Because they are still thought of as young guys who have built their way up the card, it’s hard to believe Matt and Jeff Hardy made their WWE debuts working as TV jobbers in 1994, and signed their first full-time contract in 1998.

That’s a long career, and with the impression being given by both men and by the various talking heads on this DVD that they still have so much to achieve, they could end their careers with tenure in the company to rival that of long standing superstars like The Undertaker.

The DVD department of the WWE has been one of their biggest successes of recent years, and within that the best thing they do are the documentaries.  Unfortunately recent releases such as those for Stone Cold Steve Austin, Rey Mysterio and Triple H had moved away from this format to short soundbites followed by matches.  Here, not only is there one documentary but two, with the first disc being devoted to Matt and the second to Jeff.

One of the things I found with the Matt documentary was that I had heard a lot of the information before, both in their WWE released autobiography and their Ultimate Insiders DVD released by Big Vision Entertainment in 2005.  However, this is a definitely worthy companion piece to that.  The advantage that WWE DVD’s have in this scenario is the use of their footage.  So when Matt and Jeff talked about using a trampoline in their backyard as a makeshift ring, and even promoting their own shows, footage is there.  When they - and the usual DVD talking heads like Jim Ross, Bruce Prichard and Michael Hayes - talked about being used as squash match jobbers we get clips of them taking great bumps for the likes of Nikolai Volkoff, Razor Ramon and Crush.  

Gregory Helms and Shannon Moore, who essentially grew up wrestling in OMEGA with the Hardyz are on hand to talk about that, and Jim Ross notes that the fact that Matt promoted his own shows illustrated his passion for the business.  It wasn’t just promoting, but Matt did all the posters, drummed up local publicity and even learned sewing so he could make and fix people’s ring outfits.  I really think that deep love of pro wrestling is one of the reasons that Matt will always both be taken for granted by Vince McMahon yet on the other hand will always be a valuable person to have around.

When talk moves onto the period where Michael Hayes managed the team, you can really tell that when Hayes talks so highly of the team, he really means it.  After several years of watching WWE released DVD documentaries, it becomes easy to spot who is saying stuff for the cameras.

Of course, you can’t do a Hardyz set without talking about the impact of the ladder, tables, and TLC matches that ran from No Mercy 1999 through to WrestleMania X-Seven.  Several of the big moments are shown in highlight form here, and while nowadays the spots are something I’ve almost became desensitised to, at the time they were breathtaking matches.

I had completely forgotten that Edge, Christian and The Hardyz got a standing ovation on Raw the night after No Mercy.  I know that in some smaller organisations post-match standing ovations for both teams happen all the time to the point where it’s almost parody, but in WWE two barely-pushed midcard acts getting that reaction was something I haven’t seen before or since.  Edge and both Hardyz are interviewed here and rightly put this series over as the thing that put them on the map and made both fans and the office stand up and take notice of their potential.

I really think that the three team feud and those exciting matches don’t get the credit they deserve for helping WWE become the dominant company at the end of the Monday Night Wars.  Having stronger matches in the midcard was always seen as a WCW trademark, and here were these three tag teams in WWE tearing the house down every night, and once you’d add a gimmick to that you knew they would be even better. 

One thing about those days that I wondered how the documentary would cover was the involvement of Lita in Team Xtreme.  The Hardyz and her were most definitely a three-person act at the height of their success, and she was put over as a big part of that, and given her due.  I was worried whether that would happen given firstly how her real-life relationship with Matt ended and also the fact that she’s no longer with the company and also turned down the chance to be interviewed here. 

 One of the most interesting parts of the Matt documentary was covering the time period where the tag team first broke up.  There is a contradiction amongst the talking heads here, as Jim Ross talks about how they had done everything as a team and both guys wanted to be pushed in singles, and you immediately cut to Bruce Prichard saying it was “Matt more than Jeff.” Bruce Prichard’s version is always what I had heard too, and the comments by Matt on this documentary about wanting to prove that he was the better of the Hardyz and how he used that for the over the top delusional nature of the V1 character seem to confirm that.

It’s also true about Matt Hardy that you can’t do a DVD documentary without talking about Edge’s affair with Lita and his subsequent firing.  I’m sure everyone knows the story, Matt was at home injured, Edge and Lita had an affair, Matt found voicemails, kicked her out, went on the internet to whine about it, got fired, crowds kept chanting “We Want Matt”, Edge and Lita were put together on TV, Matt came back and feuded with Edge.  I can’t believe Edge still says nobody knows the full story but won’t elaborate while everyone else that comments on it - especially Jeff who you sense still hates Edge for what he did - essentially say he’s a worthless prick who shouldn’t have moved in on his best friend’s woman.

