Jeff Hardy recently spoke with the Canton Rep while promoting this weekend’s WWE live event in Canton, Ohio:
Recently Jeff talked candidly about his career as well as his music (he fronts the hard rock band PeroxWhy?gen) ahead of his Canton appearance.
Q. When you got your start in WWE, you were enhancement talent for a few years. Talk about that early experience of breaking into the business.
A. “It was our opportunity, and we did that for three or four years before we signed a developmental deal. It was our chance to show them what we could do, and I miss that today. You don’t see that much anymore — the superstar vs. the enhancement guy. We always knew if we went out there and did something to make them remember us or say, ‘Hey, these guys have a little bit of that “it” factor that we need,’ we can make it happen. During that course of time, I remember thinking, ‘I’m gonna go out and do whatever I can to impress somebody,’ whether that’s take a big crash and burn to the floor or something, I want to make them remember me, and it all paid off.”
Q. When did it go from enhancement talent to stepping into your own, and was (legendary manager/promoter) Jim Cornette the guy who recognized there was something special in you?
A. “Yeah, through Jim Cornette I remember going to Smoky Mountain Wrestling years ago, and it was our first opportunity to be on TV somewhere at the time. We thought it was great. He was a big help. Later, Jim Ross was a mentor, and finally Michael Hayes became our biggest influence. He taught us so well as far as understanding the business more. We needed to at that time. So many people helped us along the way, and we’re really grateful.”
Q. What did you learn from veterans of the business? Are there intangibles they passed along?
A. “For sure. Psychology, No. 1. Now that I’ve come into my own personality and my own individual in pro wrestling, I think there are so many different forms of psychology as far as telling stories. They helped us along the way, and they had different opinions, and we could take those and then modify our own. I think that’s what made me and Matt such a good tag team over the years. We are so opposite in a way, and we think very differently, but that made us good as a team.”
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