Photo: Volusia County Sheriff's Office
A new video shared on Wednesday (June 15) appears to show All Elite Wrestling star and WWE legend Jeff Hardy hours before his DUI arrest giving a poignant quote.
The video, which was posted on Reddit's 'SquaredCircle' wrestling forum, shows Hardy, wearing the same Jacksonville Jaguars t-shirt as his arrest video, taking a sip of a light brown drink and saying, "whiskey is my best friend and my worst enemy" before performing a song.
On Tuesday (June 14), All Elite Wrestling CEO, President, General Manager and Head of Creative Tony Khan announced that Hardy had been suspended without pay in the wake of his recent DUI arrest.
Khan confirmed that AEW planned to assist Hardy "in getting treatment for substance abuse issues" and said the wrestling legend "indicated that he's open to receiving."
"We were able to resume contact with Jeff Hardy this afternoon," Khan said in the statement. "AEW does not condone Jeff's alleged behavior. We made it clear to Jeff that we'll assist him in getting treatment for substance abuse issues, which he has indicated that he's open to receiving. In the interim, he is suspended without pay, and he can only return to AEW upon successfully completing treatment and maintaining his sobriety."
On Tuesday, TMZ Sports shared dash cam footage showing Hardy's white Dodge Charger pulled over on a freeway before three officers approach the vehicle and appear to shout orders at the 44-year-old through his closed car windows.
The Charger appears to move slightly forward as officers have guns drawn before he was eventually taken out of the vehicle without incident.
An officer tells Hardy the department received "several 911 calls" regarding him during questioning and the wrestler admits to drinking shots of Fireball before driving.
Hardy then undergoes several field sobriety tests and appears to stumble through each before being handcuffed several minutes later.
The Florida Highway Patrol confirmed Hardy's first breath sample was at 0.294, nearly three and a half more times the state's legal limit of 008 and that the wrestler's performance on the sobriety exercises provided reasonable cause to arrest him for DUI on Monday, WESH reports.
Hardy was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs (third offense within 10 years), driving on a suspended/revoked license and a violation of restrictions placed on a driver's license on a $3,500 bond Monday, according to public records on Volusia County, Florida government website.
The former world champion had previously been arrested for driving under the influence twice since 2018, having previously been charged with DWI in his native North Carolina following a car crash in March 2018, as well as a second DWI arrest in North Carolina in October 2019.
Hardy and his brother, Matt, were scheduled to compete in a three-way ladder match against the Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) and AEW Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express (Jungleboy and Luchasaurus) during the upcoming episode of Dynamite on Wednesday (June 15).
The Wrestling Observer 's Dave Meltzer reports WarnerMedia -- which airs AEW's Dynamite and Rampage on TBS and TNT, respectively -- was told to cease promotion involving Hardy in any advertisements, including the three-way ladder match scheduled for Wednesday.
Matt Hardy released a statement regarding his brother's arrest on his verified Twitter account Tuesday (June 14) morning.
"It was disheartening to hear the news about my brother yesterday," Matt Hardy tweeted. "Recovery isn’t a linear process & I’ll continue doing whatever I can to help my brother be healthy. Being healthy & well is the most important thing for Jeff, his wife, his children & our family at this time."
Jeff Hardy made his AEW debut in March after being released from his WWE contract in December and completed a 90-day non-compete clause period before being able to sign with another televised wrestling company.
The Wrestling Observer reported Hardy was ordered and refused to attend rehab following an incident at a WWE house show on December 4.
Hardy was reportedly aware that he'd be punished in some way if he refused to attend rehab, which eventually resulted in his release, according to Meltzer.
On December 9, Fightful.com initially reported WWE released Hardy after offering "help and rehab," which "was not accepted."
Hardy's wife, Beth, denied the initial reports on Thursday (December 9) via Twitter.
"Jeff is good. We are good. Post that you 'heard' that. Thanks," Beth Hardy tweeted, which was later retweeted by her husband.
Jeff and Matt Hardy, wrestling under the "Hardy Boyz" moniker in WWE and 'The Hardys' during their current AEW run, are regarded as one of the greatest tag-teams in pro wrestling history, while both have also etched singles legacies in numerous companies, most notably WWE, as well as IMPACT Wrestling and Ring of Honor.
Jeff Hardy is a three-time WWE World champion, a five-time Intercontinental champion and an eight-time tag-team champion, having also held numerous other titles for the company.