Jeff Hardy Recalls "Terrifying" SWAT Raid On His Home

Jeff Hardy says one moment stands out as the lowest in his tumultuous life and career in professional wrestling. But he says it also proved to be a turning point that led to better days.

Hardy was arrested after a SWAT team raided his home in 2009. It happened just weeks after Hardy decided to leave WWE after his contract expired.

"I got busted for [ordering pills illegally in the mail]," Hardy told Steve Austin on The Broken Skull Sessions. "I thought my life was over. I went to jail that weekend [and] it was just a mind-blowing experience."

Jeff Hardy says one detail from that day haunted him. That was seeing his wife caught up in the raid alongside him.

"It was terrifying," Hardy recalled. "When you're looking at – it's your wife beside you, handcuffed facedown to the floor."

Authorities did not charge Jeff Hardy's wife following the raid. Hardy himself later pleaded guilty to charges. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail, 30 months of probation, and a $100,000 fine.

"That was the time that really scared me straight," Hardy said. "When I realized, 'Things might be OK. This might not be the end of my life. As long as I get clean and I do what I need to be doing, staying clean and staying out of trouble, things are gonna be alright'. And that led to 2010, man. Me and my wife gave birth to our first daughter. And then, five years later, to our second daughter. But yeah, leaving WWE where I was, and then it was like, oh my God, total rock bottom."

The end of Jeff Hardy's WWE run in 2009 ended with Hardy losing the World Heavyweight Championship to CM Punk in the main event of SummerSlam. A rematch inside a steel cage followed SummerSlam and then Hardy left WWE after that match. He would not return to the company until 2017.