HARDY BOYZ

'The Hardy Boyz' (also known as the 'The Hardys' and 'Team Xtreme') is a professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that consists of real life brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy.

Contents

History

Team Xtreme

Split

The Hardys (2006-present)

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

Notes

References

External links

History

Originally the brothers competed as teenagers in the WWF as jobbers, both in singles and tag team competition. The Hardy Boyz started their run as a popular tag team in a surprising win over Kaientai (Mens Teioh and Sho Funaki) on the September 27, 1998 episode of ''Sunday Night HEAT''. Soon after their ''Sunday Night HEAT'' win, they built up a fan base following through their high-flying tag team tactics. They started to become serious contenders for the Tag Team Titles after they became managed by Michael Hayes, formerly a member of the successful tag team The Fabulous Freebirds. They defeated The A.P.A. to win their first WWF World Tag Team Championship, but lost the titles back to The A.P.A. a little less than a month later at Fully Loaded 1999. They would eventually dump Hayes as their manager in August 1999, turned heel and were briefly associated with Gangrel as part of 'The New Brood'. After winning a series of matches against the team of Edge and Christian, dubbed the "Terri Invitational Tournament," they won the services of Terri Runnels as their manager by winning the first ever tag team ladder match at No Mercy 1999 by defeating Edge and Christian. Matt and Jeff Hardy - Interview Jim Varsallone Fans were so impressed with the match that when Edge and Christian were alone in the ring, fans gave them a standing ovation. The fans also gave both teams a standing ovation the next night on ''RAW is WAR''. They then gained notoriety as a tag team with Lita.

Team Xtreme

Matt Hardy, one half of the Hardy Boyz, at WrestleMania X8.

With the addition of Lita, Matt and Jeff Hardy comprised the trio dubbed 'Team Xtreme', their name serving as a reflection of their "extreme" high-flying moves.
They faced Edge and Christian and the Dudley Boyz at WrestleMania 2000 in a triple threat tag team ladder match. The Dudley Boyz started the match as the champions, and Edge and Christian won the titles that night.
At SummerSlam 2000, The Hardy Boyz participated in the first ever Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (TLC) along with Edge and Christian and The Dudley Boyz. Even though they were unsuccessful in capturing the titles, the TLC match skyrocketed them through the ranks of tag team wrestling. However, at Unforgiven 2000, The Hardy Boyz defeated Edge and Christian in a Steel cage match to win the World Tag Team Championship for a second time. They went on to lose the titles back to Edge and Christian at No Mercy 2000, but they won the titles back the next night on ''RAW'' for a third time. During this match, The Hardy Boyz were dressed as Los Conquistadores, but tore off their masks after the match, revealing themselves. The team would lose the titles less than a month later to Right to Censor on the November 6 2000 edition of ''RAW'', when Edge and Christian came out and assaulted the Hardyz, allowing Right to Censor to pick up the win and the tag team titles.
On the March 5 2001 edition of ''RAW'' The Hardy Boyz captured their fourth World Tag Team Championship when they defeated The Dudley Boyz, after interference from Christian, only to lose the titles to Edge and Christian two weeks later on ''RAW''. The next month at WrestleMania X-Seven The Hardy Boyz again competed in another infamous TLC match against Edge and Christian and The Dudley Boyz. However, just as in the first TLC match, Edge and Christian were victorious.
On October 8 2001, The Hardy Boyz won the WCW World Tag Team Championship from Booker T and Test. They would lose the titles to The Dudley Boyz two weeks later. Soon thereafter, they beat Booker T and Test again, but this time for the WWF World Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles four days later to the Dudleys in a Steel Cage title unifaction match.
During the time they were together, they were one of the most popular tag teams because of their TLC (Tables, Ladders and Chairs) matches with Edge and Christian as well as The Dudley Boyz and their unique "grunge"-type look that appealed to WWF's younger fanbase. They also were guests in an episode of ''That 70's Show'' in which they played two un-named wrestlers.

Split

However, the team eventually split up to enable both Matt and Jeff to pursue singles careers. Jeff was later fired from WWE after refusing to go to rehab after agents found out he had been taking drugs. Jeff Hardy's WWE Bio WWE ^[1] Hardy also cited "burn out" and the need for time off as reasons for leaving WWE.^[2] He spent some time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling but realized he was not getting the exposure he had hoped for. As a result, he no-showed several times, was suspended, and completed his contractual duties. In August 2006, he rejoined the WWE on its ''RAW'' brand.

