HARD(L)Y AN UPSET!

When brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy began actively competing in the World Wrestling Federation in 1998, many Federation fans and peers thought the two North Carolina natives had a world of potential, but were still ages away from achieving success. Slowly but surely, the duo worked their way up the tag team ranks and ultimately established themselves as serious threats for the tag team gold.

In the months that followed, Matt and Jeff simply remained just that…threats. Lacking that something special that many claimed was holding them back from grabbing the championship. It wasn’t until they combined forces with Michael Hayes that the Hardys developed a “killer-instinct.” Becoming more darker and more sinister under Hayes, Jeff and Matt began racking up more victories and adapted a “daredevil” stye in the process that left their fellow superstars awe-struck.

This past June at the King of the Ring, the Hardys up-ended the Brood, Edge and Christian, on the Pay-Per-View to earn the number-one contender status for the tag team championship. One week later on RAW, the duo finally had their chance at their destiny against the heavily-favored Acolytes. Giving up a huge amount of size and weight to Bradshaw and Faarooq, the Hardys pulled off the nearly impossible by beating their foes for the gold!

The championship win was the culmination of an almost eight-year journey the brothers have traveled up through the ranks of the sport. Under the leadership of Hayes, Matt and Jeff finally captured lightening in a bottle. However, their true test in the Federation will be to maintain that same level of intensity in the months to come.