5 backstage stories about Jeff Hardy you wouldn’t believe

#1. Jeff Hardy competed in a match against Sting completely intoxicated

Jeff Hardy has battled his demons during his lengthy careers in WWE and TNA (IMPACT Wrestling). He was sent to rehab several times by the two companies for showing up to work intoxicated or getting in trouble with the authorities.

In 2011, Jeff Hardy suffered one of the most embarrassing nights of his career. At IMPACT Wrestling’s Victory Road pay-per-view, Jeff was booked to face Sting in the main event for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

Unfortunately, Jeff Hardy came to work completely intoxicated and reached the gorilla position. Eric Bishoff had to take matters into his own hands after he saw that Jeff was in no position to work.

With no other option, he had to go out to the middle and inform Sting about the situation, telling him to finish the match quickly:

"There was no captain of the ship in gorilla. The match would have been the s—-, and I didn’t want Sting to be in that position. Sting didn’t know. He had no idea that Jeff was gonna show up f—– up. I’m looking for a decision, looking for somebody to come up with an idea. What do we do? Clock’s ticking. We don’t have a lot of time, folks. Can’t call a meeting. Somebody’s gotta call the ball. Who’s gonna call it? Crickets. F— it. I literally walked through the curtain not knowing what I was gonna do." (h/t WrestleZone)

Sting finished off Jeff Hardy in less than a minute and a half with the Scorpion Death Drop. The match was not just embarrassing for Jeff, but also the company. He was removed from all active storylines and sent to rehab following his actions.