Jeff Hardy is an American professional wrestler who became famous for his Swanton Bomb finishing move. He was equally catapulted to fame during his performance in the first run in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). After that, his prowess developed in WWE after wrestling with the Modern Extreme Grappling Arts Organization, which he founded with his brother, Matt Hardy.
Jeff Hardy’s Most Insanely Interesting Facts (20 Rare Things)
1. Personality and wrestling style:
Jeff Hardy has often made appearances in WWE with his face painted in bright fluorescent colors, funky dance moves and his hair dyed in different colors each time which brought him a lot of fans back in his WWE days.
His acrobatic style and the high-risk maneuvers he used to perform (especially in TLC matches during his time in Xtreme) made Jeff considered one of the most daring and unorthodox wrestlers of his generation.
Jeff has over 1.5 million followers on Instagram and over 1.4 million followers on Twitter.
2. Face painting is very important to Jeff Hardy:
“The face paint is something that I just… when I don’t have time to paint on the canvas at home because the WWE schedule is so brutal, as you know, it’s just an outlet”.
“I can get to the building and have this image in my head and being that I don’t have a canvas I can just use my face as what I want to try to bring to life”.
“When I am all painted up, it’s like I… I kind of feel like it’s my alien skin. What does my soul look like when it gets out of its body and I’m on a star looking back at Earth, and all these crazy thoughts. Will I look like an alien? All these artistic thoughts come into mind. Like it shows artistic freedom and freedom of your soul. It’s like an expression at its best. I think I am more sociable when I’m all painted up. I think I feel normal, quite normal, a lot more normal than when I’m all shy and not painted. That’s Jeff Hardy, the Charismatic Enigma at his best when he comes out with the face paint. The face-painted freak, man, that’s by far a compliment in my book.”
3. Jeff Hardy’s wife:
On March 9, 2011, he married Beth Britt. They have two kids. Together they have two daughters, Ruby Claire (the eldest born in 2010) and Nera Quinn (2015). The family currently lives in his hometown of Cameron, owning a house in his neighborhood and his brother’s.
Prior to that Jeff Hardy’s girlfriend was Lita. After much research, although Jeff did not want to confess, fans found out he has a girlfriend and that he has been dating her since she was 24. There were some opinions among the fans that Lita would be his wife, but it seems that at the moment it is a simple rumor.
Currently, Beth Britt also shares Hardy’s fame to the extent that she is a face that is easy for true Hardy fans to recognize, as she has been with him for over two decades. Other than her facial characteristics, not many could tell anything significant about her, as she is not a regular celebrity and seems to be quite private.
4. His full name is Jeffrey Nero Hardy:
Jeff was born Jeffrey Nero Hardy on August 31, 1977 in Cameron, North Carolina, USA to Ruby Mae Moore and Gilbert Hardy, a former American postal employee. He is the younger brother of Matt Hardy.
As a child Jeffrey Nero Hardy played baseball, but had to leave due to an arm injury sustained during a motocross race. He also played soccer while in high school in the positions of fullback and linebacker. He also competed as an amateur wrestler in high school but was forced to stop competing in high school sports after being given a choice between sports and wrestling, with wrestling being his final decision.
5. Jeff Hardy’s mother died of brain cancer when he was 9 years old:
Jeff Hardy was born to parents Gilbert and Ruby Moore Hardy, His mother died of brain cancer in 1986, when Jeff was 9 years old. He became interested in motocross at age 12 and owned his first motorcycle, a Yamaha YZ-80, at 13.
The Hardy brothers’ father, Gil, was the one who took care of the two’s education and stated in an interview with a local newspaper that although the two children were quite restless, they never caused him much trouble.
In the same interview, Gil talks about the pranks Jeff and Matt did when they built a wrestling ring from a trampoline in the backyard. Thus, when they mounted the trampoline for the first time, they fixed it in the ground, cutting the telephone wires. After the trampoline was moved to the forest near the house, the Hardy brothers set fire to the remains of the branches left over from the arrangements made and started a fire, damaging an old Chevrolet owned at the time by their father.
6. Both he and his brother Matt Hardy are professional wrestlers:
Matt Hardy is the older brother of Jeff. He changed his name in 1986, following an incident that caused his brother to change to a new real name.
Together, Matt and Jeff created The Hardy Boyz, one of the most memorable teams in wrestling. Before that, the Hardy brothers founded and were part of the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA) and went on to rise to prominence in the WWF.
After signing with the WWF, the brothers worked as enhancement talents before gaining notoriety in the tag team division in part due to their involvement in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches.
With the addition of Lita, the team became known as Team Xtreme and continued to grow in popularity. Alongside Matt, brother Jeff Hardy won eleven World Tag Team Championships between WWE, TNA and ROH.
7. Became the youngest WWE Intercontinental Champion at age 23:
When Jeff Hardy was a teenager he practiced various sports such as motocross, baseball, and soccer and he saw Sting, The Ultimate Warrior, and Shawn Michaels as inspirations to become a future wrestler.
