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Jeff Hardy an almost legend, one of the most popular wrestlers of the millennium, let's look into the tumultuous journey of one of professional wrestling's most enigmatic and charismatic figures. From his meteoric rise in WWE with his brother Jeff Hardy as a high-flying daredevil to the personal demons that led to his fall from grace, Jeff Hardy's story is a rollercoaster of triumphs, trials, and tribulations.
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#jeffhardy #matthardy #wwe #aew #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
Play now to find out - https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/brainbuster-wwe-player-guessing-game
Jeff Hardy an almost legend, one of the most popular wrestlers of the millennium, let's look into the tumultuous journey of one of professional wrestling's most enigmatic and charismatic figures. From his meteoric rise in WWE with his brother Jeff Hardy as a high-flying daredevil to the personal demons that led to his fall from grace, Jeff Hardy's story is a rollercoaster of triumphs, trials, and tribulations.
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#jeffhardy #matthardy #wwe #aew #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
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SportsTranscript
00:00Living for the moment will not be my downfall, it will be my salvation.
00:24The only thing that limits you is your imagination.
00:28The scariest thing for the fans watching me because sometimes my thoughts are too big for my size.
00:58The only thing that limits you is your imagination.
01:29Hardy did capture the championship a few more times after this, but he never regained the same level of popularity.
01:35In fact, just a year later in 2009, he left WWE and his career took a dramatic turn.
01:41In 2011 at TNA's Victory Road, Jeff was supposed to face Sting for the TNA World Championship,
01:48but he showed up intoxicated and was in no shape to compete.
01:52Within a couple of minutes, Sting executed his finisher, the Scorpion Death Drop, and pinned Hardy.
01:58It is regarded as one of the most disappointing moments of Jeff's career.
02:02Struggles with substance abuse, legal issues, and inconsistent performances caused his promising career to decline.
02:08So what went wrong? How did Jeff Hardy, who was once the most popular wrestler, experience such a dramatic downfall?
02:15Before we go any further, this video is brought to you by Brain Buster.
02:20Stand back, there's a new wrestling quiz coming through.
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02:31It's time to see if you're up for the challenge.
02:41It all started in 1993 when Jeff and his older brother Matt Hardy started their own federation,
02:46the Trampoline Wrestling Federation, and mimicked the moves they saw on television.
02:50TWF underwent several name changes before being incorporated into a county fair in North Carolina.
02:56Following this, Matt and Jeff started working for various other independent wrestling companies.
03:01In 1994, Jeff finally made his WWE debut against Razor Ramon as an enhancement talent.
03:08He was just 16 years old at the time, however, he lied about his actual age and claimed that he was 18 for his first WWE match.
03:15Things were a little different back in the mid-90s with less background checking.
03:20He felt intimidated by the environment in WWE and never wanted to appear there again,
03:25but after taping another match with 123kid in the same week, he realized that he wanted to be a WWE superstar.
03:32Soon, he started teaming up with his brother Matt and signed a contract with WWE in 1998.
03:38They formed an acrobatic team called the Hardy Boys and feuded with the Brood in 1999.
03:44They even formed a new Brood with Gangrel, which did not last that long.
03:49Not long after this, they won their first WWE Tag Team Championship by defeating the Acolytes.
03:55Although they lost the titles, they were slowly becoming a popular tag team.
03:59However, another tag team of young wrestlers was rising at the same time, Edge and Christian,
04:05and WWE decided to book a feud between them.
04:08This turned out to be the best decision for all their careers as it gave them an opportunity to shine.
04:13All four of them were young and hungry wrestlers who wanted to make a name for themselves.
04:17The feud featured a series of groundbreaking and highly innovative matches,
04:21including the first ever tag team ladder match at No Mercy 1999, which Matt and Jeff won.
04:28This made fans realize that these guys were truly special.
04:31Following this, they competed in a tag team triple threat ladder match against the Dudley Boys and Edge and Christian at WrestleMania 2000.
04:40Edge and Christian won the match, but Jeff became the highlight when he performed a swanton bomb on Bubba Ray Dudley from a 20 foot ladder.
04:48Jeff had made a reputation as a high risk taker who would do anything to win a match.
04:53They brought in Lita as their manager in 2000, which was a strategic move and it felt right as Lita's personality complimented Matt and Jeff.
05:01At Summerslam, the Hardy Boys competed in the first ever tables, ladders and chairs match for the tag team championship against the Dudley Boys and Edge and Christian, but were unsuccessful.
05:12They were involved in another TLC match at WrestleMania 17 with the same two tag teams,
05:17which is to this date considered one of the best matches ever and probably the best in their series of matches.
05:23It's the same match where Edge speared Jeff while he was hanging from the titles.
