The Hardy Boyz


The Hardy Boyz were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of real-life brothers Jeff and Matt Hardy who are currently signed to WWE and All Elite Wrestling respectively, with Jeff performing on the SmackDown brand. They first began teaming together in 1993 in independent promotions in North Carolina, winning the NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship in NWA 2000 and founded the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts, where they held the OMEGA Tag Team Championship. They both signed contracts with the World Wrestling Federation in 1998. In 2000, they were joined by Lita, and the trio became Team Xtreme.
After splitting as a team in 2002, the brothers reunited in 2006 and teamed sporadically afterward. They also appeared in Impact Wrestling, briefly reuniting in 2011 as members of Immortal and teaming more frequently from 2014 to 2017. Both Matt and Jeff would leave Impact in 2017, returning to WWE and would go on to win the Raw Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 33.
They would team-up together in WWE on and off over the next two years. In 2019, The Hardy Boyz won the SmackDown Tag Team Championships after WrestleMania 35, but would relinquish the titles 3 weeks later after Jeff suffered a leg injury. Jeff would then be out of action for the rest of the year, and this would mark the last appearance of The Hardy Boyz during their latest run in WWE, as Matt’s contract with the company expired in March 2020, whilst Jeff’s contract was extended due to injury.
Both brothers also won singles championships during their runs, with each becoming multi-time world champions in their own right. In 2017, they held seven tag team titles from seven different promotions at the same time, including the ROH and the TNA Tag Team Championships, being recognized as the only tag team in history to hold the titles simultaneously. After returning at WrestleMania 33, they became the only tag team in history to have held tag team championships from all three major U.S. promotions within a month's span.
The Hardy Boyz gained fame for their participation in ladder matches and Tables, Ladders and Chairs matches with The Dudley Boyz/Team 3D and Edge and Christian. Overall, they are 12-time world tag team champions between WWE, TNA and ROH, having won the WWE/World Tag Team Championship six times, the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship once, the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship once, the WCW Tag Team Championship once in WWE, the TNA World Tag Team Championship twice and the ROH World Tag Team Championship once. Considered as one of the greatest tag teams of all time, they are the only team to have held the WWE/World, WCW, TNA, ROH, Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships.

History

Independent circuit (1993–1998)

Real-life brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy formed a tag team in 1993 after Jeff's debut in the Trampoline Wrestling Federation. The promotion went by several names, and in 1997, it was modernized as the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts. The duo worked in several North Carolinian independent promotions holding the OMEGA Tag Team Championship and NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1998–2009)

Rise to popularity (1998–1999)

Originally the brothers competed in the World Wrestling Federation as jobbers—wrestlers who consistently lose to make their opponents look stronger – both in singles and tag team competition. After being signed to a contract in 1998, they were trained by Dory Funk, Jr. in his Funkin' Dojo.
The Hardy Boyz started their run as a popular tag team with a win over Kaientai 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 Championship after they became managed by Michael Hayes, formerly a member of The Fabulous Freebirds. On the June 29, 1999, episode of Raw Is War, they defeated The Acolytes to win their first WWF Tag Team Championship, but they re-lost the title to The Acolytes a little less than a month later at Fully Loaded.
They eventually dumped Hayes as their manager in August 1999, becoming villains and briefly associating themselves 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, and then dumped Gangrel the next night becoming faces. The fans also gave both teams a standing ovation the next night on Raw Is War. This began an over two year rivalry between the Hardy Boyz and the team of Edge and Christian. During this time, they also gained notoriety as a faction with Lita.

Team Xtreme (2000–2002)

