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Jeff & Matt Hardy have been wrestling professionally since 1993, holding countless championships. WWE named The Hardys as one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history. Jeff and Matt are the only team to have held the WWE/World, WCW, TNA, ROH, Raw, and Smackdown Tag Team Championships. Jeff and Matt are known for their energetic, high-risk approach to pro wrestling. In 2003, Jeff & Matt co-wrote an autobiographical book of memoirs; their book was a New York Times best-seller. The Hardys are the reigning TNA World Tag Team Champions, now in their third title run.
Jeff has long been passionate about and participated in motocross and artistic endeavors such as music and painting. He made his TNA debut in 2004 in a match against A.J. Styles for the TNA X Division Championship. He has been the TNA World Champion three times for 249 days.
Matt Hardy’s eccentric “Broken” gimmick debuted in 2016 and has long been praised, winning multiple Best Gimmick awards. Matt made his TNA debut in 2011 in a match against Rob Van Dam. Matt is a two-time former TNA World Champion. Growing up, he played baseball and football and attended Union Pines High School in North Carolina.
I had an opportunity to sit down with Matt and Jeff Hardy ahead of their TNA Tag Title defense against the Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz) at the TNA Genesis PPV on Jan. 19.
Brian Zilem: Jeff, you mentioned you’re really into ice baths now. What are you guys doing to stay mentally and physically sharp so you can go out there each week?
Matt Hardy: The cold plunge ice bath is a big part of it. It’s crazy. It’s been so instrumental in making both of our bodies feel better. Jeff started initially. And then, I said I’ll give it a shot. And once I try it, I’ll do it for the rest of my life.
Jeff Hardy: I was about a year sober, a little more than a year. When I tried my first one, it was just an old one, not the bathtub with a bunch of bags of ice, and, oh my God, there was something about when I went underwater at the very end of it and just held my breath for as long as I could. When I came up out of the water and got out of the tub, I was like, whoa, this, I like this. This feels good. Overall, it’s been super-beneficial for me mentally, physically, and spiritually.
Brian: Matt, last year, you were a free agent. What exactly drew you to potentially wanting to come to TNA? Was there any idea in the back of your mind that if I came here, this would probably be a good opportunity for Jeff as well?
Matt: I didn’t know exactly what Jeff wanted to do. I know his deal was extended a little bit because of injury time. I was talking on and off with Tony Kahn about different offers and whatnot. We chatted three different times. It was very important to both of us that in the last few years, however long we have that, we do something that we feel is substantial, something that is important.
We want to contribute to the show. I think he wanted to do fewer dates, which would have been less money, but I feel like if there were fewer dates, I don’t know if that necessarily means he’s going to invest in you because I think we’re putting ourselves in a position to succeed because of our popularity. We span across several generations now, considering we’ve wrestled so long, so many people know us and TNA.
They reached out to me just a few days before I made that debut, and it was Tommy Dreamer. We ended up working out, and we did that. And then Jeff saw what I was doing, and he said, wow, that does sound interesting. And his deal expired one day before that match with Moose. And I, so yeah, that was a last-second thing that happened the day of.
Jeff: Yeah. It felt like it was meant to be. And my first thought was, maybe I’ll hang around a while and prove myself. But AEW is on a different level. Obviously, like these, I call them video game matches or superhero matches because they are off the charts with talented people. And TNA, man, my last run in TNA was super good. I did so many cool things, and when I returned that night, I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be.
Brian: If someone was looking to join TNA or was looking for an opportunity, what critical trait do you think they need to possess right now to jump into wrestling in 2025?
Jeff: Authenticity. You gotta be an authentic man and original, and a lot’s been done, but TNA is such a great place. I had no idea I was going to get handed a mic the night I returned. Still, I ended up saying something like TNA is my new heaven, but now that I’ve got to know all the locker room and everybody there, I understand why I said that because it’s so nice to be in such a laid back atmosphere.
Brian: Yeah, authenticity. I think of somebody like Joe Hendry.
Jeff: Amen. Yes, very much. So
Matt: Joe Henry’s a special creature because of how he has combined his talents. He formerly played music, and then he loved wrestling and did it. He combined those in the mesh, and he’s just masterful on social media. He knows how to put his stuff out there and get stuff out. He’s really good at all that. He’s been an absolute pleasure to get to know and work with.