05:28It was brutal.
05:29They lost the match, but Jeff Hardy was slowly becoming a fan favorite.
05:33He was consistently delivering high risk moves during his matches that pushed the boundaries.
05:38He was doing things that no one else was doing at this time.
05:41His unique blend of athleticism and showmanship not only entertained fans, but also earned him a dedicated following.
05:47In 2001, Hardy received a push as a singles wrestler and won the Intercontinental Championship by defeating Triple H.
05:55He also won the Light Heavyweight Championship and Hardcore Championship.
05:59In the meantime, the Hardy Boys also started a feud with The Undertaker and Jeff even faced the American Badass for the Hardcore Championship.
06:07He was getting these small little moments with the big dogs in the company.
06:11In 2002, Jeff began to garner attention for his singles performances and it felt like he was ready for the next level.
06:19His feud with Taker continued as he faced The Deadman in a ladder match for the Undisputed WWE Championship.
06:25This was the biggest match of his career up until this point.
06:29As it was a ladder match and Jeff had already proved his mantle in those types of matches, it favored his high flying style.
06:36Throughout the match, Jeff used ladders as weapons and platforms for his aerial assaults.
06:41Taker was completely taken off guard by Jeff's resilience.
06:44There were moments when it seemed Jeff might win, but The Deadman was able to win the match and retain his championship.
06:50However, after the match, Jeff stood up and called out The Undertaker again saying, quote,
06:55I'm still standing, end quote.
06:57Taker, who was visibly shocked by this, entered the ring and instead of continuing the assault, he unexpectedly raised Jeff's hand in a gesture of respect.
07:05The match solidified him as an underdog capable of pushing even a legend like The Undertaker to his limits.
07:12It became a defining moment in Hardy's career and soon fans began to demand to see him in a prominent role in the company.
07:18Following this, Matt and Jeff went their separate ways with Matt moving to SmackDown while Jeff stayed on Raw focusing on the main card titles.
07:26He won the European Championship, but then lost it to the Intercontinental Champion RVD in a title unification match.
07:33By the time 2003 rolled around, things were going fairly well for Jeff, but behind the scenes, he was spiraling out of control.
07:41He failed WWE drug tests, showed unpredictable behavior such as missing events, and a decline in in-ring performance.
07:49He was also offered rehab, but Hardy refused help.
07:52WWE had no choice but to release him from his contract in April of 2003.
07:57Just as it seemed he was on the brink of superstardom, Jeff Hardy was gone from the company.
08:02However, just a month later, Jeff hit the independent scene and introduced the Will-O-The-Wisp character.
08:09He also appeared on Ring of Honor at the event Death Before Dishonor, but the fans did not welcome him with open arms.
08:15He was booed by the Ring of Honor audience who chanted,
08:22According to Matt Hardy, following this event, Jeff never wanted to go back to Ring of Honor, calling it Ring of Horror.
08:28Later, he signed with TNA where he worked with wrestlers such as AJ Styles, Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash, and many more around this time, but this run wasn't that memorable.
08:38He was still dealing with substance abuse.
08:41He was scheduled to wrestle on the pre-show of Turning Point in December of 2005, but he no-showed the event, citing traveling problems.
08:49He was suspended and later released from TNA.
08:52In just three years, he was released from two wrestling companies.
08:57This motivated him to get clean and be in the best shape of his life.
09:00On Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions, Hardy said,
09:03This is when his second run in WWE started.
09:06In August 2006, he made a comeback by confronting his old rival Edge, who had become the WWE champion around the time.
09:13Edge was the first WWE champion to win a title match, and he was the first to win a title match in his career.
09:19He was also the first to win a title match in his career.
09:22He was also the first to win a title match in his career.
09:26In August 2006, he made a comeback by confronting his old rival Edge, who had become the WWE champion around the time.
09:33Edge was the first to win a title match in his career.
09:36He was the first to win a title match in his career.
09:39He also reunited with his brother Matt to win the Tag Team Championships.
09:44It looked like he was back on track.
09:46At WrestleMania 23, both Matt and Jeff competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match.
09:51During the match, Jeff performed a leap from a 20-foot ladder, delivering a leg drop that drove Edge through another ladder.
09:58As a result, both men were unable to continue and they were taken away from ringside on stretchers.
10:03It was the highlight of the night and Jeff was once again becoming a popular figure in WWE.
10:09In the meantime, he captured the IC title a few more times.
10:13Hardy then began an on-and-off tag team with Triple H, which eventually led to a friendly feud between the two.
10:19They had a match at Armageddon 2007 where Hardy defeated Triple H to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship.
10:27Yeah, it was time for him to go to the next level.
10:30Randy Orton was the champion at the time and Jeff started a personal feud with the Viper.
