Flying to the top: the Hardy Boyz used hard work, dedication, and passion to become a premier WWF tag team - wrestlers Matt and Jeff Hardy - Interview

Wrestling Digest, Dec, 2001 by Jim Varsallone

AS A SINGLE PARENT LIVING in Cameron, N.C., Gilbert Hardy worked long and hard to support his Boyz--WWF stars Matt and Jeff Hardy, the Hardy Boyz.

A working-man's man, Gilbert was very skeptical when his boys discussed wrestling professionally.

"Our mom died when I was nine," Jeff says. "Our dad was farming tobacco and working his ass off. We did, too. Our dad was set to believe there's no future in pro wrestling. He'd say, `Quit dreaming and go take the Civil Service test and get ready to be a postman or something.'

"He just thought there was no way we were going to be able to do that," Jeff Hardy continues, "and I can understand that, growing up the way he did, just having to work his rear end off. But it's something we wanted to do, something we dreamed about doing. Now that we've made it and we're established, he loves it. He's out buying magazines and action figures and everything he can. He's getting a kick out of it."

When the Boyz were just kids back in 1987, their father gave them a trampoline for Christmas.

"Jeff and I built a little makeshift wrestling ring out of it in the backyard," Matt says. "We started emulating the moves we saw on TV, almost like the backyard-wrestling craze now, but we didn't go out there and try to kill each other."

During those youthful days on the trampoline, the Boyz emulated the Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty). The Hardys were drawn to the exciting, high-impact, aerial style.

"We were big fans of them," Matt says. "`Macho Man' Randy Savage was one of my favorite wrestlers. Michael P.S. Hayes, ironically enough who we ended up working with in the WWF, was also one of my favorites."

In 1990, the Hardy brothers met carnie Kenneth Morgan, who was running wrestling shows at fairs.

"He really didn't know the wrestling business," Matt says. "We did a few fair shows with him locally in the county we lived in and counties nearby."

The Boyz then met former National Wrestling Alliance performer the Italian Stallion. He ran a territory in North Carolina in which the Boyz made their official pro wrestling debut in 1993.

"More or less, we were self trained," Matt says. "When we were with Stallion, he kind of polished us and taught us about the business--how it worked, the terminology, the psychology, why everything is how it is."

Early WWF bookings

The Hardy Boyz received a shot at the big time, the WWF, through the Italian Stallion's contacts. That was the good news.

"Stallion was taking a booking fee from us," Matt says. "We were getting paid $150 a night for each WWF appearance as extras on WWF TV. Stallion took $100 a night for the booking fee. It was pretty steep."

"It Was pretty horrible," Jeff says. "We did about four or five shows through him. We would all cram in a van. He would take 13 or 14 of us. We would drive from North Carolina to New York, St. Louis, all over."

Soon, the Hardy brothers decided to break away from Stallion.

"The way we got around it," Jeff says, "we drove ourselves to Augusta, Ga., for WWF TV. We were supposed to go with Stallion, but something happened, and he didn't want us to go for some reason. When we got there, he was already there with a group of his guys. We just went in. Our faces were already recognized backstage. We told [WWF agent] "Chief" Jay Strongbow what was going on, and how Stallion was really screwing us and taking a lot of money from us. Naturally, that was all we had to say, and that was it for him. They couldn't believe that was hidden from them, and they didn't really know that was going on. After that, the WWF would just call our house to book us.

"Still, if it wasn't for the Italian Stallion, we wouldn't be here right now," Jeff Hardy continued. "But he didn't have to do that. We later ran into him, and we started talking. It was like nothing ever happened. He kind of forgot it, and we did, too."

The Hardy Boyz formed their own wrestling promotion called the Organization of Modern Extreme. Grappling Alliance [OMEGA] in central North Carolina.

"OMEGA became really famous," Matt says. "A lot of guys in our promotion went on to be very successful in other places."

The list includes Shannon Moore, Shane Helms, the Dupps, Joey Matthews, Christian York, Joey Abs, and Steve Corino.

"Running the shows was so much trouble and such a hassle," Matt says. "It's great just to be able to work somewhere where you don't have to put the ring up. You don't have to worry about putting up posters. You don't have to worry about putting people in the seats. It's nice to just show up, entertain, wrestle, and do your thing."

"We started OMEGA because, at the time, there weren't a lot of places to wrestle, and we didn't know anyone," Matt says. "We did it while we were trying to get our break. We kind of made our own opportunity."

After the WWF inked a deal with the Hardy Boyz in April 1998, the creative team eventually grouped them with Lita, a skilled performer and future bombshell.

"After we started with the WWF, Lita became part of the OMEGA clique," Matt says. "Actually, all the guys who worked for OMEGA are still good friends. We call ourselves the OMEGA powers."