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Matt Hardy

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Matt Hardy
File:Matthardypose.PNG
BornSeptember 23, 1974
Cameron,
North Carolina
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)High Voltage
Surge
Ingus Jynx
Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy, Version 1.0
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Billed weight236 lb (107 kg)
Trained byDory Funk, Jr.
Debut1992

Matthew (Matt) Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974 in Cameron, North Carolina) is an American professional wrestler, currently working for the SmackDown! brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He is best known as being a member of the Hardy Boyz and Team Xtreme with his brother Jeff Hardy and former girlfriend Lita between 1998 and 2004.

Career

Before his WWF debut with his brother Jeff, Matt was trained by former wrestler Dory Funk, Jr. Before signing with the WWF, Matt and Jeff ran their own wrestling promotion, OMEGA Wrestling, in which Matt competed under the name High Voltage. However, he had to change his name to Surge after a WCW tag team began to use that name. This happened shortly after Matt Hardy sent in a tape for the WCW Amateur Challenge with himself as High Voltage. A few years later, it was revealed to him by Chris Kanyon that the tape had been kept in the WCW Power Plant, watched multiple times and had the name High Voltage stolen from it. Other wrestlers associated with OMEGA include Lita, Shannon Moore, Gregory Helms, and Joey Mercury. Now Matt has his own MySpace, (while His brother Jeff does not, although many fakes have been made, Jeff has explicitly denied any belong to him), in which they have mainly the same followers, Shannon Moore, Gregory Helms and two other professional wrestlers named Kirby and T.J Mack (Team Macktion).

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

Matt (then 19) and Jeff (16) started working for the WWF in 1993 and were initially used in singles matches and in tag matches as jobbers. It wasn't until 1998 that the brothers were given a full-time WWF contract.

The Hardy Boyz used a cruiserweight, fast-paced high flying style in their matches, often leaping from great heights to do damage to their opponents (and themselves in the process.) Although Jeff was better known for his extreme moves, Matt was a prodigious high-flier himself. Their feuds with Edge and Christian and the Dudley Boyz, particularly their Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches made them extremely popular and propelled them to two reigns as tag team champions.

In 2001, after Jeff Hardy's Intercontinental Championship run, Matt Hardy threatened to leave the WWF if he was not given a singles Championship push. Raven, who was scheduled to win the European Championship at Backlash, was placed in a match with Rhyno instead because Matt Hardy was given the European championship on Smackdown 2 weeks before Backlash. Throughout the year, the Hardyz would continue as a tag team, winning the WWF Tag Titles once again and the WCW Tag Titles throughout the Invasion angle. By the end of the year, the Hardyz were having trouble getting along.

At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. On the August 12, 2002 episode of RAW, Matt turned against Jeff, pitting him in a match against Rob Van Dam. A short time later Matt joined the SmackDown! roster. On the October 3, 2002 edition of the show, Matt used outside interference from Brock Lesnar to defeat The Undertaker.

Now dubbed "Matt Hardy - Version 1.0," and with his MF'er (Mattitude Follower) Shannon Moore in his corner, Matt defeated Billy Kidman at the 2003 No Way Out in Montreal, Quebec to claim the WWE Cruiserweight Championship and, at WrestleMania XIX in Seattle, defended it against Rey Mysterio. The Mattitude stable also included Crash Holly as Shannon Moore's "Moore-on." Lockwood was later released and Matt later disbanded the stable and returned to RAW in order to be able to travel and work with then girlfriend, Lita. He would later turn face once more by engaging in a rivalry with then heel, Kane.

Hardy and Lita were an off-screen couple for six years, and used to share a home in North Carolina. Their romance came to an end in late February 2005 (according to Matt's official website) due to Lita's affair with WWE superstar Edge.

Release from WWE

Along with his friend Rhyno, Matt Hardy was released by WWE on April 11, 2005. Matt's release was due to his public handling of the Lita/Edge incident (posting disparaging remarks towards Edge on his website). His release was confirmed publicly by WWE. However, it was further speculated that Hardy was released because management (mainly WWE VP of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis) did not like him, and an excuse to fire him had been presented. In fact, Triple H, allegedly said of Hardy's release: "he never drew money anyway." Hardy countered this statement in an online interview stating that he and his brother Jeff, as the Hardy Boyz, had been top sellers of merchandise.

Because of the affair and being released from WWE, Matt's status, especially in the Internet Wrestling Community, became elevated to a cult-like status. Also, Edge and Lita received jeers from the crowds at WWE events, sometimes resulting in chants of: "You screwed Matt" or "We want Matt." Paul Heyman, in a shoot promo, mocked Edge for his actions at ECW One Night Stand 2005. Lita, for the first time in over five years, turned heel as a result of the affair becoming public knowledge. Sources indicate, however, that this "shoot promo" was a WWE strategy used to measure the crowd's response to Hardy, and to gauge whether it would be a good move to rehire him.

