By Seth Mates
After three weeks away from the spotlight, Team Extreme — Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy and Lita — returned at the Royal Rumble, all appearing to be on the same page. After another month off, the trio again returned at No Way Out — this time for good, so it seems. WWF.com caught up with Jeff Hardy to talk about the recent developments in his life.
WWF.com: How does it feel to be back?
Jeff Hardy: It feels good. I couldn’t pick a better place to come back than Milwaukee and Chicago. That was awesome; the fans were on fire and electric. It was great to kick it off that way. It feels really good to be back — I feel refreshed and I’m ready.
WWF.com: At the Pay-Per-View, you did a pretty sick dive from the top rope to the outside. Tell me about that.
Hardy: The shot wasn’t really that good of it, so when I watched it back, I didn’t really catch a good view of it. I did hit my head a little bit, but that’s nothing new for me, right? (laughs) It was a little strange. I kind of got banged up a little bit, but that’s my gimmick and that’s my personality I’ve established here.
WWF.com: How did you spend your time off?
Hardy: I did a lot of work on my house. I’m building this 30-foot statue; it’s amazing. It’s cool as hell. I make these figures that are just tinfoil basically, I guess, and the statue is like a big silver man or alien. It looks more like an alien. It’s real cool; I spent a lot of time on that. I did a lot of cardio, riding bicycles. Built a clay halfpipe. I was up to my extreme good.
WWF.com: Did you make your volcano any bigger?
Hardy: I’ve started; I’m hoping to triple it in size. If Jim Ross will allow me to do another jump, I might do that. That’s gonna be massive.
WWF.com: How will the Hardys and Lita be different this time around?
Hardy: I’m hoping we’ll be different in one form by having a new entrance. We spoke of some black light and make-up type things. It would be real cool. It would pretty much look normal in light, but when the special lights go on in our entrance, we’ll look really alienized, kind of freaky. Hopefully that will happen soon. And maybe new music. But other than that, we’re pretty much the same Team Extreme. We do what we can to continue our style.
WWF.com: What has it meant to you to have these past two months off?
Hardy: They’ve meant the world to me. The first two weeks we were off before the Rumble, I could already sense somewhat of a vibe. I was watching SmackDown! at home, and I kind of wanted to get in the ring. Speaking for myself, going through the whole in-and-out experience, that really stood out in those two weeks, and I really kind of felt the love and heart for what I do.
WWF.com: A lot has happened since you’ve been gone, including the Federation returns of Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. What do you think of them being here?
Hardy: It’s weird. I mean, I met Hogan for the first time in my life the other day, and it was weird. He was a hero of mine. It’s just cool. I hope I can at least be punched by him before it’s all said and done. And by Ric Flair. (laughs) We took some pictures earlier, me and Scott Hall, because he was my first match here in the Federation. It’s just real good and real interesting to see where nWo is gonna go. And who knows? We might get involved in the black and white. (laughs)
WWF.com: nWo Extreme?
Hardy: Hey — there ya go! (laughs)
WWF.com: How was it being on Fear Factor?
Hardy: That was awesome. It was a really cool show to do. It was great to be a part of it.
WWF.com: WrestleMania is coming up — are you getting excited for that?
Hardy: Very excited. I’m hoping to take my girlfriend to Toronto. She has never been there and she has never experienced customs and all that good stuff. I would love for the roof at SkyDome to be opened up. That’s always been kind of a fantasy of mine, to wrestle outdoors somewhere. I presented the idea of a Ladder Match with a rope ladder hanging from a helicopter, sorta like we did on Fear Factor. But I don’t think they’d go for that. (laughs)
WWF.com: So you’re cool with getting together with Matt again and putting your singles career on hold?
Hardy: There’s nowhere for us to go (in the singles division), especially now with Hogan coming back. And speaking of WrestleMania, I can’t wait to see him and Rock go at it. As for singles, there’s nowhere for us to go. We still have plenty of time; I’m 24 and Matt’s 27. We’ve got several more years as a tag team, I would say, and a lot more things to do as a tag team. We’ll wait for that spot to open. I’m confident that I can make it as a singles, even being the size I am, but Matt was right when he said there’s just nowhere for us to go and nothing for us to do. We really like the tag-team ranks.
WWF.com: Have you thought about the possibility of the Hardys turning heel?
Hardy: That was one of the things we talked about. We said, “Before you split us up, at least give us the chances to be heels.” We’d like a good heel run before we split. A lot of people think we can’t be heels for some reason, especially me, but I’d love to be a heel. I used to be a heel years ago. It would be great, and I know we could do it.