Mid 20th Century
143-540: The Hardys , also known as the Hardy Boys , also stylized as the Hardy Boyz , are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy . They are currently performing for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where they are currently in their third reign as TNA World Tag Team Champions . They first began teaming together in 1993 on the independent circuit , winning
286-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
429-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
572-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
715-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
858-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
1001-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1144-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1287-494: 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 (Edge and Randy Orton ), 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
1430-597: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Harris Twins Donald Harris and Ronald Harris (born October 23, 1960) are American twin brothers best known for their professional wrestling careers with promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and
1573-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
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#17327720214951716-540: 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 (aired July 5), they defeated The Acolytes ( Faarooq and Bradshaw ) to win their first WWF Tag Team Championship , but they re-lost
1859-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2002-452: A handheld breathalyzer that prevents users from starting their vehicle after drinking alcohol — in his car. Khan also announced that Jeff's AEW suspension would only be lifted "upon successfully completing treatment and maintaining his sobriety.” During the April 12, 2023 episode of Dynamite, Jeff Hardy returned to assist his brother during an assault thus reuniting the team. On April 8, 2024, it
2145-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
2288-621: A lengthy feud involving the "Deletion" of Jeff Hardy, Broken Matt sent Jeff, (at the time referred to as Brother Nero), 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
2431-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
2574-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
2717-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
2860-449: A nod to their previous WWF gimmick. They were managed by Traci Brooks and had three final victories, one over Buck Quartermain and Lex Lovett, one over Trinity 's team Phi Delta Slam and one over the team of Cassidy Riley and Shark Boy. Don Harris effectively retired from the ring in 2005, and began working backstage with TNA as production manager. In the same year, Ron Harris retired from professional wrestling and began working for
3003-478: 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. On April 2 at, WrestleMania 33 , The Hardy Boyz made an unannounced return to WWE, after hosts The New Day ( Big E , Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods ) announced that
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#17327720214953146-516: A successful bout the Hardys had at the AEW Double or Nothing PPV against The Young Bucks , Jeff Hardy suffered a "terrible" concussion-like injury which, according to Matt Hardy, left him "almost knocked out." On June 14, 2022, AEW owner Tony Khan would suspend Jeff Hardy indefinitely from AEW the day following his arrest for DUI, driving with a suspended license and violating a restriction that required him to keep an Ignition Interlock Device —
3289-516: 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 ( Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather ) 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
3432-511: A tournament to determine the number one contender to the TNA World Tag Team Championship; they defeated The BroMans ( Jessie Godderz and DJ Z ), 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
3575-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
3718-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
3861-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
4004-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
4147-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
4290-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
4433-732: The 1995 Royal Rumble and were defeated by Lex Luger and The British Bulldog in the opening match of WrestleMania XI . Jacob Blu competed in the King of the Ring 1995 tournament losing to Razor Ramon in the qualifying round. Following a series of losses to the Smoking Gunns , the Harris Brothers left the WWF in October 1995. They eventually left the WWF and returned to ECW in 1996 as
Hardy Boyz - Misplaced Pages Continue
4576-615: The All Japan Pro Wrestling World's Strongest Tag Determination League 2001, an eight-team tag tournament. They defeated The Varsity Club ( Mike Rotunda and Steve Williams ) before losing to Mitsuya Nagai and Toshiaki Kawada in the tournament semi-finals. In June 2002, the Harris Brothers were hired by the upstart Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion, joined Vince Russo 's Sports Entertainment Xtreme faction in December 2002, and remained with
4719-640: The Christian music record label Beach Street Records. In 2007 Ron, Don and Frank Miller formed the Nashville-based management company O-Seven Artist Management. They work for Aroluxe, a marketing and production company. In January 2016, TNA hired Aroluxe to pay for its TV tapings. In 2002, the brothers appeared on a TNA PPV wearing shirts with the Nazi SS symbol. They also displayed their SS tattoos (which were later covered up). TNA apologized for
4862-840: The ECW Tag Team Championships were held-up after a controversial ending to a match between the Bruise Brothers and the incumbents, The Public Enemy . The Bruise Brothers went on to participate in some of the first ECW hardcore matches, and feuded with Shane Douglas . The Harris Brothers were signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in January 1995, where they were renamed "The Blu Brothers", Eli (Ron) and Jacob (Don). They retained their trademark bushy beards and long hair and donned garb to resemble mountain men, and were managed by Uncle Zebekiah . They made their WWF debuts shortly before
5005-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
5148-585: The Nippon Budokan promoted by the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion. In late 2003, Ron Harris began working for wrestler and burgeoning rap artist Randy Savage as a tour manager . The Harris Brothers were reunited in November 2004 when Savage debuted in TNA and, following a backstage altercation with his rival Hulk Hogan , requested that he be accompanied by two bodyguards at all times. The job
