such a good, good dude and such a support. And, yeah, so I've just had a lot of dark times from the alcohol. and the drug addiction stuff.

It feels good to be on the other side of that. You're an amazing redemption story. Because when you think about your lows were really low, but your highs have been really high as well. Yeah, for sure. And that's what's so exciting about, I think life right now when I do get up in the mornings. I'm a big ice bather now.

I've been doing for about two years. I was about a year sober. When I did my first ice bath, and I stayed in for about two or three minutes, and went under and just held my breath for as long as I could, came out of the cold water and stood up and I was, whoa, wow, there was something about this, my head. I was like, whoa, this is, okay.

I might start doing this on a regular basis, and now I don't do them every day. I do them every other day for sure, but oh my God, and I still, I haven't got used to it at all after two years. I still hesitate sometimes to get in that cold, water, especially even the other day at home. It was raining outside, and I've been doing it into my pool because my pool was crazy freezing now. And I said, I'll go out there in the rain and the cold water. It'll be good spiritually out there nature and all that stuff. And it took me forever

to go out there. I just went in there out there and dove in, did a little swimming, and it was so uncomfortable. And then just kind of meditated for, you know, three or four minutes and got out, and I felt so much better. I was ready to conquer the day. So yeah, I'm a huge believer in ice bath. Yeah, after a cold plunge, you feel like you could fight a bear. Like, it's just a, that dopamine hit is crazy. Yeah, for sure. And even, man, when you and Matt talked about the kangaroos, I was the first one, and it was so surreal.

I had to do it first, and I locked up with. You fought a kangaroo. Smoking Joe. And he was jacked, man. And I was, and he locked up really good. It was like a legit lockup. And I'm sitting here looking this kangaroo in the eye. And I'm, oh, my God.

what are we doing? Then he, then he started kicking me to the knee. He started kicking my knee. And we were still locked up and it was, his head was so still and zoned in on me. Oh, my God, that was so. It's not fun for him, right? Yeah, he probably, he has a serious business for him. It's like, what are these humans doing to me? But just the footage from that. And one of my funniest moments of the broken universe, without a doubt was when Matt went around with Smoking Joe, if you still see it, you can see it, Mao's in that gold kind of,

Egyptian get up and he said, he said, punish me, punish me, Joe, punish me. He said, punish me and I fell out. Oh, my God. Jeremy Barash was such a genius with the way he saw everything. And God, and there was even a point eventually to where I was going to be more like broken mat and some footage is probably somewhere that never aired. But it was, I think I was, this song called Redemption, I just started writing. And I was singing redemption to a donkey, I think.

Like right in his face. And I was sitting here at the dog with the doggy. After all this stuff, and I was going, the UNO now surrenders me. And we're eye to eye. And I'm not sure what the outro was like on that. But yeah, I was singing to a doggy, but that never aired. Well, you need to put that out somewhere.

If it's still, oh, definitely. Because it felt, it felt super insanely good. It's great seeing you back in TNA. because like you said, TNA has been willing to give you opportunity after opportunity. And now I feel like you're able to give back to TNA when you're in a headspace where you're really able to do it. For sure, yeah. And that's why I'm so grateful for TNA. And I think everything did work out exactly how it was supposed to with me being able to go back.

And there was even one moment when I found out Matt went back to TNA and I watched the footage. And I was like, oh, God, maybe I maybe this, maybe I need to, you know, stay with AW to continue to prove to prove myself with, then really have some of these killer matches. Some of these guys are on a different level with these matches they're having. But then I was like, wait, I had such a good run in TNA last time. And the merchandise they came out was so cool. I started doing the eyelid paint and everything was so good the last time in TNA. There were so many innovative bumps I did throughout that run.

And I said, no, this is exactly the way it's supposed to be. So naturally, I called Matt and agreed to show up. But yet, this time, I'm glad I didn't try to run and do the juke at the same time. That's one of the, I can't believe, I still do this day. Why would I try to juke and run, save him my brother, my first time in AEW? It was so bizarre. And I've even practiced it since to see if it's possible. I don't think it's not smoothly possible at all.

Well, people were like, does he really want to save him or does he want to dance? Yeah, yeah. Oh, my God. So that was crazy. So, yeah, when I returned to T&A, it was kind of stoned cold time, just out with it. Because a new thing, I painted a chair, me and my daughter, painted a chair when I came back to AW. And to see that chair in an action figure now, it's just kind of immortalizing. It's just, oh, my God, it's so rewarding.

Because the hairs on that little, the little man on the chair, my daughter, Nera, said, can you paint some hairs on his chest? I took my time with that one. So it's really like good looking. But to see that in action figure, man, that was so cool. So I painted a chair that day when I returned. So that was my thing. And I just came out with the chair and just cool, calm, cool, and collective. And here I am.

Total nonstop action. I was back. Before we wrap this up, Devon recently told a story of WrestleMania 18. You guys are both up there hanging on. He's terrified of heights. Take me to that moment where you're both hanging up there before the spear off the ladder. Man, that was even in that first tag team ladder match. I think I had that in my mind if a human being could hang up there on that thing.

I'd been seeing that for a long time if that was even possible. So that was the night. We got to actually to do it and two people to be up there. Or I think maybe the spear was the first thing, wasn't it? Yeah, I guess there were different spots. Yeah, the spear was the first time I was hanging up there. But anyway, with Devon, we're like two humans were holding on to the thing up there. He took such an impressive bump.