Brian: The Rascal’s first time you guys are in the ring defending the Tag Team Championships. what’s that gonna be like?
Matt: It’s going to be exciting. We’re facing ourselves in 2000. We’re a little older, a little slower, but we’re going to weigh in on our experience in this match. We’ve had the bigger guys shut us down. So we know how to do that.
Jeff: Yeah. I think Genesis will be a Genesis for what the Hardys will be like in 2025. And kicking things off with a match with the rascals is so cool. And I’m looking forward to holding meetings with new ones, and it’s becoming a perfect clash of styles. And it’s going to be; it’s going to be interesting.
Matt: The Rascals are one of the few teams we’ve never faced, and this will be the first time. Oddly enough, the other team we can think of that we’ve never faced is the Motor City Machine Guns, which is wild.
Brian: Since returning to TNA, has anybody caught you off guard on how talented they were? Or are they way better than I thought they were?
Matt: Someone who’s stout to me is Leon Slater. Oh, okay. He’s impressed, mainly by how he uses that Swanton form and does the 450. It’s just absolutely remarkable. Once again, I got to work with Moose initially before we segued into myself and Jeff working with Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards. Moose is just, he is so good, and he’s so talented. You can tell that he’s a real athlete.
Jeff: Yeah, for sure. Moose, man. Oh, my God. After returning to TNA and watching that match backstage before I made my return, I was like, Oh, my God, this match is so great, and I started thinking I would love to have a match like this with Moose one day. And now that we’ve done the Full Metal Mayhem match reimagined – I know that when I did all that artwork and the pain, so much work went into it. But after it was all over, I said I didn’t think I ever wanted to do that again. But now I’m starting to feel like I want to do that again. And like in a singles match, maybe with Moose, and seeing my original TNA theme song modestly on the way to the ring or the match and having my face painted and wrestling moves, everything will be as one. This is ultimately one of my goals in TNA.
Brian: Throughout the industry, there’s always been the talk of legacy, and especially with you guys being tag team champions now with signing with TNA. Matt and Jeff, I think you both have mentioned you’re going to go until the wheels fall off. What do you want your legacy to be when you finally hang it up?
Matt: We want to be known and go down as one of the best tag teams ever to do it. That’s important to us. We also want to be known as guys willing to give back to the younger generation. That’s very important to us. We love being with TNA and all this young talent—a lot of talent that hadn’t had a chance.
We want massive exposure across the board and in more major wrestling companies, so we’ll work with those guys and try to elevate them, let them get a rub off us. That stuff is important to us, and we elevate as many people as possible because when we started wrestling, people didn’t give back to the young talent. And now, like we, we take a lot of pride in giving back and just want to firmly cement ourselves as two of the greatest ever do this.
Jeff: Yeah. When Jordan showed up in NXT, I was like a wrestling fan, and I exploded. Whoa, what is going on? And now to see the Rascalz go back and Joe Henry popping up and, oh my God, it’s so exciting. tpro The possibilities of 2025 and moving forward. But definitely, I want to go down. I think all my failures have led me to my salvation. He is definitely a guy who never gave up and continued to prove people wrong. And he’s one of the most original and authentic pro wrestlers of all time.
Brian: The Hardy’s remain in the wrestling vernacular. I spoke with current Dallas Mavericks player Jaden Hardy a few years ago. Though he hasn’t watched wrestling recently going up, he and his brother loved the Hardy Boys.
Matt: Yeah. And we hear that so much. There are so many tag teams that just say, “Oh man, you are our tag team.” And we idolize you guys, and we want to do the Rascalz, for instance, Private Parties. Those guys, there are so many guys like us, it’s sometimes hard to allow it to sink in how influential we were, right? During that period. And we weren’t even thinking about that. We’re just trying to make our names and bust our asses and put out the best product possible. But we lucked out whenever we got into that tag team ladder match and the table match and then all the TLC and the TLC concept that we started along with Edge Christian, and the Dudleys. That’s a staple of pro wrestling now, which is very cool. And something we’ll always be remembered for.
TNA Genesis occurs on Sunday, January 19, at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, part of the Dallas Metroplex. Genesis will air live worldwide on pay-per-view, anchored by TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth defending against viral sensation Joe Hendry for the title, plus The Hardys (Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy) putting their World Tag Team Championships on the line against The Rascalz (Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz). The Hardys captured the titles at Bound For Glory in October.
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