With the addition of Lita, Matt and Jeff comprised the trio dubbed Team Xtreme, their name serving as a reflection of their "extreme" high-flying moves. In 2000, they were involved in feuds with Edge and Christian and The Dudley Boyz in many ladder matches and TLC matches.
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 title. The Hardyz faced Edge and Christian for the title at Insurrextion and defeated them by disqualification, which meant that Edge and Christian retained the title. At King of the Ring, the Hardy Boyz squared off in a Four Corners Elimination match for the Tag Team Championship which included the champions Too Cool, T & A and Edge and Christian. The Hardyz were able to eliminate T & A before getting eliminated themselves by Edge and Christian.
At SummerSlam, the Hardy Boyz were defeated in the first ever TLC match for the title, which Edge and Christian won, and in which the Dudley Boyz also competed. At Unforgiven, the Hardy Boyz defeated Edge and Christian in a steel cage match to win the title for a second time. They re-lost the title to Edge and Christian at No Mercy, but they won it back the next night on Raw Is War for a third time. During the match, the Hardy Boyz were dressed as Los Conquistadores, but tore off their masks after the match, revealing themselves. The team lost the title less than a month later to Right to Censor on the November 6 episode of Raw Is War, when Edge and Christian came out and assaulted the Hardyz, allowing Right to Censor to pick up the win and the title.
as European Champion
The Hardyz became involved in a feud with both Edge and Christian and Right to Censor. At Survivor Series, the Hardyz along with the Dudleyz defeated Edge and Christian and Right to Censor in a Survivor Series elimination match. At Rebellion, the Hardy Boyz faced Right to Censor in a rematch for the titles but were unable to win the titles when Val Venis interfered. On the December 4 episode of Raw Is War, Dean Malenko defeated the Hardy Boyz' valet Lita to retain the Light Heavyweight Championship and earn himself a date with her three days later on SmackDown!, when Malenko took Lita on a date and received a beating from the Hardyz. The Hardyz began feuding with Malenko and his friends, The Radicalz. The two teams faced each other in several tag team and singles matches on Raw Is War and SmackDown!. The two teams also squared off against each other at Armageddon with Guerrero, Malenko and Saturn taking on the Hardyz and Lita. The Radicalz won the match.
On the March 5, 2001 episode of Raw Is War, the Hardy Boyz captured their fourth WWF Tag Team Championship when they defeated The Dudley Boyz, after interference from Christian, only to lose the title to Edge and Christian two weeks later on Raw. The next month at WrestleMania X-Seven, the Hardy Boyz competed in another TLC match against Edge and Christian and the Dudley Boyz. Just as in the first TLC match, Edge and Christian were victorious thanks to help from Rhyno.
On the October 8 episode of Raw, the Hardy Boyz won the WCW Tag Team Championship from Booker T and Test. They lost the title to the Dudley Boyz two weeks later on SmackDown!. On the November 12 episode of Raw, they beat Booker T and Test again, but this time for the WWF Tag Team Championship. At Survivor Series, they lost the title to the Dudleys in a steel cage title unification match. This defeat led to a break up storyline that resulted in a match between the brothers at Vengeance. Jeff would emerge victorious after Lita, who was the special referee, failed to see Matt's foot on the rope. The storyline was dropped in January 2002 and they reunited.
At No Way Out, the Hardy Boyz participated in a tag team turmoil match which was won by the A.P.A. At WrestleMania X8, along with the A.P.A. and the Dudley Boyz, the Hardyz challenged Billy and Chuck for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a four corners elimination match. The A.P.A. were eliminated by the Dudleyz, whom the Hardy Boyz managed to eliminate. In the end, they were pinned by the champions, therefore losing the opportunity. They then began a feud with the newcomer Brock Lesnar and his manager Paul Heyman. At Judgment Day, the Hardy Boyz lost to Lesnar and Heyman in a tag team match.

Split and departure (2002–2005)

The duo split up afterward as Jeff began a storyline with The Undertaker, while Matt was relegated to working on Heat. In the storyline, Matt then attacked Jeff due to jealousy of Jeff getting opportunities, including a match for the Intercontinental Championship. Matt was then moved to the SmackDown! brand, where he dubbed himself "Matt Hardy Version 1" and the "Sensei of Mattitude" and picked up real-life friend Shannon Moore and briefly Crash Holly as followers. He later won the Cruiserweight Championship from Billy Kidman at No Way Out in February 2003. Jeff was released from WWE on April 22 for erratic behavior, drug use, refusal to go to rehab and deteriorating ring performance as well as constant tardiness and no-showing events.
Following his release from WWE, Jeff debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in mid-2004. After no-showing several events, he was suspended in 2006 before leaving the company soon afterward. Meanwhile in April 2005, Matt was released from WWE due to unprofessional conduct with social media after discovering Lita had a real-life affair with Edge. He was rehired just a few months later, feuded with Edge, and was eventually sent to the SmackDown! brand.

