Hardy arrested for drug trafficking

WRESTLING superstar Jeff Hardy has been arrested on five major drugs charges - after a police raid at his home.

The Moore County Sheriff's Office confirmed that during a search of his house they seized 262 Vicodin prescription pills, 180 Soma prescription pills, 555 milliliters of anabolic steroids, a residual amount of powder cocaine and other items of drug paraphernalia.

The estimated street value of the drugs seized was £1,500 ($2,500).

The three-time WWE world champion's charges are listed as "felony trafficking in opium, two counts of felony possession with intent to sell or deliver a Schedule III controlled substance, felony maintaining a dwelling to keep controlled substance, felony possession of cocaine and misdemeanour possession of drug paraphernalia."

Hardy is thought to now be back at his North Carolina home with his brother Matt posting the bail of £75,000 ($125,000).

The 32-year-old grappler was the subject of a joint investigation by officers from the Moore County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Unit, Moore County Sheriff's Office Select Enforcement Unit and the Fayetteville Police Department.

The full arrest report won't be made public until Monday.

Jeff - who only left the WWE two weeks ago - reacted angrily to the situation on his official Twitter page.

He said: "A lot of exaggerations are out there today, don't believe everything you read 4 it is not true, I am at home and fine-thanks for your concern."

He later complained of the media's inaccurate reporting and denied Matt's involvement in the bail posting.

Jeff's career, particularly the last six years, have been riddled with controversy and personal issues. In 2003 he was released by WWE in what was seen as a mutual decision, with Jeff citing burn-out and needing to heal injuries, while WWE were said to be irked by a refusal to attend rehab to address drug issues and a lack of reliability in and out of the ring.

He spent a year out of wrestling before resurfacing in TNA in June 2005. He had a reasonably successful for a time, but found himself suspended in April 2006 for no-showing a PPV match with Raven.

He would return shortly afterwards, but was gone by the end of the year, once again failing to attend a major show.

He was given a second chance by WWE midway through 2006, and soon recaptured tag team gold with brother Matt as well as figuring in the intercontinental title picture.

Hardy missed the 2007 SummerSlam through what was believed to be his first 30-day suspension. His official website reported an injury which kept him out for a month, but Jim Ross' blog made comments which alluded to an enforced absence by the company, and not due to him being hurt.

The absence did not seem to affect his push, since by the Royal Rumble 2008 he was pitted against Randy Orton for the WWE championship. He was not successful, but was probably the most over wrestler in the company at that time.

Once again, though, he was blighted by his inability to stay out of trouble. He was suspended for sixty days for a wellness violation in March 2008, causing him to miss WrestleMania 24. The fact that this suspension was 60 days further indicated that his previous absence had been due to suspension.

In September last year he was refused permission to board a plane home after an event, but it did not result in any further action.

Even after Hardy's turbulent year he won his first major title in December 2008 when he captured the WWE Title at Armageddon. He had has two further stints as World Champion since then.

His decision to leave the company again was leaked several months ago, with the exact date undetermined until just two weeks ago when he lost the title to CM Punk in a TLC match, then was defeated by Punk on Smackdown in a cage match where the loser was forced to leave WWE.

Ironically, CM Punk had used his rivalry with Hardy to turn heel, and used his Straightedge lifestyle, where he abstains from all drug and alcohol use, as a springboard to pompously chastise Jeff for his errant ways and his fans for cheering him for it.

It will be intriguing to see whether Punk follows up this incident to prove his point.

Were Jeff Hardy still with WWE then it seems certain that they would have taken a dim view of this incident and immediately fired him.

There are revelations that they have already pulled a DVD set that was to be dedicated to the star's career.

This new revelation may have harmed his chances of ever returning to the company ever again, and is sure to disappoint his many legions of fans.