Jeff Hardy

[Exposer]

I like Jeff Hardy.......a good portion of the time. Sure, he has obvious glaring flaws that can easily take away from a match. I also think he was one of the biggest stars in wrestling at one time and has had some excellent feuds over the years with guys like Punk, Umaga, MVP, and I even enjoyed his stuff with HHH. He's a lunatic bumper which sometimes can become a little over the top but it's fine more often than not. I actually think he can be a pretty compelling babyface too and was definitely that in his last run with WWE. So, here we have it. A collection of random Jeff Hardy match reviews that I will come back to from time to time hopefully after this initial splurge.

 

Jeff Hardy vs. Prince Albert (WWF Heat 1/16/00) –

I really wanted to find a random match to start this project. I chose wisely. This is about as random as one can get considering the show, opponent, and timeframe. It’s amazing that at 35 Jeff can still do insane, over the top bumps as was proven in his Full Metal Mayhem match on Impact with Bully Ray recently. I say that because he’s doing the same shit in this match. He does a ludicrous swan dive to the floor on Albert and takes a sick bump from a giant power bomb late in the match. As far as what this match served us it was an enjoyable Heat match. We got Jeff doing crazy shit and Albert busting out cool power moves. I can deal with that as a start. Overall, this was a fun match with some wild spots. Something I expect to see often throughout this process.

 

Hardy’s vs. Tajiri & Spike Dudley – (WWF Raw 12/3/01)

I was hoping for a wild spot fest but what I got instead was mid-match bickering from the Hardy’s and tit shots of Lita and Torrie. I did enjoy the early mat exchanges between Jeff and Spike because it’s Jeff and Spike doing mat exchanges which was amusing. To be fair, Jeff does hit a nice Swanton Bomb for the win. For extra fun we got humorous backstage quarreling between the Hardy’s with Matt demanding Lita be biased and deciding she’d be Special Guest Referee in the match between he and Jeff at Vengeance. That was unintentional comedy gold there.

 

Jeff Hardy vs. Batista vs. Elijah Burke – (WWE Raw 6/11/07)

I was incredibly amused and really quite overjoyed when I discovered this match on YouTube. I mean it’s fucking these three guys in a triple threat match together. That is random as fuck and I love it. To make me even happier, this was fun sprint and I was kind of glad I watched it. I noticed Jeff and Dave had good chemistry together and I’m surprised they never did a big program with one another because I think that would have gone over really well with Jeff’s stardom and all. Burke was fun too in this and brought a lot of viciousness with him which I liked. I really liked Jeff getting a visual pin on Dave and it really shows his rise in popularity at the time when he was getting opportunities like that. I wouldn’t say this is more than a really fine sprint match but I was impressed in the end and left with wanting to see more Jeff-Batista.

 

Jeff Hardy vs. William Regal – (WWE Raw 7/8/02)

This was pretty sloppy. I was hoping for a really nasty Regal match with vicious strikes and ass beatings but I didn’t quite get that. There was a clear lack of chemistry I thought between the two and it showed through the bumps and miscalculations of spots. I did think Jeff’s Swanton Bomb looked particularly brutal at the finish here and laughed when I thought about how much Jeff misses on the Whisper in the Wind which he “hit” early in the match. All in all, this was a disappointing one and I hope these two found the time to make at least one good match together.

 

Jeff Hardy vs. Abyss – (Full Metal Mayhem, TNA Against All Odds 2/13/05)

This match was funny as fuck but not in a good way. It was an absolutely terrible match. It’s also a comical disaster. The stipulation of the match is that there are two envelopes above the ring, one being empty and the other being a number one contender contract. So I guess this is TNA’s version of “Deal or No Deal.” Don West would be a great host and much better than Howie Mandell. Jeff takes these ludicrous bumps that are totally unnecessary and it’s just ridiculous to watch. He fucking does this wild leap onto Abyss on the floor early and he nearly hits the guardrail. Later, He fucking leaps onto a ladder to cause a seesaw effect to take out Abyss. Right after that, he has Abyss tied in the ropes and gets flung full speed from a back suplex through a table and on the floor. He only hits the table with his legs so his back just crashes to the floor. Literally following this exchange, they battle up the ramp and Jeff ends up hitting a Swanton from the top of the entrance stage on Abyss through a table where it looks like he may have broken his tailbone. The finish is incredibly funny with Abyss tossing Jeff to the floor but instead Jeff launches himself and tries to go through four tables set up on top of each other on the outside but misses pretty much resulting in him pitching a hilarious fit post-match and leaping onto each table individually to break them in frustration. Also, Don West was tremendous in this match overreacting to everything and losing his shit by the end. His reaction when Jeff opens the empty envelope is why I miss the guy on commentary. Anyhow, this was an absolutely atrocious match and has no redeeming value other than Jeff attempting suicide a few times and pitching a very humorous fit post-match.

[Exposer]

More Jeff Hardy match reviews!!!! If anyone cares.....

 

Jeff Hardy vs. Mark Henry – (WWF Jakked??? 1998???)

