Through WWE's partnership with TNA, Matt and Jeff Hardy have appeared on "WWE NXT" television and even briefly reigned as the NXT Tag Team Champions. In the process, the legendary brothers have also crossed paths with their former colleague Shawn Michaels, who now serves as the head booker of "NXT." On a recent edition of "The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy," Matt reflected on The Hardys' run under the "NXT" banner.
"I greatly enjoyed working with Shawn Michaels, both the first time and the second time around," Matt said. "Shawn was one of our guys. He was heavily influential in both Hardy Boys' careers. Especially if he doesn't have that first ever ladder match at WrestleMania 10, then I don't know if our careers go the same because we don't start doing ladder matches. We weren't inspired and motivated to do ladder matches on the independent scene and whatnot. I don't know if we end up pushing [former WWE CEO Vince McMahon] to have myself and Jeff wrestle Edge and Christian in a tag team ladder match at No Mercy 1999. So it was very cool working with Shawn, very cool getting his insight."
In an "NXT" ring, Matt and Jeff have taken on young teams such as DarkState, Fraxiom, and No Quarter Catch Crew, the first of whom regained the NXT Tag Team Championships after defeating the brothers in a Broken Rules match at "NXT" Halloween Havoc. The Hardys initially claimed the titles by besting DarkState's Dion Lennox and Osiris Griffin in a Winner Takes All bout also involving the TNA World Tag Team Championships.
"It was great working around with a lot of younger guys, up-and-coming talent, some guys that I'd seen and I'm very curious just how are they as real human beings when they take off the mask that they wear when the red light is on," Matt said. "It was enjoyable, for sure."
On the topic of "NXT" Halloween Havoc, Matt additionally noted that he was initially unsure of how their Broken Rules match was perceived in terms of quality. Upon reviewing the footage, however, Matt felt satisfied with their overall performances.
"I thought Halloween Havoc was a very solid show," Matt said. "I thought they did a good job from top to bottom with the matches. I feel like the things they wanted to get accomplished in all the matches, they made those things happen. So I end up being happy with it. Because those matches are so chaotic, they're just so full of chaos, sometimes when you have those matches and if you're down selling or there's a lot of other action going on that you're not aware of, you almost aren't sure how it is. I actually got to watch the match back yesterday when I was doing cardio, when I got home last night. I watched the match back and I was happy with it. It looked better than it felt initially."
In the match's final moments, Dion Lennox and Osiris Griffin sent Jeff (performing as Brother Nero) crashing through a table with a Doomsday Device, after which Griffin pinned Jeff for the victory. With it, DarkState reclaimed the NXT Tag Team Championships they had lost three weeks earlier.
While short, the Hardys' reign as NXT Tag Team Champions included a successful title defense over Team 3D (Bully Ray and D-Von Dudley) in a Tables Match at TNA Bound For Glory. This bout also featured the TNA World Tag Team Championships, which Matt and Jeff still carry.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