The end of the Matt documentary focuses on the reuniting of the tag team in late 2006 through the first half of 2007, and Matt’s feud with MVP.  Everyone puts over Matt and Jeff as a team as something special, while saying they hope it doesn’t detract from their singles runs.  Matt says that the icing on the career cake for him would be if Jeff was to hold the WWE Title on Raw while he holds the World Heavyweight Title on SmackDown. 

Jeff’s latest Wellness failure may actually not be the biggest stumbling block to that happening, in all honesty.  I will say, with the WWE wanting to “reclaim for themselves” several past Chris Benoit moments, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them do this for no other reason than to have the show-closing celebration in the vein of WrestleMania XX. 

Disc 1 DVD Extras:

Matt Hardy v. Kane at Vengeance 2004.  This took place right in the middle of the storyline where Kane raped Lita and got her pregnant, leading their awesome wedding including a wall of fire and Trish Stratus in THAT maid of honour outfit which I’m sure everyone who saw it remembers.

I know complaining about the matchlists of WWE DVDs is something that everybody does, but really this has no place on here.  It’s a bad, heatless match with substandard action, with commentators who are clearly bored and just out to get on each other’s nerves to give them something to do because the match they are calling is so dull.  It’s no-countout and in post-1998 WWE that means they do a section of brawling through the crowd.  The difference is when Steve Austin did it, he put some fire in his punches and made it look like he wanted to beat the shit out of his opponent.

These two went through the crowd and it looked like they did it because they were bored and needed something to do.  Matt got the win here, but really he’s won plenty of good matches over the years.

Matt Hardy  v. Edge (with Lita) at Unforgiven 2005 in a Steel Cage Match.  Now you’re talking. This is a great choice for the DVD, as it’s really Matt’s first babyface high profile singles win.  Not only that, it’s a fantastic match, one that I remembered being pretty good but was stunned at just how great it was when watching it back here.

Edge is the sleazy hated heel who won their last PPV match by beating Matt so bloody he couldn’t defend himself, so of course that is played up here with Edge bashing Matt’s head into the cage, dropkicking him in the head, and punching away at him.  When Matt pays that back with a revenge spot towards the end of doing the Snake Eyes into the ringpost and then kicking away at a bloody Edge’s head, the crowd goes crazy.  We see Matt getting his hands on Lita for the first time too, laying her out with the Twist Of Fate.

It’s just an excellent match brutal bloody match with a guy who was developing into the best heel in the business and a babyface people have always loved and connected with being out for revenge, getting that revenge and then some.  It’s pro wrestling at it’s basic level and it has worked for generations, and will continue to work for generations more.

You know it’s a great match when Jerry Lawler, perhaps the best bloody hate-filled match babyface worker ever who has been in and seen hundreds of matches of this type, is just marking out and almost forgetting he’s a commentator at numerous times, most notably when Matt kicks out of the spear.  This is the match that ended with Matt giving Edge a legdrop off the top of the cage, an incredible and memorable spot that really should be included in WWE’s highlight video packages a lot more than it is. 

Matt Hardy v. Joey Mercury on the March 2^nd 2007 edition of SmackDown.  Mercury is one of the OMEGA crew who worked a lot with the Hardyz in their pre-WWE careers, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Matt chose this match for inclusion in the set himself.  I have to say I didn’t remember anything about this match, and wasn’t even sure I had seen it before.

It was very good, and I’m not surprised because Matt has become a guy who benefits from SmackDown being the show with the longer wrestling matches, and here he essentially sells and lets Mercury control much of the match working Matt’s arm over.  It’s nothing spectacular but they do basic stuff and Matt sells well enough to keep people interested and have them with him when he’s making his comeback. Matt eventually wins with the Twist Of Fate from the second rope, after tearing off Mercury’s face mask.

It’s a good match, but the real entertainment is in the commentary team. The SmackDown commentators at the time were Michael Cole and JBL, and JBL was probably the best colour commentator there had been for 15 years, he really made the good matches better and mediocre matches watchable. But here they are joined by King Booker and Queen Sharmell, and the four of them together are so entertaining that even if the match had sucked I would still have enjoyed watching it to hear them talk, especially Booker, whose over the top horribly bad British accent and King character totally rejuvenated his carer.