He was the youngest to have lied on the WWF employment form about his age, first appearing in 1993 at the age of 16 on King of the Ring as the gate opener and bearer of the winner’s throne. Jeff as a 16-year-old then debuted as a wrestler in the World Wrestling Federation as a jobber. His debut match was on June 6, 1994, where he was defeated by Razor Ramon by Pinfall and then Jeff continued to wrestle as a jobber through 1997 against the likes of Owen Hart and Rob Van Dam.
When officials found out that he was underage, they decided to send Jeff to the minor leagues where along with his brother Matt Hardy and his friends created a new company, the TWF (Trampoline Wrestling Federation) where they imitated the movements they saw on television.
At the age of 23, Hardy became a full-time singles competition wrestler, winning the Intercontinental Championship for the first of five times on April 12, 2001. He won after defeating Triple H and won the WWE Intercontinental Championship, becoming the youngest intercontinental champion in history at the age of 23.
In June, he managed to hold both the intercontinental champion belt and the Light Heavyweight category, defeating Jerry Lynn. He would then go on to win the United States Championship once, and the European Championship once.
8. Fired from WWE for not entering rehab:
Taking his countless issues with substance abuse over the years with him from company to company. In 2003, Jeff Hardy was fired from WWE because the wrestler had bad behavior and missed events. Therefore, WWE did a drug test and it came out positive.
When Jeff Hardy collaborated on TNA, he was also involved in an addiction issue, and in 2011 he was removed from programming indefinitely. Until a few days ago, Jeff Hardy was fighting for WWE, but he was allegedly fired for relapsing into addictions and not wanting to attend rehab.
9. Loves his tattoos:
Hardy has a tattoo that starts on his head and ends on his hand. His first tattoo, which he hid from his father, was in 1998. He also has tattoos of Chinese symbols. Jeff considers his tattoos to be “artistic impulses”. He is also a great friend of Shannon Moore, who has inked his body several tattoos.
10. Latest DUI:
The “Charismatic Enigma” got arrested this year on June 13 for a DUI, marking this incident the third time Jeff Hardy’s been arrested for driving under the influence in 10 years.
Road Dogg provided some advice to Jeff on his journey through recovery by saying: “People believe in second chances. America was built on second chances, WWE was damn sure built on second chances, and the fact is that Jeff deserves one,”….“He’s been living hard and it’s time to stop now. He has to be ready and willing to do whatever it takes to stop living that way”.
Road Dogg continued drawing from his own experience with addiction by saying:
“I didn’t know living a different way was a possibility for me,” Dogg said.
“I thought, and I say this all the time, I didn’t care which handful of pills killed me and I was wondering which one was going to do it and when. Living crazy like that, you don’t have to live like that ever again and it’s okay. I hope he realizes that now, but it’s not easy, it’s not easy to get off that vicious merry-go-round man. You’ve got to reach out and somebody’s got to pull you off kind of, that’s maybe where we’re at right now. Praying for him for sure, first and foremost. I can’t do anything for him but pray for him”, he concluded.
11. Controversies and drug addictions:
Jeff Hardy is one of the most famous wrestlers in WWE, for his great talents as an athlete and, also, for his way of being and scandals.
The wrestler, Jeff Hardy, caught the attention of WWF/WWE officials for his rebellious and defiant attitude, which would later make him famous. But Jeff Hardy has an addiction problem that started when he was 22 years old, because he started consuming GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid).
Other issues included a time when he was involved in an incident at Nashville International Airport on September 17, 2008, where an airport employee reported that Jeff appeared intoxicated and was denied entry to the airport airplane. Then on September 13, 2009 he was arrested in North Carolina for drug trafficking valued at 3 thousand dollars.
12. Nicknames:
Within wrestling, Jeff Hardy had various nicknames, but, without a doubt, the most recognized is “The Charismatic Enigma”, which he used in WWE and in TNA. Here are some more:
- Jeff Brother Nero,
- Ingus Jynx,
- Itchweeed,
- Jeff Hardy,
- Willow,
- Wolverine,
- Keith Davis,
- The Charismatic Enigma,
- Jeffy,
- Enigmatic Soul,
- Rainbow-Haired Warrior,
- Jeffro
13. His house and dog were burnt to the ground:
On March 15, 2008, Jeff’s house was burned to the ground by fire, during which Jeff was not home, but his dog, “Jack”, was killed. Shortly thereafter he built a new house in the same area.
Infact, the wrestler is also an avid animal lover. He has 6 puppies, an iguana and a raccoon. The first dog, which is almost 5 years old, is called Liger, the second is called Black Dog and is very active, a prairie puppy named Wittie. The last 3 are still chicks and are received from a fan.
14. Musical talent:
But Jeff Hardy is not only a fighter, he also has musical talents and in 2003 he formed the rock band ‘ PeroxWhy? Gen’, where he is a vocalist. ‘Peroxwhy? Gen’ has several studio albums, the last one was released in 2019.