I just saw that recently. Yeah, it was pretty clean. How he got so flat and went down. I was, I was kicking the hell out of him. I think we're in North Carolina, too, and that might be why I was so excited. But I think it just artistically looks so cool when he does take the bump, and I'm just kind of spinning there, and then, you know, Edging Christian hit me with the ladder. But he had props to Devon on taking a killer bump.

But what a moment for me, and he was, no, no, no, stop it. I'm not ready. Those moments. If you ever loved me. Yeah. And I was like, oh, kind of upper body jacked and, you know, hanging on up there like real strong and kicking him. But yeah, watching back, that was, wow, that was a breakthrough moment for TLC matches.

That was a memory for the books. Talking about that other moment, did you think that he was even possible to land a clean bump off of that spear from the ladder? Oh, for sure, 100%. I knew it was going to be scary. The scariest thing was, like, over-rotating and land on. on my head, I think. But the way all that worked out, Bub, but pulling that ladder back.

And then that gave me the little momentum into Edge. And Edge really, like, took care of me. He really grabbed on. And it was just so impressive, man. It's so cool to hear, like, Rick Flaher. He'll say, oh, my God, that spot was so amazing. And it has been immortalized and professional wrestling. You see it replayed all the time.

Even watching Netflix, the first row on Netflix, oh, that bun's got to be in there. But I don't think the spirit was in there, but there was a, I think when I swaned on Spike Dudley and Rhino was in there. And I was like, oh, I'm a little microscopic piece of this show. So that was pretty cool to see. You might be more than a, you know, you might be a bigger piece of that show at some point in time. For sure. Man, and speaking about recovery, man, I don't know if you, I'm sure you realize this, but in your phones, you know, we're always deleting pictures.

And, you know, but then when you delete something that, you know, shouldn't have been deleted, you can go back and review it before it's deleted if 30 days passes by or something. And it says recover, you know, you can recover. So I've had this in my brain for a while. And I've even wrote out some ideas for a match. But it's kind of like a spinoff from the final deletion. But it would kind of be like switching roles to where it kind of be my deal. And it would be called the final recovery. So who knows, man, the possibilities are so exciting.

And I'm going to keep writing ideas out and keep seeing these images in my head. And that's what I love about the craft of pro wrestling, because when you can see something, you can manifest and you really manifest and bring it into a show in front of thousands, millions of people. I mean, that's just so rewarding. And I was definitely born to be a professional wrestler. And I know that now more than ever. I know that gratitude is a big part of your life. It's a huge part of my life as well. And that's what we're going to wrap this up on. By the way, thank you for everything.

Yeah, thank you, man. Great to be able to sit down with you 14 years later. 14 years since our first interview together. Yeah, was that in Detroit? It was in Cleveland. It was in Cleveland. In what, like, looked like a boiler room, like back alley looking thing. There was like a cave, or not a cave, but a fence that looked like a cage. Oh, yeah, I remember that. And I do remember the Ring of Honor after seeing that clip. I kind of remember that i was kind of in brother nero had space with that but what are three things in your life you're grateful for as we sit here right now jaff oh god three things i'm i'm grateful for uh man it's just i mean health is naturally one but it's got to be my my family i mean uh my wife my my daughters

i mean those three human beings are three things that i need to to you know survive and and live on and um yeah so i'm so so So thankful for my family, for sure. I couldn't do none of this without them. If they had it gave up on me, I would for sure gave up on myself. I love that. Well, so good to see you. You too, man.

Appreciate you, man. Yeah, I'm grateful for Earth, too. Like, Earth is kind of God, in a sense, when I think about life and the sun and the moon, I'm like, okay, Earth is definitely a sphere because the sun and the moon appear to be a sphere. And that's, I mean, it's got to be a sphere. All these flat Earthers. Anyway, Earth, I'm just very grateful to be on this planet at 47 years old. Yeah, I love that.

What a great way to end. Oh, thank you, man. Big thank you to Jeff for sitting down with us and for just being so open and honest during this conversation. And as always, thank you for listening and listening all the way until the end. Jeff actually left a comment on the video that we were previewing. Like, this video is coming up. This interview is coming up. He left a comment on there, and he said, oh, man, I wish that I have.

had given you these three things as the three things I was grateful for. So he says, my family, pro wrestling, and dogs. Hard to argue with those three. I know that we love our little pupper, Luna, it's just the cutest little thing, but my family pro wrestling and dogs. I think those are three very solid answers. TNA Genesis, this Sunday, January 19th in Dallas, the Hardy's defending their TNA World Tag Team Championships against the rascals. Grab your tickets at TNAwrestling.com. This was a conversation that was a long, long time in the making. Like I said in the intro, 14 years since we did that first one.

And I'm so glad we were able to bring it back around here. And I feel like we got a lot more to talk about. So round three at some point, hopefully soon. Hopefully not in, what would that be? Hopefully not in 2039. Wow, that would be 14 years from now. crazy. Snap a screenshot and tag us and let us know that you're listening. He's at Jeff Hardy Brand. I'm at Chris Van Vleet and I will leave you with this quote from Heraclitus.

Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become. Be great and be grateful, my friends. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. We got Matt Hardy joining us on Thursday. We'll see you back here for that one. Ali podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley?

How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987, Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Alley.

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