Jim Ross reveals he was "mildly" surprised after finding out that Jeff Hardy was arrested for drug trafficking back in 2009.
The WWE superstar, who was recently apprehended for being intoxicated in public, has had a few brushes with the law stemming from substance abuse likely related to his close relationship with injuries.
In 2009, he took some time out to deal with some niggling problems and was also in line for a possible MTV show. However, on September 11 of that year, police carried out a search of his residence and found 262 Vicodin prescription pills, 180 Soma prescription pills, 555 milliliters of anabolic steroids, a residual amount of powder cocaine, and various drug paraphernalia.
He was handed a 10-day prison sentence and paid a $300,000 fine following a guilty plea.
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Ross claims he had no idea Hardy was that deeply involved in drugs so he was a bit surprised after hearing he had been arrested.
“Yeah, mildly, that it was to that extreme. Didn’t know he was that deep into it, quite honestly," he said on his Grilling JR podcast (h/t 411Mania). "You know, there were a lot of friendly doctors on the road, which was never a good thing all the way back to Dr. Zahorian in the days there where he was allegedly providing drugs to talents, and steroids or growth hormone or whatever the hell they wanted.
"But these guys on the road, it’s the same old deal. They’re gonna come back and tell you, ‘Hey, we’re on the road all the time, we work hurt.’ In the old days, if you didn’t work you didn’t get paid. That’s not the case [with] these guys. You’ve got a contract now. And if you get injured, you’re gonna get paid.”
JR added that he was keen on sending Hardy to rehab at the time but the wrestler was to proud to go.
"I wanted to send him to rehab," he explained. "He was too proud, in his own words, to go to rehab. ‘I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.’ So the denial was very very strong, he should have gotten rehab, and I think that fact has been proven here lately. He still has some issues he has to deal with.”
Hardy has been one of the most exciting wrestlers to watch over the years but his activities outside of the ring sometimes warrant concern. To be fair, he's come a long way, having overcome his addiction, but he's not done with the booze as yet apparently.
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