The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the decision to script a Jeff Hardy-centric line into CM Punk’s Breaking Point promo was a late call that garnered lockerroom heat.
Several WWE employees close to Hardy deemed the reference to Jeff’s arrest “classless,” although the feeling was that it was, in the grand scheme of things, a minor offense for a company that once sparked controversy for utilizing Eddie Guerrero’s death in storyline.
After news of the arrest broke, WWE writer Christopher DeJosephs (Big Dick Johnson) pitched referencing the news in storyline. Though undoubtedly disappointed by news of Hardy’s arrest, Vince McMahon stood behind a decision that WWE would not mention Hardy on television; CM Punk actually filmed a version of the Breaking Point promo that did not discuss the former World Champion.
Nonetheless, a call was made late Sunday to go ahead with the Jeff Hardy reference, and CM Punk reshot the promo to address Hardy’s drug-related arrest.
While the idea of referencing Hardy’s situation did not sit well with everyone in the lockerroom, there was virtually no heat on CM Punk, who most accepted as too new to feel comfortable rejecting the promo idea.