CM Punk returned to WWE Backstage yesterday evening and gave some forthright thoughts on the development last week involving Jeff Hardy.
Renee Young introduced the topic to the panelists which included Punk, Booker T and Christian and the three stars all weighed in on what they thought of the angle. Punk, as always, didn’t hold back and took WWE creative to task for leaning into Jeff Hardy’s substance abuse issues. Punk initially cites his 2009 feud with Hardy as a reference point.
“He, at that point, was not at a great place mentally and physically. My thing with this story is that somebody’s sobriety is very fragile and important. We talk about how Jeff is okay with it and he greenlit. To me, it is the responsibility to get in front of that, whether it be the company or a writer, and be like ‘no, we ‘re not doing that.’ Cleaning your life up and getting sober, we can champion that in many ways. You don’t put him in front of a moving car.”
Booker T gave his thoughts on the matter stating, “I saw a lot of guys with substance abuse problems. A lot of them are my friends and aren’t here today. When I saw it go down, I’m like, ‘I don’t know.'” Christian noted that the angle is to have Jeff set up, but did say there are probably better ways to go about such a story. Punk even cited the WCW angle involving Scott Hall’s alcoholism and how trying to use an angle for a storyline never works in wrestling. Booker T, who was Hall’s colleague in WCW at the time, agreed with Punk’s take.
(h/t to Jeremy Lambert from Fightful for the quotes)
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