10:35There was a dramatic moment on Raw where Hardy delivered a swanton bomb from the top of the stage onto Orton.
10:41And man, did it look brutal.
10:43Jeff had all the momentum leading up to his match against Orton at Royal Rumble 2008.
10:48But despite a valiant effort, he fell short and Randy managed to win the match.
10:52The following month, Jeff was a part of the Raw Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out where he survived to the final two before being eliminated by Triple H.
11:01These matches proved that Hardy was ready for the main event push.
11:04In fact, he felt like a main event star.
11:07But once again, his personal issues began to take over.
11:11He got suspended for 60 days for a second violation of the company's substance abuse and drug testing policy and was removed from the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 24.
11:21In fact, Jeff was booked to win the Money in the Bank ladder match.
11:25On his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, Matt Hardy revealed that his brother was going to walk out with the briefcase.
11:32Matt said quote,
11:41But because Jeff was out, CM Punk won the contract.
11:45This became a repeating cycle for Jeff.
11:48Whenever he was about to get a push, his personal issues would resurface.
11:52However, this time he did not lose momentum and upon his return, he was sent to SmackDown and this was the best thing that could have happened to him.
11:59He continued to chase the WWE Championship, participating in several high stakes matches and feuded with Triple H for the title.
12:06Fans were clamoring for the charismatic enigma to finally win the WWE title.
12:11Hardy was scratching and crawling his way into the main event scene, hoping to accomplish success at the highest level for the first time.
12:18WWE eventually pulled the trigger on the moment everyone wanted at Armageddon where he took on Triple H and Edge for the WWE Championship.
12:27The shocking finish of the match saw Hardy hit a swanton bomb on both Triple H and Edge to score the victory winning his first WWE Championship.
12:36The crowd erupted as Hardy celebrated with the title.
12:39Overwhelmed by the magnitude of his accomplishment, Hardy's expression said it all.
12:43Watch this match just for the celebration because it's surreal.
12:48In the meantime, Jeff faced some real life challenges.
12:51He was involved in a pyro accident on the ramp.
12:54His house in Cameron, North Carolina burned down resulting in the tragic loss of his dog and his WWE title reign did not last long.
13:02At Royal Rumble, Hardy defended his title against Edge but during the match, his brother Matt Hardy came out and screwed him out of the WWE Championship.
13:11Matt explained his motivations as stemming from jealousy.
13:14This made sense considering the success Jeff had received and with Matt being the big brother, it was logical for him to feel disdain.
13:22This would have been enough to keep the feud going but WWE added some horrific details to this rivalry.
13:27Matt was first revealed to be the man behind all the incidents that we just mentioned.
13:32He was portrayed as a psychopath.
13:34They fought at Wrestlemania 25 in an extreme rules match which had some fun moments but it didn't feel like a battle between two people who had hated each other.
13:43Matt won the match but Jeff got his win back at Backlash in an I quit match.
13:48Some fans felt this feud could have helped both of them out but it didn't do much.
13:52Jeff went back to the title scene and beat Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship in a ladder match.
13:58But before he could celebrate, CM Punk's music hit and he made his way to the ring with a Money in the Bank briefcase.
14:04Seeing an exhausted and vulnerable Hardy, Punk seized the opportunity and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.
14:11The referee rang the bell and the match began immediately.
14:15Despite Hardy's valiant effort to fight back, he lost his newly won World Championship to Punk.
14:20Up until this point, he had won the title twice only to lose it to underhanded tactics.
14:25This further amplified his underdog image.
14:28He began one of the best feuds of the year with Punk who had began taunting Hardy for his personal issues.
14:34Punk was just too convincing as a heel and he seemed right even when he insulted the fans and Hardy,
14:40who had real life drug problems, bringing up Hardy's two WWE wellness policy violations.
14:45He also used his straight edge lifestyle as a weapon against the fans.
14:49It was too real.
14:51Hardy defeated Punk at Night of Champions and got his world title back, but Punk won at Summerslam, winning the title again.
14:58The rivalry culminated in a loser leaves WWE steel cage match on Smackdown.
15:03Punk won the match, forcing Hardy to leave the company.
15:07This outcome marked the end of their intense rivalry and Hardy's departure from WWE for several years.
15:13His contract with WWE expired that week and he decided not to resign with the company.
15:18He was physically burnt out.
15:20His high flying style and his tendency to take bigger bumps than most led him to suffering from many different injuries.
15:25He had two herniated discs in his lower back, in addition to several neck issues and restless leg syndrome.
15:32Hardy's initial goal was to simply take time off to heal, focus on some other ventures,
15:36and eventually make his comeback to WWE and continue as a top star within the promotion.