The Hardys reunion (2006–2007)

On August 4, 2006, Jeff rejoined WWE on its Raw brand. In November 2006, it was announced on WWE's official website 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. The Hardys, as they were now known, were first given a "warm up match" on ECW on Sci Fi, defeating The Full Blooded Italians. At Survivor Series, Team DX defeated Team Rated-RKO in a clean sweep.
On the November 27 episode of Raw, The Hardys had their first shot at Tag Team gold in five 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 Orton deliberately disqualified to retain the title. That same day, The Hardys posed an open challenge to any team for ECW brand's ECW December to Dismember which was immediately accepted by a reuniting MNM. After a run in on the intervening ECW on Sci Fi, The Hardys defeated MNM at the event, starting a feud between all four men that spanned both brands. The Hardys got their first chance to gain the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, where the original tag team match was changed to a four 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 Mercury was legitimately injured. While Jeff and Nitro continued battling over the Intercontinental Championship on Raw, Matt and Mercury feuded on SmackDown!. Mercury and 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 when they defeated them for the second time. Matt and Mercury continued feuding, however, 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 to both Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, The Hardys retained their World Tag Team Championship at both Backlash and Judgment Day against the team of Cade and Murdoch. At One Night Stand, Hardyz retained the titles against The World's Greatest Tag Team in a ladder match. The next night on Raw, however, the Hardys lost their championship 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, but was unsuccessful after Jeff was hit with a sitout spinebuster from Cade.
The Hardys once again returned to WWE on the November 13 episode of ECW to face Montel Vontavious Porter and Mr. Kennedy, a match that was originally scheduled for the November 16 episode of SmackDown!. The Hardys were unsuccessful in their return as Porter pinned Jeff for the win. The Hardys, announced and referred to once again as the Hardy Boyz, reunited once again in 2008, on the June 23 episode of Raw in a losing effort to John Morrison and The Miz. The match occurred after Jeff was drafted to the SmackDown brand. This loss, however, caused Matt to be drafted to the ECW brand. On the July 15 episode of ECW, The Hardys reunited in their home state of North Carolina, defeating Morrison and Miz. The Hardys then teamed up on the October 31 episode of SmackDown and on November 3 on Raw, winning both matches.

Feud and second departure (2009)

The Hardy Boyz kickstarted 2009 with a win over Edge and Big Show on the January 2 episode of Smackdown. This was the last match for the then WWE champion and ECW champion as a team as Matt would lose the ECW championship to Jack Swagger on the January 13 episode of ECW. Heading into the 2009 Royal Rumble, Matt was attempting to regain the ECW Championship from Jack Swagger while Jeff held the WWE Championship. After Matt lost to Swagger, he interfered in Jeff's match with Edge, hitting Jeff with a steel chair and allowing Edge to win the WWE Championship. On the January 30 episode of SmackDown, Matt announced the permanent disbandment of the tag team due to the events at the Royal Rumble and that he no longer considered Jeff as his partner or brother. Matt moved to the SmackDown brand and began a scripted rivalry with Jeff. The pair faced each other in an Extreme Rules match at WrestleMania XXV, which Matt won. They later faced each other in a stretcher match, in which Matt gained his second win over Jeff. As part of the 2009 WWE draft, Matt was drafted to the Raw brand on the April 13 episode of Raw. Despite this, the brothers faced each other in an "I Quit" match at Backlash, which Jeff won. Matt also interfered in Jeff's World Heavyweight Championship match at Judgment Day, preventing him from winning the championship.
On the August 21 episode of SmackDown, Jeff and Matt reunited as the Hardys and teamed with John Morrison in a six-man tag team match to defeat CM Punk and The Hart Dynasty. The following week, Jeff lost a "Loser Leaves the WWE" steel cage match to CM Punk, resulting in him leaving the company. Over a year later, on October 15, 2010, WWE announced that Matt had been released from his contract, with Matt later stating that his release had been in effect two weeks before WWE made the announcement.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Immortal (2010–2011)

Jeff made his TNA return on the January 4, 2010 episode of Impact!, and went on to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Bound for Glory in October. On January 9, 2011, at TNA's pay-per-view Genesis, Matt made his TNA debut as a surprise member of the Immortal faction, and defeated Rob Van Dam. Jeff, who was also a member of Immortal, went on to lose the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Mr. Anderson later that night. On the January 13 episode of Impact! the Hardy Brothers reunited, as heels for the first time since 1999, and defeated Van Dam and Anderson. Following the Victory Road pay-per-view, Immortal severed their ties with Jeff. On August 20, Matt was released from TNA after being arrested for driving while intoxicated.