This was a fine little squash match. Mark is even good in 1998. I’d really like to explore his late 90s stuff. He trash talks during Jeff’s selling, has great offense, and does a solid job of knowing when to give and when to take. As an aside, D-Lo is an amusing second for Mark. Anyways, this is supposed to be Jeff Hardy talk so I will say he did a strong selling job and took D-Lo’s punches on the floor really well. Of course, his bumping was pretty rad too. I enjoyed this a good bit for a squash match.

 

Jeff Hardy vs. Rock – (WWE Raw 4/7/03)

I thought Jeff was pretty bad in this. Rock was outstanding. Jeff’s crossbody and follow up punches sucked. Rock’s heeling was tremendous in this. I liked the idea of Jeff mocking Rock with the his version of the People’s Elbow and then landing the Swanton Bomb for a near fall but it was too sloppy in execution for me to really enjoy it. Rock laid waste to Jeff with a DDT and Rock Bottom after the teased Jeff win then tossed him to the floor where Jeff took the most “I don’t give a shit anymore” bump. Yeah, Jeff was pretty terrible in this for the most part. This was during one of those periods where he was upset about his value in the company and what not. He couldn’t care less.

 

Jeff Hardy vs. Finlay – (SD! 11/16/07)

Jeff has a much different attitude here and he’s working against Finlay. That equals a good match. Finlay fucking ruled in this. I loved him selling his face after Jeff got him on a body press on the floor. The transition into the heat segment was nasty as Jeff seemed to legit hurt his shoulder after ramming it into the ring post on a missed charge. Finlay was awesome as hell on offense here. His base was a rear chinlock but motherfucker can Fit Finlay put in a good rear chinlock. All his offense around it was incredibly brutal. He hit a couple of clotheslines that were full force with as much impact as possible. Jeff is good at selling so the crowd was naturally into it and of course this was during the period where Jeff was becoming one of the biggest stars in wrestling so there’s that too. The finish of this sucked but I liked Finlay’s obscure way of taking Jeff’s obscure offense in the comeback section. It fit perfectly actually. I enjoyed Fit’s bump to the floor as well in the post-match. This was all good fun and a nice little match to boot but too bad it had a shitty finish because it could have been a really good one if given five more minutes.

[WingedEagle]

I know this is the Jeff Hardy thread and Henry has his own, but I don't remember digging Henry during his early years. Absolutely have to go back and rewatch some of that now.

[Guest Andrews]

Considering he has been in SO many of my favourite matches, and was such a highlight in for what was for me a special time - I'd probably put him in my top 10 ever. He brings excitement to the ring - that's what it's all about folks, at the end of the day.

[Exposer]

Jeff Hardy vs. Undertaker (Ladder Match WWE Raw 7/1/02)

 

This is for Taker's Undisputed Title. It has a bit of a slow start to it but in the end it turns out to be a really good "Kid vs. Veteran" survival match. There are some tremendous moments in this including Hardy getting a brutal chair shot to Taker's skull and climbing to the top of the ladder with the crowd losing their shit and JR losing his voice. I liked Jeff starting the match out by playing mind games with Taker and using the ladder to his advantage. This ends up being a really methodically paced beat down on Jeff from Taker which includes Taker presumably having the match won but then continues the beating. The comebacks in this are strung together really well from Jeff and I thought the strike exchange he had with Taker in one of them was fucking awesome as the crowd suddenly started pumping their fist and going nuts at Jeff's comeback. The finish is definitive but great. The post-match might be cheesy for some but I liked the point it made. Jim Ross was outstanding in this putting over the match big time. Yeah, I really liked this a lot even on third or fourth watch. This match is also a great example of highlighting all of Jeff's strengths which is selling, comebacks, how he connects with the crowd, and high spots.

[Badlittlekitten]

I've always had nuff respect for Hardy. You got to give him credit, the guys been over like rover for years. He has that Twilight thing about him; the mysterious, handsome, goth, oddball outsider. Repulsive to some but fascinating to many others. The chicks dig it. And he's fucking nuts. Only last week against Bully Ray he was taking crazy bumps onto upturned ladders and steel entrance ways. He will burn out very soon and whilst I don't think what he does is wise he does it very well.

[caley]

He's also a legitimately fascinating individual. I remember reading the Hardyz biography (Shaddup! I only paid a dollar for it!) and there was a section where Jeff no-showed a show, I believe it might have been Raw, because his kota mundi got out of the house and he was freaking out trying to find it.

[Bierschwale]

Jeff Hardy vs. Undertaker (Ladder Match WWE Raw 7/1/02)

This might seem like damning with faint praise, though that isn't my intent, but it was the perfect match to see when you were 10 years old to me. It was just such a cool match.

[Guest Andrews]

I've always had nuff respect for Hardy. You got to give him credit, the guys been over like rover for years. He has that Twilight thing about him; the mysterious, handsome, goth, oddball outsider. Repulsive to some but fascinating to many others. The chicks dig it. And he's fucking nuts. Only last week against Bully Ray he was taking crazy bumps onto upturned ladders and steel entrance ways. He will burn out very soon and whilst I don't think what he does is wise he does it very well.

I remember people saying he would burn out and be in a wheelchair by the end of the year 2000...

[Alucard]

As a big Hardy fan, I've enjoyed this thread.. good stuff!