Jeff Hardy WWE News/Rumor Round-up- Release, Team Xtreme Reunion, Rehab Refusal 

This week's WWE news has been dominated by Jeff Hardy. The former WWE Champion didn't appear on this week's episode of SmackDown after he was reportedly released by the company earlier in the week.

Hardy's week didn't get off to a great start when it was reported that he was sent home from WWE's recent tour after looking sluggish during a tag team match.

Hardy has had a fair share of issues over the years, but the former World Champion has also reportedly refused rehab, which is why the company was forced to release the popular star.

The following article looks at all of the recent news stories and rumors surrounding Jeff Hardy over the past week and wraps up everything related to the now-former WWE Superstar.

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#5. Jeff Hardy appeared to be sluggish at recent WWE event

Jeff Hardy was part of WWE's recent tour which saw him perform in a six-man tag team match alongside Drew McIntyre and Xavier Woods as they took on The Bloodline.

The former WWE Champion was tagged into the match and appeared to be moving sluggishly before falling to the mat and not getting back up until he was tagged out. After being tagged out of the match, Hardy left the arena through the crowd and was later sent home from the tour.

For the remaining matches, Hardy was replaced by Rey Mysterio after being sent home on December 4th.

A recent update on this story from WrestlingNews.co appears to have a very different story since a source noted that Hardy wasn't moving any differently.

"I saw him before that match and there was nothing out of the usual going on with him. Jeff deals with back and knee issues but I don’t think he drank anything or took any pills before that show. As far as I know, he’s been doing great since the DUI arrest from a couple years back. I know people are wondering why he would be allowed to go out there if he was f*cked up but he looked fine before the match.”

It's unclear if Hardy was actually impaired as part of the tag team match, but the former star was definitely sent home by the company following the show.

#4. Jeff Hardy was released by WWE earlier this week

News broke on Thursday night that WWE had come to terms with the release of Jeff Hardy.

Both WWE and Jeff Hardy are yet to comment on the rumors publicly, but the news was broken by Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp.

Past and present WWE Superstars have since shared their stories in tribute to Jeff Hardy following the news, which has since led to many other stories about the former star coming to light.

Jeff Hardy's wife Beth even took to Twitter to make it clear that Hardy was fine following his release, as there was a lot of concern about his welfare following the news.

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#3. Jeff Hardy was released from WWE because he refused to attend rehab

Jeff Hardy has been to rehab in the past and admitted that he has had some issues with addiction. The former WWE Superstar was arrested back in 2019 for a DUI, his second in less than a year.

It was reported that following this arrest, Hardy had been working hard to get his life back on track until this recent relapse.

According to several sources, the reason for Hardy's release was because the company offered him rehab and he refused.

WWE has a duty of care to its performers and given that there is also a Wellness Policy in place, Hardy would have left the company with no option.

#2. Jeff Hardy still has a non-compete clause in place following WWE release

Jeff Hardy is yet another name on the list of almost 100 superstars who have been released by WWE in 2021. Like every other star who has been released in recent years, Hardy has also been handed a 90-day non-compete clause.

The former WWE Champion will be a free agent after March 9th, 2022. It was also reported by Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast that the last few weeks have been pretty rough for Hardy.

“What I was told is that he’s been really good. He does occasionally drink but the last couple of weeks has been rough for him. Those are the words, more or less. I hope he gets better.”

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#1. Matt Hardy appears to be teasing a Team Xtreme reunion in AEW

Jeff Hardy will be a free agent in three months' time, which means that he could go and join his brother in AEW if that is what he wants to do.

Whilst it was reported by The Wrestling Observer that WWE were worried that Hardy would head over to AEW, he did leave them with very little choice when he declined rehab.

His brother Matt already appears to be looking past his non-compete clause, after the former star tweeted the above message during this week's episode of SmackDown, which appears to be teasing a Team Xtreme reunion.