TNA World Tag Team Champions (2014–2015)

Matt returned to TNA in mid-2014. On June 26, at Destination X The Hardys unsuccessfully challenged The Wolves for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the August 14 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys were defeated by Team 3D. At the Hardcore Justice edition of Impact Wrestling, The Hardys and Team 3D challenged The Wolves to a three-way for the TNA World Tag Team Championship, to which they agreed. Kurt Angle later announced that all three teams would compete in a best of three series for the title with the winners of the first match being able to choose the stipulation of the next one. Team 3D won the first match and chose a Tables match, The Hardys won the second match and chose a ladder match, and The Wolves won the third match on the No Surrender episode of Impact Wrestling, tying them all at one win each. A final match to decide the series took place, and was won by The Wolves. In October, The Hardys participated in a tournament to determine the number one contender to the TNA World Tag Team Championship; they defeated The BroMans, Ethan Carter III and Tyrus, and Samoa Joe and Low Ki to win the tournamanet. On February 6, 2015, at Lockdown, The Hardys unsuccessfully challenged The Revolution for the TNA World Tag Team Championship in a Six Sides of Steel match.
After The Wolves vacated the tag team championship due to an injury to Eddie Edwards, an Ultimate X match was held for the title at the March 16 Impact Wrestling tapings. The Hardys defeated Kenny King and Low Ki, Ethan Carter III and Bram, and Rockstar Spud and Mr. Anderson to win the match and the title. However, The Hardys vacated the titles due to Jeff's broken tibia.

The Broken Hardys (2016–2017)

On the August 4 episode of Impact Wrestling, after a lengthy feud involving the "Deletion" of Jeff Hardy, Broken Matt sent Jeff, , on a quest to procure the Impact Wrestling World Tag Team Championship for him. On the August 18 episode of Impact Wrestling, Broken Matt and Brother Nero defeated The BroMans, The Tribunal, and The Helms Dynasty in an "Ascension to Hell" fatal four-way number one contender's ladder match for an opportunity to challenge Decay for the TNA World Tag Team Championships at Bound for Glory. Broken Matt climbed the ladder and grabbed the contract, following Nero sacrificing himself by jumping off the ladder and onto Trevor Lee. On the September 1 episode of Impact Wrestling, the Hardys invited Decay to come to their hometown compound, plotting for a sequel to "The Final Deletion". Broken Matt turned babyface during this encounter when King Maxel was almost kidnapped by Decay and when Brother Nero took a hit from Abyss' spiked bat, and Broken Matt healed him via the Lake of Restoration.
On October 2 at TNA Bound for Glory they defeated Decay to become two time TNA World Tag Team Champions. On the October 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, they retained their titles against Decay in a Wolf Creek match. On the October 13 episode of Impact Wrestling, they were attacked by The Tribunal. The Hardys would then face The Tribunal one week later, on October 20's broadcast where they were able to successfully defend their titles. However, after the match as they returned to the dressing-rooms, the arena went dark, signalling the arrival of a new faction, dubbed the DCC. The DCC would use the darkness to attack and layout The Tribunal as The Hardys looked on from the ramp, thus potentially building an upcoming rivalry in weeks to comes. On February 27, 2017, The Hardys announced their departure from TNA after negotiations of a new contract fell through. Jeff and Matt left the company without dropping the TNA World Tag Team Championships.

Expedition of Gold (2014–2017)