Matt Hardy v. Mr Kennedy on the May 4^th 2007 edition of SmackDown.  This was an interesting choice to include.  Kennedy appeared briefly on the Matt documentary and really put him over for his continuous encouragement and support when Kennedy was still working independents, so maybe there’s a friendship there I don’t know about.

The match was really good, probably Kennedy’s best match thus far in his career.  They work a hard-hitting match starting with tight matwork and building constantly to a stream of dramatic nearfalls towards the end, in much the same vein as the MVP v. Chris Benoit matches that the WWE were running around this time.  I will say, for a guy whose cockiness in promos you would expect to lead to natural in-ring charisma, during his matches Kennedy is the definition of bland.

Matt was excellent as the veteran babyface taking on the arrogant newcomer heel and teaching him that there are no easy nights.  It’s a role Matt was in for much of 2007 and into 2008 with MVP, so it was interesting to see him develop it here.

The Hardy Boyz v. The Serial Thrillaz at the OMEGA show on 29^th January 1999.  The Serial Thrillaz are Shane (Gregory) Helms and Mike Maverick, and this was the Hardyz last match in OMEGA. 

The commentary is done new for this DVD by the Hardyz, Helms and Shannon Moore, and they do a good job of calling the action and explaining their history as well as coming across like four buddies sat drinking and having a laugh.  Helms makes me laugh out loud early as they do a matwork sequence leading to a standoff for a crowd pop, and he refers to it as “some of that Ring Of Honor bullshit.”

As this show took place in Helms’ high school gym, his team are the babyfaces here, so we get to see the Hardyz do heel miscommunication lowblow spots, jawing with the crowd, cheapshots by Jeff, double teaming behind the referees back, their trademark spots not working, having their opponents do their trademark stuff to them, and all the staples of being a heel tag team that Matt and Jeff have never done in WWE due to being babyfaces their entire tag run.

For that reason its’ interesting to watch.  It’s also a pretty damn good match, a lot of fun, and they go for a 1980s tag match finish with Jeff going to give Helms a chairshot but he ducks and Matt gets nailed, then Helms hits the splash off Maverick’s shoulders for the win.  Like with the Terra Ryzin match on the recent Triple H DVD, I always think it’s interesting to see these guys so early in their careers and I’m glad this match was included here.

The other extras on Matt’s disc start with him telling a story about a promo video he sent to WCW as part of an Amateur Challenge contest they were running.  Then the video is shown, with him in his High Voltage character from his backyard Trampoline Wrestling Federation.  The promo is horrible and embarrassingly bad, but again it was cool to see because of how far he’s come now.

Then, in an ironic outtake from the documentary, Matt talks about the time he set up his trampoline/ring in the woods on his father’s property.  Of course, to move the ring there they had to clear out some trees and other assorted stuff which had to be burned, and unfortunately a high wind meant the fire raged, and one of Matt’s friends ran back to get water and came back with just one bucket of water.

Ok it’s a funny story to laugh about because they got the fire brigade there in time for nothing serious to happen, but given what happened to Jeff after I’d guess the DVD contents were finalised it’s kind of strange to watch.

We finish the Matt disc with him giving us a tour of his house, MTV Cribs style.  He has lots of crosses, photos of Japanese symbols and inspirational photography and writing which is really cool to see and gets you a look inside Matt Hardy the person more than Matt Hardy the wrestler.  But basically Matt Hardy’s house is a shrine to the wrestling career of Matt Hardy.  I’ve heard people talk about Bret Hart’s house being a shrine to himself and basically being all about him and his career, and while I’ve never seen that it was what I thought of here.

There are also two DVD Easter Eggs on the Matt disc, with outtakes from the documentary. 

On the chapter menu, if you right click on “Mattitude” you get Matt talking about what an honour it was to work with The Undertaker during the short time in 2002 when he was aligned with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman in a feud with Taker.  It seems a prerequisite on all these releases to find some way to put Taker over, but hey, that might just be me making a bitchy comment and this may have actually been a really important deal to Matt - even though I personally didn’t even remember it.

On the extras menu, if you left click on the Hardyz v. Serial Thrillaz match you get clips of The Hardyz sitting on a couch with Shannon Moore and Gregory Helms, drinking and telling stories about their days in OMEGA and how far they’ve come to get all the way to the WWE together.

I’ll be reviewing the second half of this DVD in the next few days here at WWEPreview.com, plus if you’re in the UK and Europe you can order it now from Silver Vision.