Once upon a time the Hardy Boys were a tag team taking on the likes of Edge & Christian and the Dudley Boys in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. At the time everybody thought the Hardy Boys were destined to be the next version of the Rockers. Jeff Hardy was going to become a superstar liked Shawn Michaels and Matt Hardy was going to end up working at a Chick-fil-a like Marty Jannety.
It is now almost 10 years since the first TLC match and Matt Hardy has proved to be the better Hardy.
Let's break it down a little bit. More than any sport being good at wrestling is a subjective opinion. In other sports it's pretty cut and dry for the most part who is good and who isn't. But in wrestling different fans are going to have different opinions of wrestlers because of the different styles of wrestling.
Obviously some fans love Jeff Hardy's death-defying moves but I prefer Matt Hardy's wrestling better than Jeff Hardy's high flying moves. What can Jeff Hardy do other than jump off stuff? Jeff Hardy has the swanton bomb, the Whisper in the Wind, and the clothesline off the barricade but when he's doing anything else wrestling related he's pretty mediocre.
Matt Hardy has a much better ground based game, which is what I prefer.
When the Hardys were a tag team Matt Hardy always played the face in peril then Jeff Hardy would get the hot tag and clean house. Most people would consider this a compliment to Jeff Hardy because being the wrestler that got the hot tag means you're the bigger star. But in a way it's also a compliment to Matt Hardy that he was a good enough wrestler that the WWE trusted him to wrestle the majority of the match.
Of course actual wrestling ability is only one part of wrestling. It's also important for a professional wrestler to be able to cut interviews. I find Matt Hardy's interviews to be pretty inconsistent. Sometimes they are good but sometimes, even after 10+ years of experience he trips over lines.
But Matt Hardy is still 10 times better than Jeff Hardy. Jeff Hardy has no charisma at all and after 10+ years of experience hasn't even cut one REALLY GOOD promo.
More than any other sport pro wrestling is built on memorable moments. There have been some great memorable moments in on other sports but most of the time athletes in other sports are just trying to win the game. In pro wrestling its not about winning matches, it's about providing the fan with memorable moments.
Since Jeff and Matt Hardy went their separate ways Matt Hardy has more memorable moments than Jeff Hardy. Matt Hardy had a great run with his Version One gimmick, even garnering him a win over the Undertaker. Matt Hardy had a great feud with Rey Mysterio over the Cruiserweight Title. That feud was by far the most important the Cruiserweight Title has ever been in the WWE, maybe more important than it was in WCW too.
Then there was last year when Matt Hardy and MVP had a year long feud that never got old. That sort of thing rarely happens. It looks like Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels are headed that way this year. So that tells you the kind of wrestler you have to be to have a year long feud.
What has Jeff Hardy done as a singles competitor that is memorable? I don't want to sound like I hate Jeff Hardy or anything. I like Jeff Hardy. He's entertaining. He has good matches week in and week out, but it takes more than that to have really memorable moments. The only really memorable moment that Jeff Hardy has as a singles wrestler is his Ladder Match with the Undertaker.
Last month Matt Hardy received the ECW Title, making Matt Hardy the first Heavyweight Champion of the two. It might only be the ECW title, and Jeff Hardy might still win one of the two more important Heavyweight Titles, but I think it speaks volumes about Matt Hardy's consistency, wrestling and promos, and his commitment to wrestling and the WWE that he was the first one of the two given a Heavyweight Title.
15 comments Last one added 4 months ago — Leave a Comment
Shane H. 9 months ago
totally agree. Matt V.1 is the better one overall. In ring and on mic
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John walters 9 months ago
You must not be watching Jeff's matches because he has been using quite a few different moves. He just doesn't use them in EVERY match.Jeff has better wrestling ability than you give him credit for.Some pepole call Jeff a spot monkey because it is the popular thing for people who don't like Jeff to say but really it is unfounded. And Jeff really hasn't had a whole lot of time on the mic so he is of course not going to be the best at it. Only one memorable match are you kidding me? Did you see his match with Shawn michaels or his series of matches with Jericho? I really want to know what WWE programming you are watching.
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Nick Caso 9 months ago
Jeff has some of the most memorable moments. The match w/ Taker which was one of the best matched in Raw history, the MITB match when he jumped onto Edge and broke the ladder, his matched with Triple H, I mean he puts on a great show. And like John said, he hasn't had a lot of time on the mic, and they are finally giving it to him and I think he is producing. I love Matt and Jeff, two of my all-time favorites, but I definately give the edge to Jeff. He puts more fans in the seats, which is the most important thing.