Beginning in April 2014, the brothers reunited on the independent circuit.
and the TNA World Tag Team Championship and the during their "Expedition of Gold" in January 2017
In 2017, the Hardys embarked on a tour of various independent promotions—while still reigning as TNA World Tag Team Champions—which was promoted on Impact Wrestling as the "Expedition of Gold," where they sought to win other tag team titles in order to declare themselves as the "greatest tag team in all of space and time". During this tour, Matt and Jeff won the tag team titles in promotions such as Mexico's The Crash promotion, the West Virginia based All Star Wrestling, Maryland's MCW Pro Wrestling, their own OMEGA Championship Wrestling and Wrestling Superstar company based out of Chile. Footage from some of these matches was aired on Impact Wrestling.
Although some debate remains whether it was six or seven championships held at one time, the contracts of Broken Matt and Brother Nero expired with TNA Wrestling on February 27, 2017 at midnight after negotiations were stalled by the company. Having previously filmed television weeks in advance, in storylines Matt and Jeff remained the TNA Tag Team Champions as their contracts expired. They offered to drop the titles the following week on the next set of television tapings but TNA's new parent company, Anthem, declined.
On March 4, 2017, The Hardys made their Ring of Honor debut at Manhattan Mayhem VI and defeated The Young Bucks for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. TNA still recognized them as the World Tag Team Champions, making them the only team to be recognized as both the TNA and ROH World Tag Team Champions simultaneously. They then lost the titles back to The Young Bucks in a ladder match on April 1 at Supercard of Honor XI, to which after the match, Jeff was noted as staying in the ring and saying "We'll fade away and classify ourselves as obsolete", paying homage to their "Broken" characters. It was also announced after the match that both Matt and Jeff Hardy's contracts had expired.
Having won the ROH World Tag Team Championship, their tag team title accouterments equaled seven at the time. The Broken Hardy storyline was abruptly dropped without explanation following a new set of television tapings between March 2–5, 2017. The Hardys did not appear on the Thursday, March 9 airing of Impact Wrestling and there was no reference to the TNA tag team titles, but the Broken Hardys were last seen broadcast in their compound using Vanguard-1 to teleport them with the TNA World Tag Team Championship belts to their next location, only for Decay to appear through teleportation with the belts with Rosemary declaring the Broken Hardys, "deleted, obsolete, and decay!". The following week on the March 16 episode of Impact Wrestling, Bruce Prichard cut a promo in the ring and said that the tag team titles are won in the ring, not in space. Playing upon the Hardys phrase of "greatest tag team in all of space and time", he said that four teams would wrestle in two weeks to crown new tag team champions.

Return to WWE (2017–2020)

On April 2 at, WrestleMania 33, The Hardy Boyz made an unannounced return to WWE, after hosts The New Day announced that the triple threat ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Championship which had been set by WWE before the event was now going to be a Fatal four-way match. They then began jokingly questioning the arena about who the mystery team could be, before the Hardy Boyz's made their entrance to the stage to a massive ovation from the crowd. At the event, The Hardy Boyz won the Raw Tag Team Championship, defeating the teams of Enzo Amore and Big Cass, Cesaro and Sheamus, and then-reigning champions Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. The night after WrestleMania on Raw, they successfully defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Afterwards on Raw Talk, Matt mentioned that the Hardy Boyz had successfully completed the Expedition of Gold after winning the Raw Tag Team Championship. They would retain the titles at Payback against Sheamus and Cesaro, but lost them at Extreme Rules in a steel cage match, and failed to regain it at the inaugural Great Balls of Fire event.
In September, Jeff suffered a torn rotator cuff and would be out of action for four to six months, leaving Matt to begin a run as a singles competitor. One year later, on the February 26, 2019 episode of SmackDown Live, the Hardy Boyz reunited and, on the April 9 episode of SmackDown, defeated The Usos to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. With this, they became the first team to win all three of WWE's world tag team championships. However, they vacated the WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships due to Jeff suffering a leg injury from Lars Sullivan. While Jeff was recovering, Matt was featured less on WWE television until he left WWE on March 2. and he went on to sign with All Elite Wrestling.

Other media

The Hardys appeared on the February 7, 1999 episode of That '70s Show entitled "", as uncredited wrestlers. Jeff and Matt, along with Lita, also appeared on Tough Enough in early 2001, talking and wrestling with the contestants. They both appeared on the February 25, 2002 episode of Fear Factor competing against four other WWF wrestlers. Jeff was eliminated in the first round, but Matt became the eventual winner, winning $50,000 for the American Cancer Society.
In 2001, the Hardys and Lita appeared in Rolling Stone magazine's 2001 Sports Hall of Fame issue. In 2003, Jeff and Matt, with the help of Michael Krugman, wrote and published their autobiography The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire. As part of WWE, the Hardys appeared in the DVD, The Hardy Boyz: Leap of Faith in 2001. On April 29, 2008, WWE released Twist of Fate: The Matt and Jeff Hardy Story. The DVD features footage of the brothers in OMEGA and WWE, and it also briefly mentions Jeff's initial stint in TNA. The brothers also appear on The Hardy Show, an internet web show which features the Hardys, Shannon Moore, and many of their friends.

Championships and accomplishments