10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 2009 Facts
2. SummerSlam Marked Jeff Hardy's Last WWE PPV For More Than Seven Years
Hardy left the company after filming a loser-leaves-WWE cage match on SmackDown, putting over new champion CM Punk one more time. The word at the time was that Hardy might only go away for a few months while he charged his batteries and explored the circuit of reality television. Then real life intervened.
Seventeen days after working his last WWE match for an indeterminate amount of time, Hardy was arrested and charged with trafficking in controlled prescription pills, as well as possession of anabolic steroids. A search of his home found a high amount of drugs, including Vicodin, Somas, steroids, and even a residual amount of cocaine. He would later plead guilty, and served ten days in jail in 2011.
TNA picked Hardy up four months after his arrest, where his legal issues would sometimes hamper him (he couldn't attend UK tours due to his conviction). Hardy would not resurface in WWE until WrestleMania 33 in 2017.