The Hardy Boyz

The Hardy Boyz

Class of 2023

Inducted by Andrew Ardizzi


There was a time in wrestling where a high-risk manoeuvre was simply a Randy Savage double axehandle off the top rope; crashing down onto his opponents’ craniums. But as time went on, the goal posts moved and we began to redefine what “high risk” meant in professional wrestling.

Whether it was Shawn Michaels diving over the top rope, Misawa diving through the middle ropes and levelling foes with an elbow, The Great Sasuke doing the “Special” from the middle of the ring and over the top to the outside, or even Rob Van Dam showcasing his unrivalled athleticism gradually more and more in crazier, more extreme ways—how we perceived high-impact offence simply evolved with the passage of time.

Yet almost inarguably each wrestler’s contributions to the craft pale in comparison to the high-risk, insane antics of Matt and Jeff Hardy—the Hardy Boys. Where HBK, Misawa, Sasuke, Savage and even RVD looked forward in their risk-tasking, the Hardys raised the bar as they climbed the ladders they helped make famous through their triangle ladder matches and later the TLC, and did so not by following the trend of the times, but instead looked to the sky and asked how they could push the boundaries of how we look at professional wrestling.

Innovators. Daredevils. Extreme. Enigmas. Evolved versions of what came before. Broken and reborn, and always a step ahead of our expectations. That’s how their careers evolved, and all of these are perfect descriptors of Matt and Jeff. They are trailblazers, and the omega to the alpha versions of themselves that came before their time. Largely because of them, what we know as “high risk wrestling” evolved and eventually broke the mold as easily as any table, ladder or chair in their infamous matches with the Dudleys and Edge & Christian.

When you look back at the quicker-paced tandems of the past, what made them exciting was their ability to impact the crowds and “wow” them with their abilities, their teamwork and above all their uniqueness. They brought something different to the table that captivated audiences across the territories and independents, nationally, and across the wrestling global sphere, much like the Rockers and Rock ‘n Roll Express did before them.

The Hardys share that rarefied air when we look at what they’ve done together, the impact they have had on tag team wrestling, and the generations of teams they inspired that furthered the agenda of enhancing what tag team wrestling can be by evolving their own corner of it. So for as much as you could argue a team like FTR are evolutions from Arn and Tully, saying that the Hardys were the precursor to the Young Bucks is a valid statement with merit to spare.

Wrestling can be guilty of sameness quite often, but that’s exactly why when people come along in the business who truly break the mold and evolve the craft like the Hardys have done, it needs to be remarked on and treated with reverence. While many are focused on what’s the next step in their journey, the Hardys looked up and asked how high we can go, and “how far can we push wrestling into the stratosphere”?

And as their careers evolved, the answers to the questions have always been: “let’s find out.”

Taller ladders. More tables. More risks… perhaps the most interesting of the three, because along way they have evolved themselves and not just wrestling in and of itself. They transcended their gimmicks and tried new ideas, whether that meant how WWE fans knew them, or in the bigger context the Broken Hardys story which reshaped wrestling storytelling cinematically. Their entire careers have swept away the conventions of what is expected in wrestling and redefine both the physicality within the squared circle and the storytelling both inside and out of the ring.

Regardless of the scope we identify them under, Matt and Jeff forged a path all their own. The successes that came along with that path both speak for themselves as performers/wrestlers, as much as it does their overall impact.
Their accomplishments speak for themselves. In addition to the multiple world heavyweight championships Matt and Jeff procured throughout their careers, as well as a number of other singles accomplishments, it is during their time together where they’ve made their strongest impact en route to 12 world tag team championships in major promotions including WWE, Ring of Honor and the now-Impact Wrestling over the last 30 years.

As they’ve performed for us we’ve been gripped, captivated and left awestruck, almost as often as we’ve cringed collectively at the brutality in the wind that’s defined so much of their most renowned matches. These moments have etched the brothers’ place in wrestling history among the upper echelon of the greatest tag teams to ever set foot in an arena.

From humble beginnings in their home OMEGA promotion, to enhancement talents for WWF, to matches like Jeff Hardy’s very first match with Rob Van Dam that helped set the tone for two careers’ paths forward as they formed, re-formed, broke and reforged into the team we have grown up with. Regardless of the incarnation, Matt and Jeff Hardy have earned the distinction of being considered legendary. Their impact has been far from a Whisper in the Wind and we can see all-too-clearly that regardless of what Version of the Hardys we get, they managed to ensure the wonder we held together as fans never wavered or weakened, that they never faded away and rendered themselves obsolete merely by refusing to ply the same touchstones that built who they were.

Much like their high risks, they have always risked failure when it came to pushing themselves beyond what they or we believed they could be. That daring attitude encapsulates who they were, are and will be. As they continue to evolve in a cycle of rebirth and deletion—bringing us along breathlessly every step of the way—we remember why we latched onto them: because through all the chaos, risks, highs and lows, watching the Hardy Boys work has always been Poetry in Motion.

Career Accomplishments

 

    • 6-time WWF World Tag Team Champions
      2-time WWE Raw & Smackdown Tag Team Champions
      2-time Impact World Tag Team Champions
      2000 PWI Tag Team of the Year
      2000 and 2001 PWI Match of the Year

 

 

Lords of Pain.net/Wrestling Headlines.com welcomes The Hardy Boyz
into the Hall of Fame class of 2023.

 

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