Jeff Hardy

Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American professional wrestler on the RAW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he is the reigning Intercontinental Champion.

Before gaining prominence in WWE, Hardy performed for the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA), a promotion he ran with his brother Matt. After being signed by WWE, the brothers worked as jobbers before gaining notoriety in the tag team division, partly due to their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. With the addition of Lita, the team became known as Team Xtreme and continued to rise in popularity. As a tag team wrestler, Hardy is a former six-time World Tag Team Champion and one-time WCW Tag Team Champion.

Apart from his success as a tag team wrestler, Hardy has also had success as a singles wrestler. He is a former Hardcore, European and Light Heavyweight champion. He received his first major main event push towards the end of 2007, including challenging for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble in 2008.

Moreover, Hardy is involved in motocross, music, and other artistic endeavors. He is currently a member of the unsigned band Peroxwhy?gen.

Career

Early career

Hardy cites Sting, The Ultimate Warrior, and Shawn Michaels as his childhood inspirations to wrestle. Hardy had been on World Wrestling Federation (WWF) television as a jobber as early as age sixteen. His first WWF match, against The 1-2-3 Kid, was on May 25, 1994 in Erie, Pennsylvania and aired on the June 25 edition of Superstars. He occasionally wrestled as a jobber as late as 1997 before beginning his first major run in 1998. Hardy, along with his brother Matt Hardy and friends, started their own federation, the TWF (Trampoline Wrestling Federation) and mimicked the moves they saw on television. Later on, the federation went under several different names, eventually being integrated into a county fair in North Carolina. The brothers and their friends then began to work for other independent companies. They drove all over the East Coast of the United States, working for companies such as ACW and other small promotions.
Jeff Hardy during an autograph signing session:

Before arriving in the WWF, Matt formed his own wrestling promotion, OMEGA (Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts) with Thomas Simpson. The promotion was a more successful version of the original TWF and included such talent as both Hardy brothers, Shannon Moore, Gregory Helms, Joey Matthews, among others. In OMEGA, each of the brothers portrayed several different characters; Hardy portrayed such characters as Will O' the Wisp, Iceman, Mean Jimmy Jack Tomkins, and The Masked Mountain. While there, Hardy held the New Frontier Championship as a singles competitor and the Tag Team Championship with Matt. The promotion folded in April 1998 when they signed contracts with the WWF.

World Wrestling Federation

The Hardy Boyz (1998–2002)

Main article: Hardy Boyz

The Hardy brothers eventually caught the eyes of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). After being signed to a contract in 1998, they were trained by Dory Funk, Jr. in his Funkin' Dojo with other notable wrestlers such as Kurt Angle, Christian, Test, and A-Train. When the team was finally brought up to WWF television, after months of 'jobbing' and house events, they formed the acrobatic tag team called the Hardy Boyz. During this time, they were managed by Michael Hayes. In 1999, they feuded with Edge and Christian and had a short stint in the stable The New Brood. On October 17 at No Mercy 1999, the Hardy Boyz won the managerial services of Terri Runnels in the finals of the Terri Invitational Tournament in the WWF's first ever tag team ladder match against Edge and Christian.

The Hardy Boyz team won the WWE Tag Team Championship on six occasions. In 2000, the Hardy Boyz found a new manager in their real-life friend Lita. Together, the three became known as "Team Xtreme".

Hardy gained attention for his high risk stunts in the TLC matches in the year 2000, 2001, and 2002. He made a name for himself as one of the most seemingly reckless and unorthodox WWF performers of his time. In 2001, Hardy also held the WWF Intercontinental (defeating Triple H), Light Heavyweight (defeating Jerry Lynn) and Hardcore Championships (defeating Mike Awesome and Van Dam on two separate occasions).

In early April 2002 the Hardy Boyz began a feud with Brock Lesnar after Lesnar gave Matt an F-5 on the steel entrance ramp, which led to an angered Hardy seeking revenge on Lesnar. At Backlash, Hardy faced-off against Lesnar in his first televised match. Lesnar dominated Hardy and won the match by knockout. Lesnar and the Hardys continued to feud over the next few weeks, with the Hardys coming out victorious only once by disqualification. At Judgment Day, Lesnar gained the upper hand on the Hardy Boyz before tagging his partner, Paul Heyman, in to claim the win for the team. In July 2002, Hardy won his third Hardcore Championship by defeating Bradshaw.

