Matt Hardy Biography

Before his then-WWF debut with his brother Jeff, Matt was trained by former wrestler Dory Funk, Jr. Before signing with the WWF, Matt and Jeff ran their own wrestling promotion, OMEGA Wrestling, in which Matt competed under the name High Voltage. Other wrestlers associated with OMEGA include Christopher Daniels, the future Lita, Shannon Moore and The Hurricane. Once signed, the brothers formed an acrobatic tag team and became known as The Hardy Boyz. Although they had several managers during their tag team run, the five-time WWE Tag Team Champions were most prominently accompanied to the ring by Lita. The three together became known as "Team Extreme." Hardy and Lita were an off-screen couple for six years, and used to share a home in North Carolina. Their romance came to an end in late February 2005 (according to Matt's official website) due to Lita's affair with fellow WWE superstar Edge.


Release from WWE

Along with his friend Rhyno, Matt Hardy was released by WWE on April 11, 2005. Matt's release was officially due to his public handling of the Lita/Edge incident (posting disparaging remarks towards Edge on his website) his release was confirmed publicly by WWE. It has also been speculated that Hardy was going to confront Edge during a RAW episode, but these claims are largely unfounded. However, it was further speculated that Hardy was released because management did not generally like him, and an excuse to fire him had been presented. In fact, Triple H, allegedly said of Hardy's release: "he never drew money anyway." Hardy countered this statement in an online interview stating that he and his brother Jeff, as the Hardy Boyz, had been top sellers of merchandise.

It should be noted that some people believed that Hardy's release (and subsequent rehiring) was part of an elaborate work. The WWE frequently referenced the Hardy situation on televised broadcasts, whereas normally they would not acknowledge real-life situations which reflected badly on the WWE onscreen. Given Matt's vitriolic interviews and the fact that Edge's wife accused him of steroid abuse, this seems possible, but it remains uncertain. Since Matt has now been re-hired by WWE, his comments could have been partially or completely worked.

Matt Hardy released two character promotional vignettes, that he was planning to use before he was offered a new contract by WWE. Hardy called himself The Angelic Diablo with the tagline "the scar will become a symbol" in reference to the way in which he has been treated by Lita and WWE

Return to WWE
On the June 20 edition of RAW, during the storyline wedding of Edge and Lita, Matt Hardy's entrance music and video were played when the priest asked if anyone had a reason why the wedding should not go on. Moments later, it was revealed as a joke played by Edge and Lita. On the July 11 episode of RAW, Matt Hardy made his return, attacking Edge as he made his way to the ring for his match against Kane and calling him out by his real name (Adam). On the July 14th edition of WWE's webcast Byte This!, which featured Lita as its guest, one of the callers was Matt himself. The two engaged in a huge argument, believed to have been a complete shoot, which led to Lita walking off the set. It has been confirmed that Matt reached a verbal agreement with WWE return to the promotion in early June, giving up the chance to sign a contract with TNA, where he would likely have reformed the Hardy Boyz with Jeff. His new WWE contract is rumored to be both longer and far more lucrative than his old contract.

Matt appeared at a scheduled Ring Of Honor event on July 16 in Woodbridge, Connecticut where he defeated Christopher Daniels via submission. Hardy also cut a brief promo where he continued in full 'worked shoot' mode, attacking WWE and John Laurinaitis. Following his official return to WWE, Hardy was met with a backlash which involved him getting booed out of the arena at an ROH event following a match with Homicide, which Hardy won. His final ROH appearance happened the day after this event, where he lost to Roderick Strong.

It was recently confirmed through a TNA press release that Matt Hardy will not be appearing at any of their future shows, including their 17 July pay-per-view No Surrender. There was previously heavy speculation that Hardy would make a run-in at the event.

On July 18, Matt Hardy again attacked Edge, this time before his steel cage match with Kane, before Matt could be handcuffed, however, he managed to escape and left through the crowd.

Seven days later on RAW, Matt Hardy ambushed Edge yet again, this time after a stretcher match with Kane, which Edge had won. Matt, however, was quickly restrained by security.

On August 1, Vince McMahon came out on RAW and officially acknowledged Hardy's return to WWE, adding that Hardy would face Edge at the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view. On August 8, Matt Hardy made his in ring return, defeating Gene Snitsky on RAW. Seconds after the Victory, Matt was attacked by Edge and as he was being carried backstage, Matt counterattacked Edge in a locker room.

On August 21, 2005, at SummerSlam, Matt Hardy and Edge faced each other in a battle which was hardly considered a wrestling match but an all-out brawl calling the "Kill or Be Killed" Match. The match wound up coming to a premature end when Edge dropped Hardy onto the top of a ring-post, causing him to bleed and eventually leading to the referee ending the match on the grounds that Hardy couldn't continue. Edge was declared the winner.

On August 22, 2005, Matt Hardy had a match against Rob Conway. While this match was running, Edge and Lita were sitting on the commentator's desk trying to distract him. Edge was a guest commentator. Conway defeated Matt and then Edge came over with a smiling Lita to attack Matt and then put his head in between the steel steps and the ring post and kicked it causing Matt to stay practically paralyzed.


TrademarksSignature finishing move:
The Twist of Fate (a slight variation of the three-quarter facelock bulldog)Other signature techniques include the Side Effect (Side Slam variation), a Top-Rope Diving Moonsault a Northern Lights Suplex, and a Middle-Rope Leg Drop that is dubbed the "Downfall"Had a computerized entrance thanks to editing via television effects.