Professional wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff who was the former Boss of WCW recently talked about the release of the former three times WWE World Champion Jeff Hardy. Jeff who was having a better time on Friday night Smackdown was shockingly released recently by WWE.
2021 has been an odd year for WWE. They have already released over 70 wrestlers. The promotion never made a mass release like this ever before. In spite of being the biggest promotion in the world of professional wrestling, they have been terribly struck by the horrifying covid-19 pandemic.
Eric Bischoff Discusses The Release Of Jeff Hardy
Due to this pandemic WWE was forced to make a huge budget cut. But even after the fans are back on live events, WWE is still keep on releasing their stars. Some of the biggest names of the promotion including some former World Champions have been released as well. It is really a very difficult time for the promotion.
Now let us talk about the Charismatic Enigma Jeff Hardy. Jeff’s brother Matt Hardy was already let go by the WWE last year. Jeff was having a really tough time on Monday Night RAW since then. Fans kept on asking why Jeff is receiving such terrible bookings.
He was constantly being forced to job to almost every single wrestler he faced. In spite of being a former three times World Champion, such bookings were not acceptable for him. He was even jobbing to the WWE Main Event which was the C show of the promotion.
But during the draft lottery of 2021 he was given a chance to Shine on Friday night Smackdown as he was drafted to the blue brand of WWE. He was having a better time on the blue brand. He might not have been booked as a main event star but he was having a better time of course.
He even represented SmackDown at Survivor Series and he was the last survivor of the blue brand. Everyone was expecting at least a mid card push for the Charismatic Enigma but to surprise everyone WWE released him recently. So what was the point of all those push he received on Smackdown?
Eric Bischoff who was the former Boss of WCW recently spoke on his 83 Weeks podcast where he talked about the release of the former three times WWE World Champion Jeff Hardy. He said;
“Here’s what I hope. I hope that Jeff if he needs help, if he has an issue, and we don’t know, we’re assuming, it’s easy to assume based on Jeff’s history. By the way, I looked at the video footage from the match where Jeff walked out because I was curious. I hope Jeff gets whatever help he needs. I hope he gets out of wrestling. I don’t want to see him go to AEW. I don’t want to see him go back to WWE.
“I would hope for Jeff’s sake that Jeff doesn’t want to go back to WWE or go to AEW. There’s a time when in order to heal, in order to get healthy, and I don’t want to sound like Tony Robbins, but he’s only 40 something years old. He’s young.
He still has a whole lifetime in front of him. There’s a point when you’re struggling, you’re having these kinds of situations you find yourself in over time, and you’ve been struggling with the same issue over and over. Yea, you have 6 months or a year where things are under control and then you fall back into it again.
“You have to ask yourself, ‘Is it time to change my world? Is it time to change my environment? Is it time to change what I do for a living? Is it time to change where I put my priorities?’, because if putting your priorities and being involved in this industry is at least not helping your situation and possibly making it more difficult, it’s time to walk away.
“He’s still young. He’s probably made a ton of money. I’m sure he’s made a ton of money. I’m assuming he’s probably saved a good deal of it. I hope he has. Man, there’s a time to walk away and put your health and your family first. There is no kind of rush like being out there in front of a live crowd, especially for the big shows, PPVs, SmackDowns, and RAWs.
“That energy, vibe, and adrenaline, all of it combined, that is a rush that you can’t get anywhere else. It’s addictive in its own way. If that addiction to that rush keeps Jeff in an environment and in a business that is not healthy for him, then it’s time to walk away and prioritize your family and your own health. I’m sure Jeff is capable of doing a lot of other things outside of the ring that he can contribute to the wrestling business.
“If he can find a healthy balance that way, God bless him. I’m fully supportive of that, but I hope he gets out of the business because clearly the business is not clear of him, in my opinion. I don’t know. There’s a lot that I don’t know, but from the outside looking in, I would say it’s a safe bet that this business and all of the things that come with it, is not healthy for someone that has, what appears to be, the challenges that Jeff has. It’s time to walk away bro.”
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription