Matt and Jeff Hardy are real-life brothers who also formed a team as wrestlers. Their numerous collaborations in the ring as the Hardy Boyz made them one of the most loved professional wrestling tag teams. It has also not stopped them from wrestling against each other at different times.
Fans first become curious as to whether the two are actually related, considering that there are other tag teams like Edge and Christian who claim to be brothers but are not actually related. Since they first appeared together in the 1993 independent promotions in North Carolina and eventually won the NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship, Matt and Jeff Hardy have gone on to found a number of establishments including the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts.
After their split in 2002 and their eventual comeback in 2006, the Hardy Boyz have grown in popularity, especially for their participation in Tables, Ladders and Chairs matches with The Dudley Boyz/Team 3D and Edge and Christian. However, the question of them being brothers in real life is what this piece will unravel in a moment.
Are Matt and Jeff Hardy Brothers in Real Life?
Matt and Jeff Hardy are brothers in real life. They are not twins, as has been rumored. Matt Hardy was born on 23 September 1974, while Jeff Hardy was born on 31 August 1977 to their parents, Gilbert and Ruby Moore Hardy.
When they lost their mother to brain cancer in 1986, the Hardy brothers found solace in games. While Jeff went the way of racing, Matt went the way of baseball. Their paths eventually crossed in wrestling. Many still believe Jeff, the younger, was influenced by his older brother, Matt, to join the ring.
Who are The Hardy Boyz?
Matt and Jeff Hardy formed a tag team in 1993. Although Matt had been in the ring for a year, Jeff’s debut in the Trampoline Wrestling Federation (TWF) made them cook up a new strategy to propel each other’s careers. In the beginning, the duo participated in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as wrestlers who consistently lose to make their opponents look stronger, otherwise known as jobbers. After signing a contract with WWE in 1998, they received training from Dory Funk, Jr’s Funkin’ Dojo. In September of the same year, the Boyz wrestled with and won Kaientai (Men’s Teioh and Shoichi Funaki) in an episode of Sunday Night Heat.
A huge fan base followed their success and knew them for their signature tag team tactics. When they recruited the likes of Michael Hayes, The Hardy Boyz soon grew to become major contenders for the Tag Team Championship. On the June 29, 1999, episode of Raw Is War, they wrestled and defeated The Acolytes (made of Faarooq and Bradshaw) which gave them their first WWF Tag Team Championship. They, however, did not hold it for much longer as they re-lost the title to The Acolytes less than a month later.
Rolling into the millennium, The Hardy Boyz were joined by Lita; forming the trio dubbed Team Xtreme. In 2000, they got embroiled in feuds with Edge and Christian and The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) in several ladder matches and TLC matches. The Hardyz won against Edge and Christian for the title at Insurrextion through disqualification.
In the two years that followed, the Boyz faced off the likes of Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty), T & A (Test and Albert), Edge and Christian, Right to Censor (Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather), Val Venis, Dean Malenko, The Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Malenko and Perry Saturn), The Dudley Boyz, Billy and Chuck, Brock Lesnar, Lesnar and Heyman, until their split in 2002.
In November of 2006, the Hardy Boyz were reunited as members of the Team DX at the Survivor Series. The Hardys, as there were now called, defeated The Full Blooded Italians (Little Guido Maritato and Tony Mamaluke) and Team Rated-RKO.
That month, the duo tested near-gold status, but for the Edge who struck Jeff with a belt in the back to get himself and Randy Orton deliberately disqualified to retain the title.
For the next three years they spent together, the twin warriors faced MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury), Dave Taylor and William Regal, and Paul London and Brian Kendrick, Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, The World’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin), Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) and Mr. Kennedy.
In the January 2009 episode of SmackDown, Matt Hardy announced the permanent disbandment of their tag team, stating that he no longer considered Jeff as his partner or brother. He then joined the SmackDown brand and initiated a scripted rivalry with Jeff.
Their rivalry led to a faceoff in an Extreme Rules match at WrestleMania XXV where Matt Won. Matt recorded his second win over Jeff in another stretcher match. After about a decade of rivalry, the Hardy Boyz got reunited in the February 26, 2019 episode of SmackDown Live, and won against The Bar.
Two months later, they defeated The Usos to clinch the SmackDown Tag Team Championships; making them the first team to win all three of WWE’s world tag team championships (World, Raw, and SmackDown).
