Sheamus and Jeff Hardy both made their return to WWE around the same time. Sheamus came back from a long injury absence, while Hardy had recovered from a 2019 injury but missed the first half of 2020 due to personal issues.
At first, it appeared that WWE was using the program between Sheamus and Hardy to build a top-level feud on Friday Night SmackDown. However, not only has the feud turned out to be totally one-sided in Sheamus' favor, but also humiliating for Hardy. It turns out the reason might be that WWE never had any attention of giving Hardy a genuine push, but just wanted to bury him as he prepares to leave the company.
Hardy was supposed to see his contract expire a few months ago, alongside his brother Matt Hardy. However, while Matt let his contract expire and moved on to AEW, Jeff had time added onto his deal because of the time missed due to injury. However, there are now rumors floating around that WWE tried to sign Hardy to a new contract but he rejected the offer, and that could be why WWE is humiliating him in the Sheamus feud.
When Sheamus and Hardy fought at Backlash, most people thought the match between the two would end up with Sheamus picking up a win by cheating in order to lead to another bout at the next PPV. But, that didn't happen. Instead, Sheamus beat Hardy cleanly, and there was no doubt who the better wrestler was that night.
Furthermore, commentary buried Hardy throughout the match as looking old and tired and letting all his fans down. It could have led to a redemption story for Hardy, but now seems as if it was all about sending Hardy out on his back.
The humiliating part of all this isn't losing to Sheamus. Hardy has no problem going out on his back. He has been in the business long enough to know how it works -- Matt did the same when he took chair shots from Randy Orton before leaving WWE when his contract expired. What makes this so humiliating is the use of Hardy's addiction issues in the storyline.
The reason that Hardy didn't return when he recovered from his surgery in 2019 was due to two arrests while he was out injured. The first arrest was for public intoxication when police found him unconscious in a stairwell. The second arrest came after a DWI. These incidents followed years of addiction issues for Hardy, issues that almost destroyed his career more than once.
Some fans may remember when Hardy was supposed to wrestle Sting in TNA and Hardy came to the ring in no shape to compete. Things got so bad in 2019 that Matt said he was taking his immediate family into account and wasn't going to let Jeff ruin things for him.
Thankfully, Jeff seems to be on a better path outside the ring. Unfortunately, WWE is now using his past addiction issues as part of the storyline. Sheamus has repeatedly called him a junkie. Announcer Corey Graves continuously talked about Hardy not being able to live up to his fan's expectations. There was even a mistaken drinking and driving accident that turned out to be a setup by Sheamus. Hardy was even forced to submit to a urine test just to get his hands on Sheamus. Then, at Backlash, Sheamus won clean. It made no sense based on the storyline.
If WWE is sending Hardy out with losses, that is one thing. Burying a wrestler on their way out the door is an accepted part of the wrestling business -- some might even say, an honored tradition. However, if WWE plans to humiliate Hardy and use his real-life addictions against him just because Jeff won't re-sign with the company, it would be one of the lowest things WWE has done to an exiting superstar.