The Hardy Brothers – Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy are considered legends of this business and are truly the pioneers of tag-team wrestling. Them with Dudley brothers and Edge and Christian truly changed how tag team wrestling was viewed after their TLC match at Wrestlemania X-7 which is considered to be one of the all time classics. Jeff and Matt have had an extensive history with WWE with them joining and leaving the company various times over the years.
Jeff left WWE in 2003 and joined their direct rivals at that time TNA (now Impact Wrestling) to elevate his stardom and become a main event player as a solo superstar. He returned to WWE in 2006 where Matt and Jeff both teamed and feuded with each other before Jeff’s eventual departure from the company again in 2010. In the latest edition of Extreme Life Podcast, Matt Hardy revealed how WWE allegedly punished him for his brother’s success in TNA but soon backtracked.
Matt Hardy explains how he thought WWE punished him
Matt Hardy was sent back home during a tour in Europe in 2010 and he believed that WWE was punishing him for Jeff’s success in TNA. He was quoted saying, “I thought, ‘Well, they can’t punish Jeff but they can punish me. So they’re trying to mess with me since they can’t mess with Jeff.’ So like, just because I’m his brother, because we share the same genes, we share the same blood, they can punish him through me here.”
Hardy later confessed how he might have over-amplified the situation in his head. He also added in the interview, “I think I over-exaggerated that in my head when it was all said and done. I should have just kept my sh*t together and worked hard and did what I could do and finished the contract. Or being as hard as that was just said, ‘I’m hurt, and I need time away from wrestling.’ But I just tried to step it up and fight through everything.“
It was a tough time period according to him after being released as he was both physically and mentally beat up. He eventually joined his brother in TNA and had a really successful run in the company before rejoining WWE with their famous surprise return at Wrestlemania 33.
Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy’s relationship while in WWE
The Hardy Brothers were always inseparable and always had a connection with the WWE Universe. According to Matt Hardy, Vince McMahon loved Jeff and always had faith in him despite Jeff’s long history of addiction and legal troubles. Jeff Hardy left WWE in 2009 to treat his injuries and also got arrested in 2009 for drug abuse. Vince McMahon realized the incredible connection Jeff had with the WWE Universe and for that reason he is a multiple time WWE champion.
Hardy Boyz would go on to become seven-time Tag Team Champions throughout their on and off tenure in WWE and are currently working together in AEW (All Elite Wrestling) after Jeff Hardy joined the promotion in September’22.
For all the people who’ve been following wrestling for more than a decade, Hardy Boyz will always have a major nostalgic impact. Jeff Hardy is a cult hero due to his high risk maneuvers putting his body on the line to entertain people and Matt Hardy has found so much success with his ‘Broken’ character he founded during his time in TNA.
We should relish for however long Hardy Boyz keep wrestling as the day they’ll hang up their boots gets closer day by day. Would you like to see Dudley Boys, Edge and Christian and Hardy Boyz go at it one more time or would it be too much fan service?