-Nice article though
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Gaz Judge 9 months ago
im another one who has to go with jeff over matt, like others have said, there is much moer than the ladder match wth taker, along with his match's against hhh, hbk and jericho, there was also a fued with john morrison over the IC title which a lot of fantastic matches, ladder matches and cage matches these were some of the most entertaining matches of 2006/07, also jeffs fued with umaga and randy orton showed a more phsyical side to jeff so i would give it to jeff over matt, despite matts fueds with mvp and edge as well as the v.1. gimmik jeff seems to not only entertained more but progressed more, thats why jeffs on smackdown and why matt is stuck on ecw
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Shane H. 9 months ago
ok, matt on ECW shouldn't be looked at as a bad thing. They put him there cuz they had faith that the man can lead the brand. they are giving him the keys on that brand. jeff has had memorable matches, no one is questioning that, but overall Matt is still better all around. People scream louder for Jeff cuz of his high flying acts and women think he's cute. Jeff hasn't had much time on the mic, ok. They both use to suck on the mic. Matt has drastically improved unless he's spewing some award acceptance speech like he did after winning the belt. Jeff still comes off barely decent on most nights. I'm pretty sure that if Matt and Edge actually feuded in the heat of everything and given a good length like Jericho/HBK, everyone would be eating it up. Matt had to feud with MVP b/c at the time Smackdown wasn't getting the push it is now. Who else was on the brand for him to feud with?
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Joe Burgett 9 months ago
well it is sort of a mix isn't it? I mean Jeff has more titles won than Matt, but Matt has one a world title, which Jeff has never done, I'd have to say Matt only because of that fact. But if Jeff were to win just one world title, I'd go with him, I le watching them both, and its really hard to choose between the two
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David Taplin 9 months ago
As a very avid fan of both Hardy brothers i would give more of the edge to Jeff based on main event appearances and caliber of superstars faced since jeff has returned to WWE. But Matt has always entertained me no matter if it was as Version 1 or his year long feud with MVP. Even as Version 1 his match with chris benoit in the US title tournament even though i have never seen a bad chris benoit match matt still held his own with benoit. Yes Jeff does more spot wrestling as to matt's mat skills are better than the younger hardy. But Matt going to ECW is the best thing that ever happend to Matt's career after winning the US title on Smackdown and with the feuds going on for the World Heavyweight title between Edge and taker really at that time Matt had no room to grow even though i believed he deserved a longer US title run and face some real competitors. yes i am aware he did beat MVP for the title defended against Chavo but i think he should have beaten Shelton Benjamin. But Matt now being on ECW does make him look to be the bigger star at the moment due to the fact he is ECW Champion which i figured was the direction WWE would go with matt once he was sent to ECW. Matt right now is the face of ECW and no one can argue he isn't the best choice for ECW champion next to finlay. Jeff's time in the sun will come and he will finally grab the brass ring and win "the big one". But i still believe Jeff has the bigger fan base and bigger matches than Matt has in the last year he has had two big matches vs. jeffs many main event caliber matches. In my long drawn out opinion here i give it to Jeff.
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David Taplin 9 months ago
As a very avid fan of both Hardy brothers i would give more of the edge to Jeff based on main event appearances and caliber of superstars faced since jeff has returned to WWE. But Matt has always entertained me no matter if it was as Version 1 or his year long feud with MVP. Even as Version 1 his match with chris benoit in the US title tournament even though i have never seen a bad chris benoit match matt still held his own with benoit. Yes Jeff does more spot wrestling as to matt's mat skills are better than the younger hardy. But Matt going to ECW is the best thing that ever happend to Matt's career after winning the US title on Smackdown and with the feuds going on for the World Heavyweight title between Edge and taker really at that time Matt had no room to grow even though i believed he deserved a longer US title run and face some real competitors. yes i am aware he did beat MVP for the title defended against Chavo but i think he should have beaten Shelton Benjamin. But Matt now being on ECW does make him look to be the bigger star at the moment due to the fact he is ECW Champion which i figured was the direction WWE would go with matt once he was sent to ECW. Matt right now is the face of ECW and no one can argue he isn't the best choice for ECW champion next to finlay. Jeff's time in the sun will come and he will finally grab the brass ring and win "the big one". But i still believe Jeff has the bigger fan base and bigger matches than Matt has in the last year he has had two big matches vs. jeffs many main event caliber matches. In my long drawn out opinion here i give it to Jeff.
