Matt and Jeff Hardy had a dream of becoming wrestlers since a young age. They watched wrestling often and by the time Jeff was 16, he had been on WWF TV as a jobber. Jeff, along with Matt and friends, started their own federation, the TWF (Trampoline Wrestling Federation) and mimicked the moves they saw on TV. Later on, the federation went under several different names, eventually being integrated into a county fair in North Carolina. Jeff, Matt, and friends then began to work for other independent companies. They drove all over the East Coast of the United States, working for companies such as ACW and other small promotions. The Hardyz eventually caught the eyes of the World Wrestling Federation, and after being signed to a contract, they were trained by former wrestler Dory Funk, Jr. in his Funkin' Dojo with other notable wrestlers such as Kurt Angle, Christian, Andrew "Test" Martin, and A-Train. Before ever arriving in WWE, Matt had formed his own wrestling promotion, OMEGA (Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts) with Thomas Simpson. The promotion was a more successful version of the original TWF and included such talent as Matt, Jeff, Shannon Moore, Gregory Helms, Amy Dumas, Joey Matthews, Caprice Coleman, and many others. In OMEGA, Matt and Jeff each had several different characters. Jeff portrayed such characters as Willow the Whisp, Iceman, Mean Jimmy Jack Tomkins, Wolverine, and The Masked Mountain.In 1998, Jeff and his brother Matt were signed to WWF contracts. When they were finally brought up to WWF TV, they formed the acrobatic tag team called The Hardy Boyz.Jeff is known for his high-risk aerial maneuvers, especially in TLC matches and made a name for himself as one of the most seemingly reckless WWF performers of his time. The team of Matt and Jeff won the WWF World Tag Team Championship on five occasions, ensuring they would be known one of the most successful tag teams in WWE history. In 2000, Matt and Jeff found a new manager in their real-life friend Lita. Together, the three became known as "Team Xtreme".Although a close duo, the brothers would feud with each other. At the 2001 Royal Rumble, Jeff and Matt, the first and third contestants, respectively, fought and eliminated each other.In 2002 The Hardy Boys began a fued with Brock Lesnar after Lesnar gave Matt an F-5 on the steel entrance ramp, which led to an angered Jeff seeking revenge on Lesnar. At Backlash 2002 Jeff faced-off against Lesnar in his first televised match. Lesnar Dominated Hardy and won the match by TKO. Lesnar and the Hardys would continue to feud over the next few months, with Lesnar coming out victorious every time. At Judgement Day 2002 , Lesnar gained the upper hand on the Hardy Boyz tag team before tagging his partner Heyman in to take the win for the team.After years in the tag-team division, Jeff stepped up and took on The Undertaker in a ladder match for the Undisputed Championship. Jeff came up short, but earned the Undertaker's respect. Jeff competed for singles titles on several occasions, but was unsuccessful. Finally, the Hardy Boyz split apart, as Jeff continued to pursue his singles ambitions and brother Matt defected to SmackDown! from RAW. After this he would tease a heel turn by attacking several superstars.Jeff was in few angles after that. He first teamed with Shawn Michaels and then hooked up with Trish Stratus after saving her from Steven Richards and Victoria. In his last match before being released, Jeff was defeated by The Rock. Jeff was released from WWE on April 22, 2003. The reasons given for the release were Jeff's erratic behavior, deteriorating ring performance, increasing drug use, and refusal to enter rehab as well as constantly either turning up late or no showing events.
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