Jeff Hardy recently spoke with Main Event Radio, here are the
highlights…
What have been your favorite memories working for
TNA Impact Wrestling?: For sure it was
coming back after Victory Road 2011. 2012 was the best year of my pro wrestling
career. Being clean and straight up. Looking great, loving life. 2012 was huge
with me, every match. Winning the World title in a killer match-up against
Austin Aries. The #1 year for me.
Victory Road 2011. I would assume that that had to be
the worst night of your career.: I was
too f***ed up to even try to get through the match. You see yourself on video,
not knowing how bad you were. It’s embarrassing; it’s terrifying watching
yourself. Me seeing myself in that shape devastated me. A huge let-down for the
fans. Everything that was bad in me pretty much died that night. Thank G-d they
didn’t fire me that night. After Victory Road, that was a huge eye opener. I had
a huge decision…I had the chance to do a 120-day outpatient rehab. It was good
for me. It saved me.
When you
came back later that year, how did it feel to be forgiven and embraced by the
fans?: When I returned I had to go and
apologize to everyone in the locker room. I could barely talk, it was horrible.
I went in there and went through it, begged for forgiveness. I begged everyone
for one last chance. I came out of that whole situation better than
ever.
Recently you were
portraying the character of Willow, which we know you’ve done in the past – What
brought Willow back in TNA?: We through
it around maybe my 2nd or 3rd year. But my hair was cut short and I had to grow
it longer for the character to work. One of my best friends, Shannon Moore, his
wife made me this awesome mask for it. But it just wasn’t the right time for it.
Me and Jeff Jarrett actually talked about it. Some time went on and then I had
some time off in January and February this year. Then they called me and I tried
to get it ready really quick. Try to develop my approach to the character.
Debuted at Lockdown, lasted awhile, and was pretty cool as far as I’m concerned.
It will be around, basically as a part of Jeff Hardy’s imagination.
Reuniting with your brother Matt, the Hardy
Boyz.: It was great. Matt’s been doing
his own thing on the indies and Ring of Honor. I’ve been doing my thing in TNA.
He went through his own dark period too. Now both of us are on the other side of
that.
If you could go back in
time and talk to a younger version of yourself, what would you say?: Don’t f*** up man. You know better. Don’t let a
substance control you. There’s a long road to recovery and it’s crazy how long
it took me to get it. I basically say get it now before it’s too late.
Thankfully it never became too late; I never died. But I let the substances
control me.
TNA TV Deal
thoughts: I hope in 2 years you’re
still watching me on Spike every Thursday night. I love being on Spike. I hope
they work something out in their negotiations. They use me for my talents and I
show up and do the best that I can. It’s not up to me to make that decision, out
of my control and I just hope for the best. Ultimately, I would love to remain
on Spike.
You current goals, as a
singles competitor and as a tag team?:
I’m not sure if Matt wants a long-term deal or not. As long as he is around we
will team. We’ve both got great solo careers also. To win the world title again
would be great but I just want to do the best I can. I want to make Jeff Hardy
and Willow work in the “3 faces of Foley” character kind of way. In a way that
the fans get a glimpse into my mind. When I’m getting ready for a match, the
fans see me in as a dark room as Willow seeing what he is telling me in my mind
and the fans get to see it and get pumped up. I want to make that work as the
Charismatic Enigma