- Similar Creatures – EP (2012)
- Plurality of Worlds (2013)
- Within the Cygnus Rift (2015)
- Spawn of Me – EP (2016)
- Precession of the Equinoxes (2017)
- Individuals – EP (2019)
The band was co-created by Jeff Hardy and his good friend Shannon Moore. The band recorded two songs, where the first was called “September Day” written by Jeff in memory of the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The second song was called “Modest” and was used by Jeff as the opening song during the period when he evolved into TNA. After the release of the second song, some people claimed that Hardy had left the ‘Peroxwhy? Gen’ band. Although the information was denied, one of the moderators of the Hardy brothers’ official website claimed that Jeff was working on a solo music career. In May 2005, Matt and Jeff Hardy, along with Shannon Moore, launched an online project called The Hardy Show, in which they want to show the public their life outside the wrestling ring.
The artistic spirit of the wrestler is manifested both in his passion for music and poetry, as well as in the creations modeled in his backyard. Among them we can mention a 9-meter statue made of aluminum foil, placed in front of the recording studio and the artificial volcano in the courtyard of the house.
15. Jeff Hardy is a graduate of Union Pines High School:
Hardy attended high school at Union Pines High School in Cameron where he played baseball with the Pines High Vikings and was also on the wrestling team where he did training in wrestling with his brother. After high school, he abandoned other sports to devote himself entirely to wrestling.
16. TV appearances where you can catch him:
On February 7, 1999, Hardy appeared in a supporting role in the American series That ’70s Show, alongside his brother Matt. On February 25, 2002, he was one of the special guests on NBC’s Fear Factor, along with other WWE wrestlers.
17. Team Xtreme was co-created by Jeff, Matt, and Matt’s girl Lita:
In early 2000, the brothers had a new manager in the person of their real friend, Lita, the trio becoming known as “Team Xtreme”.
Over the next three years, Jeff Hardy’s popularity grew dramatically as The Hardy Boyz began to be accompanied to the ring by Lita. During the first quarter of the year they starred in several matches against other teams such as The Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian, facing the former at the Royal Rumble in a Tag Team Table Match; to the seconds in No Way Out; and both at WrestleMania 2000, with one win and two losses respectively.
The WrestleMania match was chosen by Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine as the Fight of the Year 2000. After WrestleMania they occasionally wrestled on RAW and SmackDown! against pairs like the Dudley Boyz, Edge & Christian, Test & Albert, and Too Cool.
18. Feud with Brock:
In early April 2002, the Hardy brothers began a feud with Brock Lesnar, after Lesnar attacked Matt on the ramp. Jeff seeks revenge and meets Lesnar in a Backlash 2002 match. Lesnar dominates the fight and wins the match by knockout. The conflict continued in the following weeks, the Hardy brothers managed to obtain the victory in a single match, by disqualification.
At Judgment Day 2002, the Hardy brothers lost once again, in a team match against Lesnar and Paul Heyman.
19. Awards and accomplishments:
He has an impressive track record in team wrestling, winning the WWE Team World Championship title six times to date, along with his brother Matt Hardy (The Hardy Boyz).
Jeff Hardy became a full-time singles competition wrestler, winning the Intercontinental Championship five times, the United States Championship once, and the European Championship once.
Jeff captured his first of six world championships, the WWE Championship and went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship twice and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship three times and is a Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion.
20. Reby Sky is his sister-in law:
American wrestler, dancer, and model Reby Sky is married to Jeff Hardy’s brother Matt Hardy.
After wrestling for Lucha Libre USA as “Rebecca Sky”, Reyes made her independent circuit debut in July 2011 as Reby Sky and Extreme Air Wrestling, where she teamed up with Brian Kendrick and Paul London to defeat Miss Jackie and The World’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin). In 2012 Reby Sky faced Jayme Jameson for the NWA Mid-Atlantic Ladies Championship twice, losing on both occasions. After many months of rivalry, Reby Sky managed to win against Jayme Jameson in a single match at SHINE’s first PPV, SHINE. After Reby Sky got engaged to Matt Hardy, she began to accompany him many times at ringside in federations such as Extreme Rising, OMEGA, and Pro Wrestling Syndicate. Reby Sky also participated in SHINE on August 17, 2012, losing to Jessica Havok. On October 19th at SHINE, he managed to win against Kellie Skater. In SHINE he loses against Jessica Havok while in SHINE he loses again against Jessica Havok in a career vs respect match. On February 16 she lost to Ivelisse Vélez at FWE No Limits she fought paired with her fiance Matt Hardy for Omega by defeating Gunner and Jayme Jameson.
In subsequent events, Reby Sky achieved excellent results by winning against Savannah Riley and Tab Jackson twice. At OMEGA Support the Sport, Sky lost to Kacee Carlisle during her fight.
In August 2013 she fought in Big Time Wrestling against the TNA Knockouts Championship Mickie James (who is rumored to be Jeff Hardy’s love interest) but received only defeats. On October 12, she won against Amber O’Neal in a winning effort at an OMEGA event. On November 9 she participates in House of Hardcore accompanying her husband Matt Hardy to ringside for his match paired with Devon by defeating Outlaw Inc. (Homicide and Eddie Kingston).
In 2014, for TNA One night only, Reba made an appearance in a gauntlet match. By 2015, Reby Sky made her official return to Bound for Glory (2015) by celebrating with her husband Matt Hardy for winning the TNA heavyweight title. In 2018, Sky appeared on Raw.