The Hardys (2006-present)

At ''Unforgiven 2006'', Jeff, Matt and Lita all appeared together on television for the first time in four years, where Lita insulted both brothers and left the scene with a sarcastic "We should do this again some time."
In November, it was announced on WWE.com that Matt and Jeff would team up for the first time together in over four years as members of Team DX at the ''Survivor Series''. However, 'The Hardys', as they were now known, were first given a "warm up match" on ''ECW on Sci Fi'', defeating the Full Blooded Italians (Little Guido Maritato and Tony Mamaluke). At ''Survivor Series'', Team DX defeated Team Rated-RKO in a clean sweep.
On the November 27 edition of ''RAW'', The Hardys had their first shot at Tag Team gold in 5 years. They took on World Tag Team Champions Rated-RKO, but came up short when Edge hit Jeff in the back with a belt to get himself and Randy Orton disqualified deliberately to retain the titles. That same day, The Hardys posed an open challenge to any team for ''ECW December to Dismember'' which was immediately accepted by a reuniting MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury). After a run in on the intervening ''ECW on Sci Fi'', The Hardys defeated MNM at the pay-per-view, starting a feud between all four men that spanned both brands. The Hardys got their first chance to gain the WWE Tag Team Titles at ''Armageddon 2006'', where the original Tag Team Match was changed to a 4 Team Ladder Match involving The Hardys, MNM, Dave Taylor and William Regal, and Paul London and Brian Kendrick.
Despite coming up short, The Hardys sparked another feud with MNM when Joey Mercury was legitimately injured.^[3] Whilst Jeff Hardy and Johnny Nitro continued battling over the WWE Intercontinental Championship on ''RAW'', Matt Hardy and Joey Mercury feuded on ''SmackDown!''. Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro tried injuring both Hardys' faces as payback for what happened at ''Armageddon'', claiming that The Hardys had ruined Mercury's 'Hollywood Good Looks'. The Hardys settled their feud with MNM at the ''Royal Rumble 2007'' when they defeated them for the second time. However, Matt Hardy and Joey Mercury continued feuding, which was finally settled at ''No Way Out''.
On the April 2 2007 episode of ''RAW'', the Hardys won the World Tag Team Championship, for the sixth time in their career after winning a ten team Battle Royal. After losing singles bouts with both Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, The Hardys retained their World Tag Team Championship at both ''Backlash 2007'' and ''Judgement Day'' against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. However, on the June 4 2007 episode of ''RAW'', the Hardys lost their championships to Cade and Murdoch, when Jeff missed a swanton bomb and was pinned by Cade after Murdoch pushed his foot off of the bottom rope of the ring. Cade and Murdoch attacked the Hardys with the championship belts after the match. The Hardys got a rematch at Vengeance, but lost after Jeff was hit with a sit-out spinebuster from Cade.

In wrestling

Jeff Hardy performing his '''Swanton Bomb''' finisher

★ 'Finishing and signature moves'

★
★ '''Twist of Fate''' '(Matt) followed by a' '''Swanton Bomb''' '(Jeff)'

★
★ '''Event Omega/Falling Fate''' (Diving Splash (Jeff), Top Rope Leg Drop (Matt))

★
★ '''Omega Event''' (Guillotine Leg Drop (Matt), Leg Drop to Groin (Jeff))

★
★ '''Twist of Fate''' - Matt/Jeff

★
★ '''Swanton Bomb''' - Jeff

★
★ ''Poetry in Motion''

★
★ ''Spin Cycle'' (Simultaneous fist drop to the head of a fallen opponent (Matt) / somersault senton (Jeff) combo)

★
★ Top rope powerbomb (Jeff), neckbreaker slam (Matt) combination

★
★ Double 180 Degree Leg-Lift Back Suplex
Whisper in the Wind(Jeff) Side Effect (Matt)

★ 'Signature foreign object': Ladders

★ 'Managers'
:
★ Michael Hayes
:
★ Gangrel
:
★ Terri Runnels
:
★ Lita

Championships and accomplishments

★ 'National Wrestling Alliance'

★ 'Regional'
:
★ NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship (1 time)

★ 'Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts'
:
★ OMEGA Tag Team Championship (1 time)

★ 'Pro Wrestling Illustrated'
:
★ PWI Tag Team of the Year award in 2000.

★ 'World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment'
:
★ World Tag Team Championship (6 times)
:
★ WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time)

Notes

1. His Own Fate Twisted Craig Tello (WWE)
2. Jeff Hardy Interview: Wrestlemania, ladders, and The Swanton Bomb Jon Robinson (IGN.com)
3. Update on Joey Mercury WWE.com

References

★ Matt and Jeff Hardy - Interview Jim Varsallone

External links

★ The Hardy Show

★ Matt Hardy's WWE Profile

★ Jeff Hardy's WWE Profile

★