From Raw Magazine
By: Bill Banks
It was Christmas morning 1987 when Matt and Jeff Hardy took the first steps on their journey to superstardom. On awakening the brothers made a beeline down the stairs, where under the tree they found exactly what they wanted---a large trampoline. After carefully piecing the device together with their father, Matt and Jeff knew it was show time!
Growing up in the 1980's like millions of youngsters their age, the brothers were huge fans of the World Wrestling Federation. On the weekends,they would live out their fantasy of being superstars in their backyard. Sometimes, prophetically, Matt portrayed one of the Fablulous Freebirds; while Jeff fashioned himself after the Ultimate Warrior. With the trampoline, they now had the next best thing to an actual wrestling ring. With such and attraction, it was just a matter of time before the neighborhood youths found their way to the Hardys "ring of dreams....build it...and they will come."
"We called it the TWF, for Teenage Wrestling Federation," Matt tells Raw Magazine, "and we'd go out there and wrestle 'shoot' matches. One day, Jeff and I got motivated and we sawed down some tress... we accidentaly cut the phone line, which our father wasn't happy about. With the wood, we built a ring around the tampoline, and then we dug some holes, put some posts in, took some giant pieces of plastic our dad used to wrap tabacco in and surrounded the place with it. After that it looked just like an arena. Now, it was just like being in the real thing."
Crediting the World Wrestling Federation as their inspiration, the brothers began holding "simulated" Pay-Per-Views where, along with their friends, they would portray various superstars. Cardboard titles were on the line and tournaments were held to determine the champions. Like young Vince McMahon, they promoted cards, set up the matches and video taped the events. Family members and friends comprised the audience, and what began as Matt and Jeff's dream soon became a popular neighborhood pastime in Cameron, North Carolina.
More than a decade later, Matt and Jeff are able to relive their backyard wrestling expierences thanks to the 40 or so home videos they made. In those early days, the most serious maneuver the Hardys ever performed was hitting each other with a chair. Today, similar backyard wrestling promotions are becoming much more prevalent via the internet, and untrained amateurs are risking their health in unsupervised brutality. ABC-TV's 20/20 aired a segment on backyard wrestling this past March, featuring Fedration Superstar Mick Foley.
According to Foley, in the July '99 issue of Raw Magazine, however, his quotes were misrepresented by 20/20. Offered the opportunity to state his unedited opinions on the matter by Raw Magazine, Foley emphasizes the importance of safety for all competitors and the responsibilities of parents. Like the three-time Federation Champion, the Hardys also went from the backyard to the bigtime, a subject they have discussed with Foley on several occasions.
"There are definitely a lot of similarities there," Matt says "[Mick] had it in his heart and soul to be a wrestler and he was going to do whatever it took to do it. As a kid, he would do wild and crazy things just to emulate his idols. Jeff and I did a lot of that, too. We would do stunts, like jumping off the top rope to the ground, but nothing you could really consider dangerous. Even as kids, we knew what we saw on television was just entertainment."
Eventually, Matt and Jeff earned themselves a reputation in Cameron. One night, while the duo were out eating dinner, a local promoter who ran wrestling shows on the State Fair circuit asked them if they would consider competing for him. The brothers knew very little about professional wrestling, but nevertheless agreed. After making some connections, the Hardys met with veteran journeyman, the Italian Stallion, who convinced them to take part in the local Professional Wrestling Federation (PWF) to gain some in-ring expierence.
Matt, the elder of the duo, eventually broke into the Federation in 1993 with some help from the Stallion, but he ran into some problems in high school because of it. His first televised match was seen by an amateur wrestling coach, who tried to pressure the youngster to put his dream on hold---because he was being paid to work for the Federation, it might hurt his amateur status.
"He basically told me I couldn't [wrestle for the Federation]," Jeff says. "He also said I should quit it until I graduated or I wouldn't be able to wrestle for the school my senior year in school. I asked him to cut me some slack, but he wouldn't. So, I just ended up playing football and baseball my senior year, and wrestled for the Federation as well."
When Jeff---who was three years behind Matt---graduated, the pair became a tag team and focused all their attention on pursuing full-time careers in the World Wrestling Federation. Chasing their dream certainly didn't pay immediate dividends, however, and they were forced to find outside jobs to support themselves. Jeff worked in landscaping, while Matt designed and created wrestling attire for his fellow competitors.
After paying their dues in the business, the Hardys were finally offered a full-time contract with the World Wrestling Federation in 1998. One year later, this past July, at a RAW in Fayetteville, North Carolina, the duo captured the Federation Tag Team Championship from the Acolytes. The win was even more memorable for Jeff and Matt because it took place just 25 miles from their hometown of Cameron, and their family was in attendance. Following a dream that had taken them from backyard wrestling to the World Wrestling Federation, the Hardys finally struck gold---and it wasn't made of cardboard.
Today, the trampoline ring that once served as the brothers field of dreams still remains in the Hardys' backyard. They drag it out every once in awhile for old times' sake, but not as much as when they ran the Teenage Wrestling Federation. After all, the squared circle of the World Wrestling Federation suits them much better.