5291-950: The Raw Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 33 , and would team on and off over the next two years. In 2019, they won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship the night after WrestleMania 35 , but would relinquish the titles three weeks later after Jeff suffered a leg injury. Jeff would then be out of action for the rest of the year, marking the last appearance of the team during their latest run in WWE, as Matt's contract expired in March 2020 and he went to AEW soon after. Both brothers have also won singles championships, with each becoming multi-time world champions in their own right. In 2017, they held seven tag team championships from seven different companies at
5434-573: The TNA World Tag Team Championship . On the August 14 episode of Impact Wrestling , The Hardys were defeated by Team 3D (the former Dudley Boyz). 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
5577-965: The WWE/World Tag Team Championship six times, the Raw Tag Team Championship once, the 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. The brothers formed a tag team in 1993 after Jeff's debut in the Trampoline Wrestling Federation (TWF). The promotion went by several names, and it
5720-943: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). They are now co-presidents of the Nashville -based Aro Lucha professional wrestling promotion. For the majority of their careers, the brothers performed as a tag team . They wrestled under their birth names and a variety of ring names , including Don Bruise and Ron Bruise (the Bruise Brothers); Eli Blu and Jacob Blu (the Blu Twins); Jared Grimm and Jason Grimm (the Grimm Twins); Skull and 8 Ball (the Disciples of Apocalypse); and Patrick and Gerald (Creative Control). Don and Ron Harris were born in Florida . In
5863-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
Hardy Boyz - Misplaced Pages Continue
6006-629: The nWo 2000 in 2000 using their real names, acting as enforcers for Jeff Jarrett . They remained in WCW throughout 2000, feuding with Sid Vicious , Terry Funk and many of the younger tag teams, such as The Mamalukes . After winning the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times, the Harris Brothers began wrestling in singles matches in 2001, but WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001, and they were not hired. In November and December 2001, Don and Ron Harris took part in
6149-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
6292-753: 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 (TNA) in mid-2004. After no-showing several events, he
6435-579: The "gang wars" of 1997, feuding with the Nation of Domination and the Puerto Rican stable Los Boricuas . They went on to compete in the tag division throughout 1998. They feuded with the Legion Of Doom . 8-Ball also competed in the WWE's Brawl For All tournament on July 20, 1998, but lost to 2 Cold Scorpio in the third round. Their last match in WWF as a tag team was at a house show, which
6578-501: 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
6721-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
6864-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
7007-598: The 1980s, Ron and Don relocated to Nashville, Tennessee , in order to become professional wrestlers. Ron worked as a police officer in West Palm Beach, Florida , prior to moving to Tennessee with his brother. Don and Ron Harris, with support from the country music group Sawyer Brown , debuted in the Continental Wrestling Association in December 1987 as "The Bruise Brothers", where they became two-time World Tag Team Champions. When
7150-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
7293-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
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#17327720214957436-584: The Bruise Brothers, competing once more in the tag division, and briefly joining Raven's Nest . Don and Ron Harris returned to the WWF in September 1996, as the short-lived "Grimm Twins," Jason (Ron) and Jared (Don) where they had matches with the Smoking Gunns and the Godwinns . In June 1997, were repackaged as "8-Ball" (Ron) and "Skull" (Don), members of the Disciples of Apocalypse stable with Crush and their cousin, Chainz . The DOA participated in
7579-558: The CWA became the United States Wrestling Association in 1989, the Bruise Brothers remained in the promotion . Don and Ron won five more Tag Team Championships, with Don winning two additional USWA World Tag Team Championships with Brian Lee and Ron winning an additional USWA World Tag Team Championship with Jimmy Harris (no relation) as "Beauty and The Beast". The Harris Brothers made a final appearance with
7722-590: 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
7865-405: The February 7, 1999 episode of That '70s Show entitled " That Wrestling Show ", 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
8008-573: The Hardy Boyz lost to Lesnar and Heyman in a tag team match. 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
8151-586: 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 (World, Raw, and SmackDown). However, they vacated the WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships due to Jeff suffering a leg injury from Lars Sullivan. While Jeff was recovering, Matt
8294-424: 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 (who were dressed as Los Conquistadores ) at No Mercy , but they won it back the next night on Raw Is War for
8437-650: 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 ( Eddie Guerrero , Chris Benoit , Malenko and Perry Saturn ). 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
8580-465: The Hardys with the championship belts after the match. The Hardys got a rematch at Vengeance , 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 (MVP) 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
8723-421: 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
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#17327720214958866-496: The June 15 episode of WWF Superstars. Later on they wrestled against Smoking Gunns , Harris Twins , The Headbangers , and Kurrgan in a handicap match. 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 ( Men's Teioh and Shoichi Funaki ) on the September 27, 1998 episode of Sunday Night Heat . Soon after their Sunday Night Heat win, they built up
