I first met the Matt and Jeff Hardy in the early 2000's at the Brian Pillman Memorial event. They had been on the wrestling scene for several years, but they were really starting to gain success and popularity.
Since then, they have had highs and lows, including winning 8 tag titles in the WWE and battling their personal problems. They are both incredibly talented and fortunately, they are also survivors.
Most recently, Matt has reinvented himself as "Broken" Matt with Brother Nero. Definitely, unique, sometimes bordering on odd, but undeniably successful, the "broken" gimmick breathed new life into the pair. Now with the WWE, they have tweaked it to "Woken" Matt, but it has been just as interesting.
This is one of the rare cases where the WWE allowed a wrestler to continue a gimmick started elsewhere and to also give (at least some) creative control to the wrestler. In the highly scripted world of wrestling that exists now, it is a refreshing change. You can like the Hardy brothers or not, but you should respect what they have accomplished and how creative they are.
I had the pleasure of meeting them again last year at Wizard World. The line several hundred deep indicated that they are still massively popular. Obviously, they only had a few minutes to chat, but they were very cool and they seemed genuinely appreciative of all of the fans.
Some day, the Hardy brothers will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and rightfully so. Fortunately for the fans, they still have a bit of wrestling in them and they will continue to entertain for the foreseeable future.
Jeff and Matt Hardy and me in Rosemont, IL-August 2017.
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