Matt Hardy released two character promotional vignettes, that he was planning to use before he was offered a new contract by WWE. Hardy called himself The Angelic Diablo with the tagline "the scar will become a symbol" in reference to the way in which he has been treated by Lita and WWE. WWE attempted to have Matt Hardy's then website (www.thematthardy.com), along with The Matt Hardy Show both shut down as a condition of his rehiring. When Hardy refused these conditions and informed WWE management that TNA wasn't requiring this of him, WWE allowed The Matt Hardy Show to continue, but not Matt's website.

The Hardy Show

During this time, Matt created an online reality show called "The Matt Hardy Show" which featured Matt, Jeff, Shannon Moore and friend Andrew Wright living their lives. In 2005, a DVD featuring Season 1 of The Matt Hardy Show was released. The show still continues today although the name was later changed to "The Hardy Show" due to Jeff's major involvment in the show.

Return to WWE

On the June 20, 2005 edition of RAW, during the storyline wedding of Edge and Lita, Matt Hardy's entrance music and video were played when the priest asked if anyone had a reason why Edge and Lita should not be wed. On the July 11, 2005 episode of RAW, Matt Hardy made his return, attacking Edge as he made his way to the ring. On the July 13, 2005 edition of WWE's webcast Byte This!, which featured Lita as its guest, one of the callers was Matt himself.(Matt calls at 15:10) The two engaged in a huge argument which led to Lita walking off the set.

Matt appeared at a scheduled Ring of Honor (ROH) event on July 16, 2005 in Woodbridge, Connecticut where he defeated Christopher Daniels via submission. Hardy also cut a brief promo where he continued in full 'worked shoot' mode, attacking WWE and John Laurinaitis. Following his official return to WWE, Hardy was met with a backlash which involved him getting booed out of the arena at another ROH event following a match with Homicide, which Hardy won. His final ROH appearance happened the day after this event, where he lost to Roderick Strong. Contrary to previous reports, he ended up not making an appearance in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

On July 18, 2005 (Which was also the day that his no compete clause expired), Hardy posted on thematthardy.com that he was finally "free" (as in his clause expired) and stated to the fans that they have not seen the last of Matt and that he's got a surprise for his fans who supported him. That surprise happened on that nights edition of RAW, where Hardy attacked Edge during one of Edge's matches and repeated the feat the following week.

On August 1, 2005, Vince McMahon came out on RAW and officially acknowledged Hardy's return to WWE, adding that Hardy would face Edge at SummerSlam. On August 8, 2005, Hardy made his in-ring return, defeating Gene Snitsky on RAW. Seconds after the victory, Matt was attacked by Edge and as he was being carried backstage, Matt counterattacked Edge in a locker room.

On August 21, 2005, at SummerSlam, Matt Hardy and Edge faced each other in a "Kill or Be Killed" Match. The match wound up coming to a premature end when Edge dropped Hardy onto the top of a ring post, causing him to bleed leading to the referee ending the match on the grounds that Hardy couldn't continue. Edge was declared the winner.

After SummerSlam, the two continued fighting on RAW, with one encounter being a Street Fight that resulted in both men falling off the stage into electrical wires when Matt Hardy took himself down with Edge in a Side Effect.

At WWE Unforgiven 2005 Edge faced Matt Hardy in a steel cage match. Hardy had just about won the match with a Side Effect off the top rope, when Lita came in and broke up the pin and was met with the Twist of Fate. Matt hit a leg drop off the top of the cage onto Edge and then gained the pinfall for the victory. (This marked Matt Hardy's second Unforgiven cage match victory over Edge, the first being when the Hardy Boyz defeated Edge and Christian in a cage match at Unforgiven 2000 for the WWF Tag Team Titles.)

Hardy and Edge faced each other at WWE Homecoming in a Loser Leaves RAW, Money-in-the-Bank ladder match. Edge's briefcase holding the contract for his WWE World title shot was suspended above the ring. The winner of the match got the contract and the loser is gone from RAW. After a contentious match, Edge tied Matt's arms in the ropes and Lita trapped Hardy in a crucifix hold, leaving Matt only able to watch Edge win. When the match ended, Edge and Lita gloated over the victory, but Matt took it in stride and left the arena afterwards.

With his defeat at the hands of Edge, Hardy was moved back to SmackDown!. His re-debut happened on October 21, 2005, in a singles match against Simon Dean which Hardy won.

SmackDown!

Matt was among five SmackDown! superstars- Christian, John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL), Rey Mysterio, and Hardcore Holly—to be voted by the fans to compete at WWE Taboo Tuesday, against Edge and Chris Masters. Only two of the five superstars would compete, and the two that received the most votes on WWE.com would become partners.

Originally, WWE pushed for Rey Mysterio and JBL as the team to choose. At Taboo Tuesday, it was Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio who were chosen (with Matt getting 31% and Rey getting 29%), and they defeated Chris Masters and Gene Snitsky.

Edge did not wrestle due to a legitimate chest injury; the kayfabe reason he gave for not wrestling, however, was that he "didn't care" about Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio, the fans, or the RAW brand. This was seen as out of character for Edge, who had been the so-called ringleader against the SmackDown! brand. In fact, it was an angle involving Edge that started the feud between the two brands.