Singles competition (2002–2003)

After years in the tag team division, Hardy took on The Undertaker in a Ladder match for the Undisputed Championship. Hardy came up short, but earned the Undertaker's respect. Hardy competed for singles titles on several occasions and defeated William Regal for the WWE European Championship. Hardy was defeated a few weeks later by Rob Van Dam in a match to unify the European Championship and the Intercontinental Championship, and the European Championship was dropped. Finally, the Hardy Boyz split apart, as Hardy continued to pursue his singles ambitions on RAW and his brother, Matt was drafted to SmackDown!.

In January 2003, he had a brief heel turn that began after he attacked Van Dam and Shawn Michaels. It ended a month later when he saved Stacy Kiebler from an attack by then-heel, Christian. In February, he had a brief program with Michaels, which saw the two team up. Then in storyline, Hardy hooked up with Trish Stratus after saving her from Steven Richards and Victoria in March. Hardy and Stratus had a brief kayfabe relationship that saw the duo talking backstage, kissing, and teaming together in matches. In his last match before being released, Hardy was defeated by The Rock. Hardy was released from WWE on April 22, 2003. The reasons given for the release were Hardy's erratic behavior, drug use, refusal to go to rehab, deteriorating ring performance, as well as constant tardiness and no-showing events. Hardy also cites "burn out" and the need for time off as reasons for leaving WWE.

Time off and independent circuit (2003)

After leaving the WWF/E, Hardy took a whole year off of wrestling to concentrate on motocross and finish his motocross track. Hardy then returned to wrestling and performed with the Ring of Honor promotion. Hardy first appeared at ROH's 2003 show, Death Before Dishonor, under his "Will O' the Wisp" gimmick, wearing a mask and trench coat. Hardy was quickly unmasked and lost his jacket, wearing attire similar to that he wore in WWE. Hardy was booed and heckled before, during, and after the match by the ROH audience, who chanted "We want Matt!" and "You were fired!" during his match with Joey Matthews and Krazy K, which Hardy won.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004–2006)

Hardy debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on June 23, 2004 at the TNA weekly pay-per-view #100, the Second Anniversary Show, in a match against TNA X Division Champion A.J. Styles, for the title. He also debuted his new entrance theme "Modest," a song performed by Hardy himself, and his new nickname "The Charismatic Enigma". The match ended in a no-contest when Kid Kash and Dallas interfered. Hardy returned to TNA on July 21 and was awarded a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Hardy challenged for the title on September 8, losing to NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett.

In October 2004, he won a tournament, earning a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on November 7 at Victory Road. Hardy was defeated by Jarrett once again in a ladder match at Victory Road following interference from Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. One month later at Turning Point, Hardy, A.J. Styles and Randy Savage defeated Jarrett, Hall and Nash (collectively known as the Kings of Wrestling). Hardy went on to defeat Hall in a singles match, substituting for Hector Garza at Final Resolution on January 16, 2005.

At Against All Odds in February 2005, Hardy lost to Abyss in a "Full Metal Mayhem" match for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Hardy returned the favor by defeating Abyss in a Falls Count Anywhere match at Destination X in March. Hardy then went on to feud with Raven, with Hardy defeating Raven in a steel cage match at Lockdown in April. Hardy was suspended from TNA after no-showing his "Clockwork Orange House of Fun" rematch with Raven at Hard Justice on May 15, allegedly due to travel difficulties. Hardy's suspension was lifted on August 5, and he returned at Sacrifice approximately a week later, attacking Jeff Jarrett. He wrestled his first TNA match in four months at Unbreakable on September 11, losing to Bobby Roode following interference from Jarrett.

Throughout October 2005, Hardy became embroiled in a feud with Abyss, Rhino and Sabu. The four way feud culminated in a Monster's Ball match at Bound for Glory on October 23, which Rhino won. In the course of the match, Hardy delivered a Swanton Bomb to Abyss from a height of approximately seventeen feet (5.18 meters). Later that night, Hardy competed in a ten-man battle royal for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which Rhino also won. At Genesis in November, Hardy lost to Monty Brown in another number one contender match.

