Biography on WWE Wrestlers The Hardy Boyz

Profile on the Former Wrestling Tag Team of Matt and Jeff Hardy

Oct 29, 2009

Matt and Jeff Hardy were one of the most popular tag teams in WWE history. They were six-time tag team champions and helped usher in a new era of high-flying wrestling.

Matt and Jeff Hardy are real-life brothers who made it to the top of the world of professional wrestling together. They debuted in the then-World Wrestling Federation in 1998, though they had done jobs in the organization before. With only a few years of wrestling experience, the brothers were able to grab a foothold in the premier professional wrestling organization. They would eventually gain six tag team championships together.

The Hardy Boyz Growing Up

By the time Matt and Jeff were teenagers, they knew that they wanted to be professional wrestlers. They had grown up watching it on television and began practicing the moves out in the backyard with their friends (which, incidentally, the WWE routinely and actively discourages people from doing). They felt that they were good at it and could one day do it in front of a cheering crowd.

OMEGA: Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts

Matt and Jeff couldn’t yet join a huge wrestling company like the World Wrestling Federation or World Championship Wrestling (WCW), so they decided to form their own, called Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts, based in North Carolina. It lasted for two years before folding when the Hardys got signed to the WWF. During OMEGA’s reign, in addition to Matt and Jeff it boasted rising stars such as Gregory Helms, Shannon Moore, and Amy Dumas.

The Hardy Boyz with Michael Hayes

Soon after the Hardys joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1998 with full contracts, they were under the tutelage of Michael Hayes, a former wrestler and then manager and road agent for the company. He guided them to success when they won the World Tag Team Titles for the first time on July 5, 1999 from The Acolytes, Faarooq and Bradshaw.

Matt and Jeff Hardy with Gangrel: The New Brood

Matt and Jeff became heels and aligned themselves with Gangrel when Edge and Christian split from him. They broke away from Michael Hayes and became The New Brood. As Gangrel’s new minions they feuded with Edge and Christian (for the first of many times) and won the managerial services of Terri Runnels in a best of five matches contest with the former Brood members. They ended up splitting from Gangrel and later, Terri.

Team Xtreme: Matt and Jeff Hardy with Lita

In 2000, the twosome once more became three when Lita, who was Matt’s girlfriend in real life, joined their team as a sort of valet and sometime wrestler, though she wasn’t like the other women of the roster. The group stayed together and were hugely popular with the fans until 2003 when Jeff Hardy left the company for the first time.

TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs

What truly made Matt and Jeff Hardy famous was their involvement in the first Tables, Ladders and Chairs matches. They had been feuding with Edge and Christian as well as the Dudley Boyz for several months. So Commissioner Mick Foley ordered the three teams to compete at Summerslam 2000. Edge and Christian won the match, as well as TLC II at Wrestlemania X-7, but the Hardys were still a major part of the TLC legacy.

The Hardy Boyz Break Up and Make Up

After the 2009 Royal Rumble, Matt Hardy shocked wrestling fans when he turned against his brother and hit him over the head with a steel chair. The two went on to feud, and Jeff lost an Extreme Rules Match against his brother at Wrestlemania XXV. Jeff got revenge on his older brother, however, when he defeated him later that month at Backlash in an I Quit match. Their feud slackened after that.

Jeff Hardy Leaves WWE

On August 28 Jeff Hardy left WWE and it is not clear whether or not he will return, particularly due to legal troubles he has had recently. His departure was made into a storyline, where because he lost a Loser Leaves Town match to CM Punk, Hardy had to leave the WWE. Before he left, he and Matt resolved their differences and Matt turned face again.

Regardless of whether or not the Hardy Boyz ever reunite as a tag team within World Wrestling Entertainment, they made enough of an impact on pro wrestling, particularly tag team wrestling, that fans will remember them for many years to come. Their high-flying moves and genuine brotherly bond make them unique in WWE history.

Sources:

Hardy, Matt, Jeff Hardy, and Michael Krugman, The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire (New York: Regan Books, 2003).

The copyright of the article Biography on WWE Wrestlers The Hardy Boyz in WWE Wrestling is owned by Jillian Bost. Permission to republish Biography on WWE Wrestlers The Hardy Boyz in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.