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David Taplin 9 months ago
As a very avid fan of both Hardy brothers i would give more of the edge to Jeff based on main event appearances and caliber of superstars faced since jeff has returned to WWE. But Matt has always entertained me no matter if it was as Version 1 or his year long feud with MVP. Even as Version 1 his match with chris benoit in the US title tournament even though i have never seen a bad chris benoit match matt still held his own with benoit. Yes Jeff does more spot wrestling as to matt's mat skills are better than the younger hardy. But Matt going to ECW is the best thing that ever happend to Matt's career after winning the US title on Smackdown and with the feuds going on for the World Heavyweight title between Edge and taker really at that time Matt had no room to grow even though i believed he deserved a longer US title run and face some real competitors. yes i am aware he did beat MVP for the title defended against Chavo but i think he should have beaten Shelton Benjamin. But Matt now being on ECW does make him look to be the bigger star at the moment due to the fact he is ECW Champion which i figured was the direction WWE would go with matt once he was sent to ECW. Matt right now is the face of ECW and no one can argue he isn't the best choice for ECW champion next to finlay. Jeff's time in the sun will come and he will finally grab the brass ring and win "the big one". But i still believe Jeff has the bigger fan base and bigger matches than Matt has in the last year he has had two big matches vs. jeffs many main event caliber matches. In my long drawn out opinion here i give it to Jeff.
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David Taplin 9 months ago
As a very avid fan of both Hardy brothers i would give more of the edge to Jeff based on main event appearances and caliber of superstars faced since jeff has returned to WWE. But Matt has always entertained me no matter if it was as Version 1 or his year long feud with MVP. Even as Version 1 his match with chris benoit in the US title tournament even though i have never seen a bad chris benoit match matt still held his own with benoit. Yes Jeff does more spot wrestling as to matt's mat skills are better than the younger hardy. But Matt going to ECW is the best thing that ever happend to Matt's career after winning the US title on Smackdown and with the feuds going on for the World Heavyweight title between Edge and taker really at that time Matt had no room to grow even though i believed he deserved a longer US title run and face some real competitors. yes i am aware he did beat MVP for the title defended against Chavo but i think he should have beaten Shelton Benjamin. But Matt now being on ECW does make him look to be the bigger star at the moment due to the fact he is ECW Champion which i figured was the direction WWE would go with matt once he was sent to ECW. Matt right now is the face of ECW and no one can argue he isn't the best choice for ECW champion next to finlay. Jeff's time in the sun will come and he will finally grab the brass ring and win "the big one". But i still believe Jeff has the bigger fan base and bigger matches than Matt has in the last year he has had two big matches vs. jeffs many main event caliber matches. In my long drawn out opinion here i give it to Jeff.
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Justin Lowder 9 months ago
Sure Matt Hardy has won the ECW Championship but so has Chavo. So Chavo is better than Jeff Hardy right? You must be insane to say that Matt is better. Jeff Hardy puts on great matches. Matt Hardy is so overrated. Jeff is the reason why everyone fell in love with the hardy boyz. Not because of Matt. Jeff carried Matt when they were a tag team. Matt Hardy is stuck on ECW. Jeff Hardy is facing Triple H for the WWE Championship. Ever since Matt became champion ECW's ratings have went down. Just becaue Matt has won the ECW title doesn't mean anything. The ECW title has meant nothing since ECW became part of the WWE. Jeff Hardy is a future WWE Champ. Matt Hardy is not. Jeff Hardy was going to win the MITB match at WrestleMania but he got suspended. The person that has held back Jeff from being a World Champion is Jeff. Matt Hardy has no excuses besides the fact that he's just not that good.
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Daris Brown 9 months ago
The best example of how this thing will probably play out is by taking a look at the Steiner brother's career. Great tag team, Scott went down (in the 90s) and Rick was thrown into the world title picture going back and forth with Luger. And when he never won, Scott got healthy and they paired back up. Later the roles reversed and Scott (spare) went on to win WCW gold multiple times.
The same will go for the Hardys, minus the getting back together on a regular basis. Matt is thrusted into title contention, only he won, and Jeff will later go on to capture multiple titles. (As long as he keeps himself straight) History always repeats itself, one way or another.
p.s. Jeff's got way more talent, Matt just works twice as hard.
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matt rees 7 months ago
i thank jeff becus he is a dar davil
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matt rees 7 months ago
i thank jeff becus he is a dar davil
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jaspor aellin 4 months ago
jeff you are awesome
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