Pretty Damn Good
Matt and Jeff Hardy's supporters believe that the duo were born at the proper time in history. Ten years ago--when teams like Demolition, the Nasty Boys and Legion of Doom were dominating the tag team scene--they might never have cracked the "size barrier" in the World Wrestling Federation, instead being forced to ply their trade overseas. In Mexico or Japan, they would have achived respectability. But--with the exception of the zealots who, in those pre-Internet days, phoned each other with match results from around the globe--American fans would be largely naive to the ring and fashion innovations implemented by the Hardyz.
Fortunately for the wrestling public, the world has changed. With 12-year-old boys analyzing matwork and interview techniques in Internet chat rooms, teenage girls critiquing the clothing styles of World Wrestling Federation Superstars, and table, ladder and chair clashes supplanting old-school Texas Death Matches, Matt and Jeff are Superstars of the new millennium. Women thrill to their youthful good looks, flamboyant hair styles and Day-Glo colored outfits, fantasizing about meeting the Hardyz after the action ends and nursing their battle scars. Amazingly, men also want to meet the Hardyz--to share a meal with them in a diner not far from the arena and absorb every exhilarating detail of the brothers' tales from the war zone.
In times past, heartthrob tandems often experienced a credibility problem when it came to male matchwatchers. While the women swooned at ringside, their dates either sat with their arms folded, or worse, shouted for the team's destruction. Some insiders believe that the last duo to encounter this predicament, Edge & Christian, were so embittered by the reaction from some fans that they changed their attitude, becoming cocky--and aguably vicious--pair seen today.
Matt and Jeff have evaded this dilemma because of their deep understanding of what the entire audience wants to see. After all, it wasn't that long ago that the Hardy Boyz were among the hordes outside the arena waiting for the box office to open. When they entered the building, they didn't come to see their favorite tag team preen, but rather engage in untamed combat. Before the bell rings, the Hardyz look out at the audience and remember their days of cheering the Superstars. Even when they're aching, they never hold back, putting on a breathtaking show that every spectator will vividly remember.
A parallel can be made between the Hardyz and perennial rock acts like Bruce Springsteen, KISS, and The Who. These rock groups were able to excite the public for decades because the performers never forgot how it felt to be a fan. Matt and Jeff share the same knowledge and, potentially, the same longevity.
As previously mentioned, neither competitor is the largest--or most--vicious man to ever grace the squared circle. In the current World Wrestling Federation tag team enviroment, duos like the Acolytes and T & A dwarf the Hardyz, and both Edge & Christian and the Dudley Boyz exhibit a type of deviousness of which Matt and Jeff seem incapable. The brothers from Cameron, North Carolina, have remained on top because they're skillful and courageous.
For instance, Jeff limped into SummerSlam with a bad ankle. But when the entrance music blared, he pushed the pain from his mind and put on what some contend was the show of his life.
For his part, Matt has shown an ability to ignore the kind of blows that would make other Superstars fearful. At SummerSlam--in the three-way fracas pitting the Hardyz against Edge & Christian and the Dudleyz--Christian delivered a side Russin leg sweep from the top of a ladder to both Matt and D-Von Dudley, and at Unforgiven, Edge & Christian ganged up on Matt, superplexing him from a 15-foot steel cage. In both instances, Matt exhibited superhuman will by rising from the canvas and continuing the fight, astounding the audience and his opponents.
And when the Hardyz go on offense, no team is as captivating to watch. Whereas aerial wrestling was once characterized by dropkicks and flying tackles, the Hardy Boyz utilzed the Swanton Bomb and corkscrew moonsault the way wrestlers in another era capitalized on the spinning toehold and abdominal stretch.
When the stakes are higher--in a match involving tables, ladders and chairs, for example--the two become even more daring, using the props to expand on an already spectacular repertoire of synchronized moves. At this past April's WrestleMania, Matt and Jeff scrambed up different ladders and launched themselves simultaneously onto Buh-Buh Ray Dudley. At SummerSlam, Edge was legdropped by Matt, then legdropped a second time by Jeff leapfrogging another mobile stairway.
Then, there's the "Lita Factor". Stunning as both a performer and a covergirl, Lita has shifted the tide in the Hardyz' favor when other factors were multiplied against them. The dazzling young lady regularly stuns Matt and Jeff's foes with moonsaults and hurricanranas, countering double-teaming and other underhanded tactics. In a memorable ment at SummerSlam, she tipped over a ladder holding both Edge & Christian as they ascended towards the tag team championship belts suspended from the top of the arena. At Fully Loaded, she first punished Test with a tornado DDT, then Albert with a leap through the ropes onto the arena floor. In fact, when some fans talk about the Hardyz, the team is discussed as a trio, given Lita's incalculable contribution.
But even when Lia is not taken into account, the accomplishments of the Hardyz have already placed them in an elite spot in the annals of the World Wrestling Federation. Their supporters claim that when the history of tag team wrestling is written, the brothers will have bypassed such storied tandems as the Rockers, Hart Foundation and Strike Force. More importantly, they have propelled themselves above most of the current cast of tag team title competitors to achieve an orbit all hteir own.
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