Hardy was scheduled to wrestle on the pre-show of Turning Point in December 2005, but once again no-showed the event, again citing traveling problems. Hardy was suspended as a result and did not appear on TNA television again. In March, April, and May 2006, Hardy appeared on several house shows promoted by TNA in conjunction with Dave Hebner and the United Wrestling Federation.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2006–present)

Return

On August 4, 2006, WWE announced that Hardy had re-signed with the company. In the following weeks, vignettes aired hyping his return on the August 21 episode of RAW. On the day of his return, Hardy defeated then-WWE Champion Edge by disqualification when Lita pulled Edge out of the ring. After failing to capture the Intercontinental Championship from Johnny Nitro over the next few weeks, including at Unforgiven, Hardy finally defeated Nitro to win his second Intercontinental Championship on the October 2 edition of RAW. On the November 6 episode of RAW, Hardy lost the Intercontinental Championship back to Nitro, after Nitro hit him with the Intercontinental Championship title belt. Just a week after he lost the title to Nitro, Hardy regained it on the November 13 edition of RAW, with a crucifix pin. This marked Hardy's third reign as Intercontinental Champion.

The Hardys reunion

On the November 21 episode of ECW on Sci-fi Hardy teamed with his brother Matt for the first time in almost five years to defeat the Full Blooded Italians. At Survivor Series, they both were a part of Team DX, which gained the victory over Team Rated-RKO with a clean sweep. The brothers then received their first opportunity since Hardy's return to win a tag team championship. They competed in a 4-team Ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon, but they came up short in their attempt. In the course of the match, however, they inadvertently legitimately injured Joey Mercury's face.

With Hardy still feuding with Johnny Nitro and MNM into 2007, he was challenged once again by Nitro at New Year's Revolution in a Steel Cage match for the Intercontinental Championship. Hardy once again defeated Nitro. Hardy then teamed with Matt to defeat MNM at both the Royal Rumble and No Way Out. The next night on RAW, February 19, Hardy was defeated for the Intercontinental title by Umaga. In April 2007, Hardy competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23. During the match, Matt Hardy threw Edge onto a ladder and encouraged Hardy, who was close to the winning briefcase, to finish him off. Hardy then leaped off the ladder nearly twenty feet, drove Edge through the ladder with a leg drop, kayfabe injuring both Edge and himself. The two were unable to continue the match and were removed from ringside on stretchers.

The next night on RAW, April 2, the Hardys competed in a 10-team battle royal for the World Tag Team Championship. They won the titles after eliminating Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. They then began a feud with Cade and Murdoch, with the Hardys retaining their World Tag Team Championships in their first title defense against them at Backlash and again at Judgment Day. Cade and Murdoch, however, defeated the Hardys on RAW on June 4 to win the titles. The Hardys earned a rematch at Vengeance but were defeated.

Singles competition

In the midst of feuding with Umaga, who defeated Hardy at The Great American Bash to retain the Intercontinental title in late July, Hardy was abruptly taken off WWE programming. Hardy posted on his own website and in the forums of TheHardyShow.com that it was time off to heal, stemming from a bad fall taken in a match against Mr. Kennedy on the July 23 edition of RAW. He made his return on the August 27 edition of RAW against Kennedy and won by disqualification after Umaga interfered. The following week, on September 3, Hardy successfully captured his fourth Intercontinental Championship by defeating Umaga for the title.

At Cyber Sunday, Hardy had the opportunity to be voted in to face Randy Orton for the WWE Championship. He lost the vote, however, and instead faced Kennedy in a losing effort. Hardy and Triple H were the last two standing to win the Survivor Series traditional elimination match. This was the start of a push for Hardy, and he began an on and off tag team with Triple H, which eventually led to a respectful feud between the two. The feud continued at Armageddon, when Hardy defeated Triple H to become the Number 1 Contender for the WWE Championship. In the weeks leading up to the Royal Rumble, Hardy and Orton engaged in a deeply personal feud. It began when Orton kicked Hardy's brother, Matt in the head. Hardy, in retaliation, Swanton bombed Orton from the top of the Raw set, and seemed to have all the momentum after coming out on top in their encounters. Hardy, however, ended up losing the title match at the Royal Rumble. He then was named as one of six men to compete in an Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out, and would survive to the final two before being eliminated by eventual winner Triple H. On the February 19 edition of RAW, Hardy defeated Snitsky and qualified to compete at the twenty-fourth annual WrestleMania event in the fourth annual Money in the Bank ladder match.