15:41But shortly after leaving WWE, Hardy was arrested and charged with a drug related issue.
15:47Allegedly, he also declined rehab which led to WWE being unwilling to bring him back.
15:52He was just proving to be a liability for the company.
15:55WWE wasn't willing to take him back, but TNA was.
16:00He made his return to TNA in 2010 and soon became the TNA World Champ.
16:05He was a major star in TNA, but his struggles with substance abuse and erratic behavior overshadowed his in-ring performances
16:12and led to one of the most infamous incidents in wrestling history.
16:15At the Victory Road event, Hardy was scheduled to face Sting for the TNA World Championship.
16:20As Hardy's music played, there was a long silence for roughly 40 seconds.
16:25Finally, Hardy came out and it was obvious to everyone that something was seriously wrong.
16:30He was visibly impaired and in no condition to compete.
16:33Both Sting and the referee looked embarrassed to be there.
16:36Eric Bischoff, who was running things at the time in TNA, came out and gave Sting the instructions to finish the match quickly
16:43and the Stinger did exactly that.
16:45He hit Hardy with a scorpion death drop and pinned him 1-2-3.
16:49To say that fans didn't take this well would be an understatement.
16:53The crowd erupted in boos.
16:55Hardy just sat in the ring looking like he had no clue what had just happened.
16:59The online reaction was worse though, with many demanding refunds.
17:03This was the darkest chapter in Jeff Hardy's career.
17:06TNA sent him home to address his personal issues and he was effectively suspended from the promotion.
17:12The incident severely damaged Hardy's reputation and raised serious concerns about his future in professional wrestling.
17:17He did eventually come back, but the roster was not happy with him.
17:22AJ Styles was seen talking to Hardy and he said quote
17:25You almost killed the whole company because you are selfish.
17:28I gotta feed my family.
17:30You're gonna take money off my family.
17:32End quote.
17:34Hardy did win the TNA World Championship again and eventually regained fan support,
17:39but he was never the same after that incident.
17:41It wasn't until 2016 that Jeff got some significance back
17:45and it was all because of his brother Matt who introduced the Broken Matt character.
17:49The storyline centered around Matt's mental breakdown and subsequent awakening,
17:53which he attributed to a broken condition after a series of brutal matches with Jeff.
17:57This led to a very interesting cinematic match between the two brothers, The Final Deletion.
18:03It was held at the Hardy Compound in Cameron, North Carolina.
18:07The match also saw the use of a ring set up in the middle of the Hardy Compound,
18:11where traditional wrestling moves were combined with a unique environment.
18:14Matt ended up winning the match, forcing Jeff to drop his last name and become referred to as Brother Nero.
18:20This reinvigorated interest in both Matt and Jeff Hardy and fans began wanting to see them more.
18:25The popularity of the character extended beyond TNA,
18:28with fans chanting Delete at wrestling events across various promotions.
18:32They needed something new to work with and this provided them with the perfect opportunity.
18:37They became so popular that WWE called them back in 2017 and made the return at Wrestlemania 33,
18:49winning the Raw Tag Team Championships.
18:52However, WWE did not present Jeff as Brother Nero, they presented him as Jeff Hardy.
18:58A year later in 2018, he won the United States Championship but did not do much since then.
19:05He was never pushed to the main event level and was out of action for most of the time.
19:09On December 4th, 2021, during a house show, Hardy unexpectedly walked out in the middle of a tag team match.
19:15The next day, he was sent home amid WWE's live tour.
19:19This incident marked his final appearance in WWE as his contract was terminated 5 days later.
19:25He signed with All Elite Wrestling following this, but in the meantime,
19:29he was arrested on June 14th in 2022 in Florida,
19:32where he was charged with one count of driving under the influence,
19:35one count of driving with a suspended license,
19:38and another count of driving while his license was restricted.
19:41He originally pleaded not guilty and faced 5 years in prison.
19:45It was his third DUI arrest in the last 10 years, which is a third degree felony.
19:50He did avoid jail time, but AEW suspended him following his arrest,
19:55stating that he would only be allowed a return after successfully completing treatment and maintaining sobriety.
20:00He did make a return, but AEW did not do anything substantial.
20:04Many inside and out of the business believe that it's time for Jeff to retire from professional wrestling.
20:10He is 46 years old and it has become evident that his entering speed and agility have decreased.
20:15He looks sloppy inside the ring and botches a lot of moves.
20:19Also, with a heavy drinking issue leading to numerous DUIs over the past several years,
20:24Jeff has shot himself in the public eye and has gone from one of the most beloved babyface wrestlers of all time
20:30to someone who is incredibly hard to root for.
20:33Jeff is an icon in this industry, but maybe it's time for him to hang up the boots.
20:54Thanks for watching!