10 Ups & 12 Downs For WWE In 2020 (So Far)

8. Jeff Hardy Vs. Sheamus

WWE likely acquired Jeff Hardy's permission before running with the Sheamus feud, which has used his real-life struggles with addiction to generate heat in a fake, scripted world. That's fine, and the storyline would be straight-up ghoulish if the promotion hadn't taken this step, but it's still a questionable, hamfisted narrative from a creative team that has never done sensitive topics well.

Sheamus framed "junkie" Jeff for a hit-and-run on Elias, making it look like an intoxicated Hardy had tried to kill one of his co-workers. Jeff exposed the scam then looked to face the Irishman at Backlash. Sheamus made his opponent do a piss test on the go-home SmackDown, leaving him with a faceful of urine when Jeff doused him in it, before the 'Celtic Warrior' triumphed in a tremendous pay-per-view bout.

Match quality is the only thing this storyline has going for it. While it's cute that Jeff likely gave his permission, the message, from the very beginning, is that people with his afflictions are self-destructive losers who can't help themselves. It's a harmful message hammered home by dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks scripting, with the piss segment so bad it compelled FOX to pull it from SmackDown's west coast broadcast.