The Dark Side of the Rasslin' Biz

[filkertom]

Jeff Hardy, one of the most exciting and most troubled wrestlers in WWE history, has been arrested on drug trafficking charges.

No one's got anywhere near the whole story yet, but it doesn't look good. Jeff's had conflicts with WWE's Wellness Program before, which is a nice way of saying he has a history of trouble with drugs. At this moment, he's not under contract, which is very interesting timing -- he was, literally, in an amazingly good Loser Leaves WWE cage match with C. M. Punk just two weeks ago. (Punk won.)

Thoughts?

Comments

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Was he a face or a heel? Actually it doesn't matter. Without the heels there can be no faces. It sounds like the job of playing the part of a heel has infected his real life. That's too bad.

(For those who don't know the terms, face is a "good guy" wrestler and heel is a "bad guy" wrestler.)

[wwetuesday.livejournal.com]

Jeff was a face in his last match, and was recently the World Champion, losing it to Punk.

Their storyline was very interesting. Jeff's history of drug problems was brought up. Punk is well-known in he wrestling biz as being "Straight-Edge". Using no drugs and no alcohol, and he was the heel.

[cathain.livejournal.com]

Something confuses me. Unless they are referring to the "residual cocaine" mentioned in the article, none of the drugs mentioned are Schedule III drugs. Vicodin (also called Lortab, generic name hydrocodone/APAP) is a Schedule IV mild narcotic pain reliever. Soma (carisprodol) is a commonly used muscle relaxant that, although powerful and requires a doctor's perscription, is not a Scheduled narcotic. Although not usually found in such large quantities, neither of these drugs are out of line for a pro-wrestler with multiple career injuries and resultant chronic pain.
So, this guy was arrested for possession of something that, as far as I can tell, wasn't mentioned in the article.
Run with it, Tom.

[voiceofkiki.livejournal.com]

Sad. I always liked Jeff (and Matt as well). I hate that the nature of the business seems to trend towards hardcore drug abuse. Shame.

[guruwench.livejournal.com]

That's a real shame. I always liked the Hardys too, and Jeff has definitely had his share of problems and then some.

[enegim.livejournal.com]

I know nothing at all about the wrestling biz. But it was very strange to read this posting on the same day as one on a folkie list--which was headed "RIP Jeff Hardy" and was about the brother of singer/songwriter Jack Hardy, who (Jeff, not Jack) died at work in the World Trade Center eight years ago.

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

If you don't know about wrestling, there is an excellent documentary out there called Beyond the Mat. Here's the IMDB link:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218043/

It's remarkably sympathetic to wrestling; the filmmaker is a fan. However, he points out the money and greed of wrestling, as embodied by Vince McMahon's career, and shows how wrestlers are destroyed physically and mentally by their profession.

I am NOT a fan, having seen one live match in my life, two hours that might have been better utilized by clipping my toenails. But the movie itself is a compelling study of the sport.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Thoughts? I'll tell ya my thoughts...

We now have TWO incredible professional wrestling talents who have been unjustly persecuted thanks to this cockamamie assault on privacy and minorities we have the audacity to call "The War On Drugs"!

First Rob Van Dam, now Jeff Hardy!

FUCK the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, FUCK the Reagans and FUCK Vince McMahon!

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

Honestly I wish I could say I was surprised at this. Unfortunately there have been a lot of wrestlers who've died recently and more than a few of them have been drug related. Personally I think there needs to be some reforms in the industry, but that's needed to happen for a long time and I don't see it happening anytime soon.