Former WWE Champion Jeff Hardy has been wrestling for 25 years, and his war-torn body shows it; the “Extreme Enigma” has leaped off of countless ladders and cages plunging himself through tables and inanimate objects time and time again. Currently the former WWE superstar wrestles for the independents and for TNA wrestling, but Hardy made a name and reputation for himself during his career in the WWE.
Hardy worked as a jobber in the WWE during the mid ’90s but debuted as a feature wrestler, alongside his brother Matt Hardy, in 1998 under the tag team The Hardy Boyz. It didn’t take long for the WWE to get behind the team, and by 1999 the duo had won their first, of many, tag team championships. Although both were impressive in the ring, Jeff Hardy started to stand out because of the extreme stunts he would perform.
In singles competition, Jeff Hardy would find success and eventually became the WWE Champion. But it was the Triple Threat TLC matches of the WWE Attitude Era that cemented the careers of The Hardy Boyz, Edge & Christian, and The Dudley Boyz. It was during this period that Jeff started performing outrageous stunts like performing a swanton bomb from the top of a ladder, landing on Bubba Ray Dudley, and breaking the table he was lying on and crashing to the floor. Never before had this been performed, and the WWE universe was enamored.
But this was only the beginning.
For years, Jeff Hardy continued showing reckless abandon, performing death-defying stunts in many of his matches. He has given his all in the ring, and it is apparent with the way he carries himself and walks (with a limp). Most wrestlers wouldn’t last a year performing like this, much less 25 years. His current TNA contract is set to expire in February of 2017, and then he will be legally free to wrestle for the WWE one last time if the company welcomes him back.
On Monday, LA Weekly released an interview with Jeff Hardy and said he would be open to returning to the WWE for one last run but wouldn’t want to do it full time . He also commented, “Matt [Hardy] and I are doing some great stuff in TNA right now so I’ll be happy to stay here until the end if that’s how it works out.” Hardy also painted a clear picture on who he would want to wrestle for his swan song if he were to return to the WWE.
“Man, I want to Swanton off the top of the cell, onto the commentary table…Then, I want to climb the cell, cut the f****** cage, when ‘Taker’s [Undertaker] back in the ring, and Swanton through the cage, miss, and then Tombstone 1-2-3.”
Jeff Hardy explained how he wanted to end his career in a Hell in a Cell match at Wrestlemaniawith The Undertaker. Wrestling The Undertaker in his final match is definitely a dream scenario for many fans of both Hardy and The Undertaker, and apparently for Jeff Hardy as well. This would be fitting, as The Undertaker is not only a legend of the ring, but a legend at Wrestlemania.The “Phenom’s” record is 23-1 at Wrestlemania,and one of those victories includes the final match of WWE legend Shawn Michaels.
Jeff Hardy has wrestled The Undertaker before; most notably in a Ladder Match in 2001 for the WWE Undisputed Championship on Raw . The pair had great chemistry in the ring together and threw caution to the wind. Both superstars took a beating that night, and many fans and insiders consider it one of the best matches in Raw history.
Jeff Hardy may never return to in-ring competition in the WWE, but if he does fans will eagerly be waiting for a match between the “The Charismatic Enigma” and “The Phenom.”
[Photo via WWE]