One of the most controversial segments in WWE in quite some time came during last week’s SmackDown. The show opened with Elias out on the ground near a wrecked car. Eventually, it was revealed that it was rented to Jeff Hardy, who was found later reeking of alcohol.
While it looks like the storyline is heading into the “Jeff Hardy was framed” direction, it still sparked outrage throughout the WWE Universe. Some fans, critics, and wrestlers alike were not happy about it, including Jeff’s brother Matt Hardy. This was his tweet immediately after the segment aired.
Just to reiterate..
I’m happy to be working at @AEWrestling for @TonyKhan on Wednesdays.
— The #MULTIFARIOUS Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) May 30, 2020
CM Punk also weighed in on it during WWE Backstage last night. During the show, Punk said:
“I’m speaking from experience here, because obviously I worked extensively with Jeff. He, at that point, was not in a great spot in his life, both mentally and physically. We all know about Jeff’s past and his problems. My thing with this segment and this story is that I believe somebody’s sobriety is very important and very fragile. We discussed whether they should or shouldn’t do this with Jeff, we talked about how maybe Jeff was okay with it.
Maybe it’s his idea and he green lit it. To me, it’s the responsibility of the writers, promoter, whoever, to get in front of that and say, ‘No, we’re not doing that to Jeff again. We don’t need him to be in this position again.’ I think cleaning your life up and being sober is something to be proud of and we can champion that in different ways.
I think this is the wrong way to go about it, you just don’t put him in front of that moving car.”
It’s been a pretty divisive subject in the world of professional wrestling. Would it be better if Hardy was framed? We’ll have to see how this all plays out in the coming weeks.