The next small push for Hardy came with the team of MNM. MNM manager Melina approached Hardy seemingly wanting Hardy to join with her team, Hardy refused this offer which led to Hardy facing off with the then-tag team champions on several occasions with a variety of partners. During one of these matches, Matt Hardy teamed up with Road Warrior Animal to try for the titles once more, but they were defeated. After the match, Animal brutally attacked Hardy, as a result of being tired of "pulling all the weight in tag teams". Road Warrior feuded with Hardy for a while after this. Hardy would pick up several wins over Road Warrior, one of which was for a place for the Money in the Bank ladder match WrestleMania 22. Hardy defeated Animal, but did not win the WrestleMania match.

Hardy would then compete in the King of the Ring tournament but would lose to eventual winner Booker T in the opening round due to a low blow and distraction by Sharmell.

On the July 14th episode of SmackDown! Matt defeated Mr. Kennedy via roll-up to end Kennedy's record of never being defeated via pinfall or submission on SmackDown!.

At the end of the SmackDown! tapings on July 25, 2006, Hardy was taken out of action, apparently after the finding of the remnants of a staph infection that plagued Hardy the previous year.

With the recent signing of his brother Jeff, Matt has said he would love nothing more than to team with his brother again. 1 However, since Jeff is going to wrestle for RAW it is unlikely they will reunite at this time unless one of the brothers is to jump brands in the future. On August 25 edition of Smackdown!, he returned to the ring, from his staph infection, being defeated by Mr Kennedy thanks to interferrence by Gregory Helms


Personal life

Matt is dating WWE diva Ashley Massaro. Their relationship was confirmed on the November 9, 2005 edition of the WWE Web Show, Byte This!

Matt had a relationship with Lita. They were an on-screen and off-screen couple in the WWF/WWE. This six year relationship ended when Matt found out that Lita and fellow WWE Superstar and good friend Edge had an affair.

Matt's brother is Jeff Hardy, another WWF/WWE superstar who currently performs on the RAW brand. In the late 90's they were a tag team known as"The Hardy Boyz" and along with Lita formed the stable known as Team Xtreme. Matt and Jeff competed in multiple TLC matches together as well as having five WWF/WWE tag team reigns and one WCW tag team reign together. Jeff was released in 2003 due to declining performance, but has since returned as of August 2006.

Matt made an uncredited guest appearance with his brother Jeff on the Fox television series, That 70's Show.

Matt Hardy was also the winner in a special WWE-edition episode of Fear Factor winning $50,000 for the American Cancer Society. His competitors were Test, his brother Jeff Hardy, Jacqueline, Lita, and Molly.

Matt and Jeff are close friends with Shannon Moore and Gregory Helms

Matt and Jeff's Favourite band is Pearl Jam as announced on their MySpace

Wrestling facts

  • Finishing and signature moves
File:MattTwistofFate.jpg
Matt Hardy performing the Twist of Fate on Lita.
  • Managers
  • Theme
  • The theme song for Matt Hardy is Live for the Moment by Monster Magnet. The original incarnation of the theme had typing noises and sounds of a computer loading up to match his "V-1" gimmick, but was later taken out of the song when Matt returned to the WWE in Summer 2005.

Championships and accomplishments

  • 1-time OMEGA Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship
  • 1-time OMEGA Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship (with Jeff Hardy)
Defeated The Acolytes on June 29, 1999 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA.
Lost to The Acolytes on July 25, 1999 in Buffalo, New York, USA.
Defeated Crash Holly on April 24, 2000 in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
Lost to Crash Holly on April 25, 2000 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
Defeated Edge and Christian on September 24, 2000 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Lost to Edge and Christian on October 22, 2000 in Albany, New York, USA.
Defeated Edge and Christian on October 23, 2000 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
Lost to Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather on November 6, 2000 in Houston, Texas, USA.
Defeated Dudley Boyz on March 4, 2001 in Washington, D.C., USA.
Lost to Edge and Christian on March 19, 2001 in Albany, New York, USA.
Defeated Eddie Guerrero on April 24, 2001 in Denver, Colorado, USA.
Lost to The Hurricane on August 27, 2001 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
Longest reigning European champion to be born outside of Europe
Defeated Booker T and Test on October 8, 2001 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Lost to Dudley Boyz on October 23, 2001 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Defeated Booker T and Test on November 12, 2001 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Lost to Dudley Boyz on November 18, 2001 in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA.
Defeated Billy Kidman on February 23, 2003 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Lost to Rey Mysterio on June 3, 2003 in Sacramento, California, USA.
  • Terri Invitational Tournament Winner

Awards

  • Matt has won five PWI Awards. He won Tag Team of the Year in 2000 with Jeff. He also was part of the Match of the Year in 2000 and 2001. Both matches were the Hardy Boyz vs. the Dudley Boyz vs. Edge and Christian. He was part of the Feud of the Year in 2005 with Edge and Lita. He was also ranked # 489 in the PWI 500 years.

Books

  • Hardy, Jeff; Hardy, Matt; and Krugman, Michael (2003) The Hardy Boyz : Exist 2 Inspire, ISBN 0060521546
Wikiquote has quotations related to Matt Hardy.

Resources

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