9009-614: The March 9, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite , reuniting the brothers for the first time in over two years. On the March 16, 2022 episode of Dynamite , Matt and Jeff, billed as "The Hardys", wrestled in their first ever AEW match, defeating Private Party . On April 30, 2022 in Rostraver, PA, the brothers wrestled against The Mane Event (TME) for the IWC Tag Team Championship, and successfully captured their first tag team titles in three years. On May 29, 2022, during
9152-632: The NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship in NWA and founding OMEGA Championship Wrestling , where they held the OMEGA Tag Team Championship . They signed contracts with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1997. In 2000, they were joined by Lita , and the trio became Team Xtreme during her stay. They are the only team to have held the WWE/World, WCW, TNA, ROH, Raw, and SmackDown Tag Team Championships. They are considered one of
9295-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
9438-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
9581-455: The October 31 episode of SmackDown and on November 3 on Raw , winning both matches. 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
9724-721: The SmackDown brand and began a scripted rivalry with Jeff. The pair faced each other in an Extreme Rules match at WrestleMania 25 , 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
9867-769: 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 . Matt returned to TNA in mid-2014. On June 26, at Destination X The Hardys unsuccessfully challenged The Wolves ( Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards ) for
10010-451: 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" (dubbed as "Delete or Decay"). Broken Matt turned babyface during this encounter when King Maxel
10153-489: The USWA in 1996 as "The Grimm Brothers". In 1991, the Bruise Brothers debuted in the Oregon -based National Wrestling Alliance Pacific Northwest promotion, where they became six-time Tag Team Champions. Don Harris was also part of the last match in that promotion's television show, defeating Jon Rambo. On January 27, 1992, the Harris Twins received a tryout match with the WWF at a Wrestling Challenge taping in Lubbock, Texas, defeating Khris Germany and Todd Overbow. They beat
10296-603: The announcement. 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 with help from Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff , revealing that they and others had formed the Immortal faction. On January 9, 2011, at TNA's pay-per-view Genesis , Matt made his TNA debut as a surprise member of Immortal, and defeated Rob Van Dam . Jeff went on to lose
10439-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
10582-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
10725-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
10868-481: 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. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
11011-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
11154-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
11297-628: The championship. On the August 21 episode of SmackDown , Jeff (then the World Heavyweight Champion) 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
11440-429: The championship. After the match, Jeff made his surprise return to TNA to come to Matt's aid from a post-match attack from Moose. On October 26, 2024, the Hardys won their third TNA World Tag Team Championship by defeating previous champions The System ( Eddie Edwards and Brian Myers ), and ABC ( Ace Austin and Chris Bey ) at Bound for Glory in a Full Metal Mayhem match to win the titles. The Hardys appeared on
11583-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
11726-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
11869-510: The company without dropping the TNA World Tag Team Championships. Beginning in April 2014, the brothers reunited on the independent circuit. 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
12012-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
12155-1053: The duo again the next night in Amarillo . In March 1993, the Twins worked a few matches for World Championship Wrestling . In 1993, the Harris Brothers joined Smoky Mountain Wrestling as the Bruise Brothers, managed by Jim Cornette . On June 28, Cornette led them to a victory over the Rock 'n' Roll Express, Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson , for the SMW Tag Team Championships. The Bruise Brothers remained in SMW until early 1994, participating in hardcore matches such as Street Fights and steel cage matches . The Bruise Brothers appeared in Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1994. On February 5,
12298-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
12441-692: 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
12584-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
12727-406: 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 . With the addition of Lita, Matt and Jeff comprised
12870-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
13013-562: 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 (ROH) 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 (as the footage filmed for the following week where they would vacate
13156-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
13299-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
13442-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
13585-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
13728-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
13871-622: The major teams that revived tag team wrestling during the Attitude Era . In 2012, WWE named them as one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history. After splitting up as a team in 2002, the brothers reunited in 2006 and teamed up sporadically afterward. They also appeared in Impact Wrestling (formerly TNA) to briefly reunite in 2011 as members of Immortal , and teamed more frequently from 2014 to 2017. Both brothers left Impact in 2017, and returned to WWE, where they would go on to win
14014-610: 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 ( Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty ), T & A ( Test and Albert ) and Edge and Christian. The Hardyz were able to eliminate T & A before getting eliminated themselves by Edge and Christian. At SummerSlam ,
14157-484: 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
14300-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
14443-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
14586-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
