Jeff Hardy: Encyclopedia II - Jeff Hardy - Wrestling career

Jeff Hardy - Wrestling career

Matt and Jeff Hardy had a dream of becoming wrestlers since a young age. They watched wrestling often and by the time Jeff was 16, he had been on WWF (now WWE) TV as a jobber. Jeff, along with Matt and friends, started their own federation, the TWF (Teenage Wrestling Federation) and mimicked the moves they saw on TV. Later on, the federation went under several different names, eventually being integrated into a county fair in North Carolina. Jeff, Matt, and 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. The Hardyz eventually caught the eyes of World Wrestling Entertainment, and after being signed to a contract, they were trained by former wrestler Dory Funk, Jr. in his Funkin' Dojo with other notable wrestlers such as Kurt Angle, Christian, Andrew "Test" Martin, and (Prince)Albert, a.k.a. A-Train. Before ever arriving in the WWE, Matt had 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 Matt, Jeff, Shannon Moore, Gregory Helms, Amy Dumas, Joey Matthews, Caprice Coleman, and many others. In OMEGA, Matt and Jeff each had several different characters. Jeff portrayed such characters as Willow the Whisp, Iceman, Mean Jimmy Jack Tomkins, Wolverine, and The Masked Mountain.

Jeff Hardy - World Wrestling Federation

In 1998, they were signed to WWF contracts. When they were finally brought up to WWF TV, they formed the acrobatic tag team called The Hardy Boyz. Matt recently said that if they were compared to the Rockers, Jeff would be Shawn Michaels and Matt would be Marty Jannetty.

Jeff is known for his high-risk aerial maneuvers, especially in TLC matches and made a name for himself as one of the most seemingly reckless WWF performers of his time.

The team of Matt and Jeff won the Tag Titles in the WWF on several occasions. After years in the tag-team division, Jeff stepped up and took on The Undertaker in a ladder match for the Undisputed Championship. Jeff came up short, but earned the Undertaker's respect. If Jeff was to win, he would have become a Grand Slam Champion, winning the Undisputed Championship, Tag Titles, Intercontinental Championship, Hardcore Championship, and European Championship. Jeff competed for singles titles on several occasions, but was unsuccessful. Finally the Hardy Boyz split apart, as Jeff continued to pursue his singles ambitions and brother Matt defected to SmackDown! from Raw.

Jeff was in a few angles after that. He first teamed with Shawn Michaels and then hooked up with Trish Stratus after saving her from Steven Richards and Victoria. In his last WWE match, Jeff was defeated by The Rock. Jeff parted ways with WWE on April 22, 2003. According to rumors, Jeff either refused to take a drug test or failed one, so WWE fired him. Jeff denies such rumors and says that he lost his passion for the wrestling business and wanted to focus on other endeavors. [1]

Jeff Hardy - Ring of Honor

In 2003, Jeff returned to wrestling when he performed at the Ring of Honor show, Death Before Dishonor, in his "Willow the Wisp" gimmick, wearing a mask and trenchcoat. Jeff was quickly unmasked and lost his jacket, wearing attire similar to that he wore in WWE. Jeff was booed and heckled before, during, and after the match by the ROH audience, who chanted "We want Matt!" and "You got fired!" during his match with Joey Matthews and Krazy K. During his walk back to the locker room, it even seemed that Jeff argued with a fan giving him the middle finger. It should also be noted that Jeff won this match.

Jeff Hardy - Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

In July 2004 Jeff signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). In his debut match, he fought against A.J. Styles for the X-Division title as a surprise opponent. The match was declared a draw after Kid Kash and Lance Hoyt interfered. Jeff has since became a main event star and has even competed against Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Title at TNA's final weekly PPV (before it switched to its current monthly format).

Jeff was given the nickname The Charismatic Enigma and made his way back towards the NWA World Heavyweight Title, Jeff fought against Jarrett in TNA's First Sunday PPV Victory Road in a ladder match but lost due to interference by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. Jeff then teamed up with A.J. Styles and "Macho Man" Randy Savage against the then-Kings of Wrestling (Nash, Hall, Jarrett). He has recently defeated Scott Hall at TNA's Final Resolution, lost to Abyss at Against All Odds (in a Full Metal Mayhem match), then defeated Abyss at Destination X (in a Falls Count Anywhere match). At TNA's Lockdown April PPV event, Jeff defeated Raven in a brutal Six-Sides of Steel Tables match. Jeff was suspended by TNA for no showing the May 15, 2005 Hard Justice PPV, an incident he blamed on travel issues. The suspension was lifted on August 5, 2005, and at the August 14, 2005 Sacrifice PPV, Hardy made his return when he attacked Jeff Jarrett during his match against Raven and Sabu.

Hardy had his first TNA match in four months at TNA Unbreakable, where he lost to Bobby Roode following interference by Petey Williams and Jeff Jarrett. He beat Rhino on the October 1, 2005, episode of iMPACT! via disqualification after he was attacked by Abyss, but was pinned by Rhino in "Monster's Ball 2" at TNA Bound For Glory on October 23. He went on to lose to Monty Brown in a match for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at TNA Genesis on November 13 following a Pounce.

On the TNA Pay-Per-View on Sunday, December 11th, Jeff "no-showed" his match thus being his provrbeial "3rd" strike, soon after rumors of a WWE return ran wild all over the internet. His profile on the TNA website was temporarily removed. Despite this, TNA is hesitant to release Hardy, since doing so would cause a drop in merchandise sales. Simply put, TNA feels that they can't afford to lose him, a decision which has been called into question by critics.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Wrestling career", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki