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Eric Bischoff was heavily involved in working with WWE last year when he was the Executive Director of SmackDown. While things did not work out for him in the company, Bischoff was there when the news came that Jeff Hardy was arrested once again for addiction-related issues.
Eric Bischoff was recently on his 83 Weeks Podcast (h/t Wrestling Inc), where he talked about his time working in WWE, and what the backstage reaction was when they found out that Jeff Hardy had been arrested for addiction-related issues in 2019.
Readers can also check out what Eric Bischoff had to say in Sportskeeda's interview here.
Eric Bischoff on Jeff Hardy's addiction issues in WWE
Eric Bischoff talked about the backstage reaction to when the WWE officials found out that Jeff Hardy had been arrested. He revealed that no one was surprised, but they were sad. He said that it had been obvious the few times that he had worked with Jeff Hardy that he might have been using.
"I wasn't critical. I wasn't even angry because I wasn't surprised by it. Jeff has gone through this so many times. It was obvious to me the few times I had crossed paths with Jeff that he was probably still using. Sometimes you can tell by the things you see or hear on social media that were a little off. I wasn't surprised."
"If you're not prepared to deal with that type of thing without losing your s--t, then you probably shouldn't be in that business. Probably spent more time and energy fixing things that weren't able to happen because plans change. You spend a lot of time creatively making chicken salad out of chicken s--t. There was a general sense of disappointment. I didn't sense anger from anyone else; it was just, 'oh god, here we go again.'"
Eric Bischoff went on to talk about Jeff Hardy's return to WWE and how he faced Sheamus in a storyline that was related to his addiction. Bischoff said that Jeff Hardy most probably had made the decision and it allowed him to confront his own challenges in a positive way in WWE.
"I have no judgement on that. I don't know all the details, all the background. Was it Jeff's idea? I think it's inappropriate to pass judgement. If it was Jeff's decision and if it allowed him to confront his challenges in an honest or open way, then I think it was in a good way - if it was Jeff's decision. I don't know, so I refuse to pass judgement."
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