14729-456: The same time, including the ROH World Tag Team Championship and the TNA World Tag Team Championship , being recognized as the only tag team in history to hold these titles simultaneously. The Hardy Boyz gained fame for their innovative participation in ladder matches and Tables, Ladders and Chairs matches with The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian . Overall, they are 13-time world tag team champions between WWE, TNA, and ROH, having won
14872-518: 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
15015-565: The stable until it disbanded in mid-2003. On July 19, 2003, Ron Harris appeared in Harley Race 's World League Wrestling promotion, and, in a match refereed by Ricky Steamboat , won the WLW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Ron Powers (he was substituting for Trevor Rhodes , who had been injured earlier that evening). He lost the title on September 12, 2003, to Takeshi Morishima in a Tokyo title defence in
15158-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
15301-420: 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. On the August 4 episode of Impact Wrestling , after
15444-414: The team of Cade and Murdoch. At One Night Stand , Hardyz retained the titles against The World's Greatest Tag Team ( Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin ) 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
15587-500: 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
15730-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
15873-501: 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
16016-479: 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
16159-503: 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
16302-509: The title. 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
16445-413: 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. However, two years later, on the February 26, 2019 episode of SmackDown Live ,
16588-442: The titles on Impact Wrestling hadn't aired yet), 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
16731-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
16874-405: 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 ( Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley ) 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
17017-405: 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
17160-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
17303-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
17446-595: 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 (the same brand as Matt). 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
17589-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
17732-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
17875-556: 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
18018-653: Was a loss to Ken Shamrock and Mankind on May 14, 1999. Skull's last match was in a singles match at a house show against Ken Shamrock on May 15, 1999, in which he was defeated. 8-Ball's last match was in a singles match at a house show against Ken Shamrock on May 16, 1999, in which he was also defeated. The brothers were released soon after. In November 1999, the Harris Brothers joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "Gerald" (Ron) and "Patrick" (Don). The names were shots at Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco who worked for WWF as Vince McMahon 's stooges. They were known collectively as "Creative Control". They went on to join
18161-654: 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
18304-483: 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 accoutrements equalled 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
18447-468: 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 ( Little Guido Maritato and Tony Mamaluke ). At Survivor Series, Team DX defeated Team Rated-RKO in
18590-733: 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
18733-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
18876-530: Was featured less on WWE television until he left WWE on March 2. and he went on to sign with All Elite Wrestling . Jeff went on to become a singles competitor before being released from the WWE on December 9, 2021. Matt announced on Twitter that he and Jeff would be reuniting for their 'Final Run' and wrestling a match in Big Time Wrestling (BTW). They will be facing the winner of a match between The Briscoes and The S.A.T . Jeff debuted for AEW on
19019-502: Was given to Ron Harris and Savage's tour bodyguard, Brian Adams . Savage had his final match in the promotion in a 6-man tag team match with Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles in a victory over Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall on December 5, 2004, then immediately left the company, but the Harris Brothers were retained to act as road agents . In March 2005, the Harris Brothers reappeared onscreen as "The Disciples of Destruction", two bikers as
19162-656: 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 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
19305-556: Was modernized in 1997 as the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA). The duo worked in several independent promotions throughout North Carolina , holding the OMEGA Tag Team Championship and NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship. They had their first record tag team for Smoky Mountain Wrestling in July 1995. Their first match as a team in the WWF was against The New Rockers on May 28, 1996 for
19448-502: 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
19591-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
19734-409: Was reported that Matt's contract had expired and decided not to renew, effectively disbanding the team. Two months later, Jeff also departed from AEW after his contract expired. Matt made his surprise return to TNA on April 20, 2024 at Rebellion , reverting back to his "Broken" gimmick and attacking TNA World Champion Moose . On June 14 at Against All Odds , Matt unsuccessfully challenged Moose for
19877-476: Was six or seven championships held at one time, the contracts of Broken Matt (Hardy) and Brother Nero (Jeff Hardy) 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
20020-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
20163-407: 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. On August 4, 2006, Jeff rejoined WWE on its Raw brand. In November 2006, it
20306-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
20449-510: Was won by the APA. At WrestleMania X8 , along with the APA and the Dudley Boyz, the Hardyz challenged Billy and Chuck for the WWF Tag Team Championship in a four corners elimination match. The APA 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 ,
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