An iMPACTful interview with TNA World Tag Team Champions, The Hardys

We recently had the privilege of sitting down with the legendary Hardys ahead of TNA’s iMPACT! live event on January 23rd at the Tech Port Center in San Antonio. During our conversation, Jeff and Matt Hardy shared their insights on preparing for live shows, reflecting on their standout career moments, and their excitement about performing for fans once again.

The Hardys emphasized the importance of mental and physical preparation, ensuring they’re ready to deliver their signature high-energy performances. They also shared heartfelt reflections on some of their most iconic moments, from jaw-dropping ladder matches to the enduring bond they share as brothers in and out of the ring. Their excitement for TNA’s upcoming events was palpable, with both expressing gratitude for their loyal fanbase and the chance to reignite the magic of live wrestling. For fans in San Antonio, their performance at the Tech Port Center promises to be a thrilling spectacle, as the Hardys are clearly ready to bring their trademark charisma and innovation back to the ring.

So first, how are y'all doing, How's the day going for you both?

Matt: Good, man. I think my talking limits kind of expired but we’re excited to talk with you today.

Jeff: Yeah, it’s going good. We've just been insanely busy for three days straight.

Me: Well, I can understand that so I'll keep this short and sweet for you. As a huge fan, I cooked up some great questions to make this go quick

*receives classic Hardy Boyz head nod for approval*

Your high-risk moves have become legendary. How do you mentally and physically prepare for those extreme moments in matches?

Matt: We tried to take care of bodies real good. We’re both big ice-cold plunger bath guys, and that brings a lot of longevity to our in-ring time

Jeff: Yeah, the ice bath has been a real game-changer for me. I’ve been doing it for over two years and still haven’t gotten used to it. I still hesitate sometimes, but I never look forward to doing an ice bath. I look forward to getting it over with, and then I'm ready to conquer the day, man. I'm still in love with moments, man. I think I'm more of a moment guy than a storyteller or a match guy. Even when we wrestled The System in this last table's match, we had. The spot I did to win the match was so similar to the spot I did against where I put Devon Dudley through the table at Madison Square Garden, like 20 years ago, and just seeing the comparison. It was a lot more sketchy because the table was diagonal, and I was really afraid that I might not get up from this. But that's always, you know, fear is kind of part of the fun, and that's kind of what I live for.

Have there been any stunts or moments where you thought, “Maybe that was too dangerous”?

Matt: I can't really think of anything that Jeff's ever been propositioned with where he’s thought it's too dangerous. He's very much a risk taker in the truest sense of the form. I try, and as I'm a little older, I try to work smart. We still work hard, but we also work smart. Like, just all those years of me doing leg drops off the top, I usually finished the Event Omega, which was a leg drop splash. And I would do those 10 nights straight because that's what our schedule was—10 nights on, four nights off in the beginning. And I just beat up my tailbone and hip so much. That's one thing I don't do now unless I'm putting somebody through a table where their body and the table can kind of break my fall a little bit. So, you know, just working smart is very important as you get older

Jeff: During my last run in TNA, I worked with Kurt Angle a lot, and I learned so much throughout working with him. One thing I was terrified of doing was the Swanton off a cage, actually hitting it because I'd never hit one before until that night. I've never hit one since, and I don't think I ever will because it's so scary. But I mean, if I get up there again similar at the cage, I'm sure I'll have that feeling like, okay, this is possible, or I'll have the feeling that, like, I shouldn't do this.

How has your dynamic as a team evolve during your time in TNA?

Matt: As we've gotten older, we probably have learned to be more on the same page. I think you don't want things to be so difficult once you get older anyway. You just kind of want things to be easy. Our relationship has been excellent, and we both have certain strengths. I think we both played it a little bit well.

Jeff: We have a big match coming up at Genesis with the Rascalz. I've been watching some of their matches, and it's still so cool to watch pro wrestling and see all these opportunities to see what might be possible with this move or that move. For example, I saw I gave the stunner, the Twist of Faith Stunner, to Moose one night, and I saw how he took it, watching the match back, and he got so much height out of it. And I was, oh my god, we might get a move out of that. And sure enough, here we are with a new move called the Plot Twist. It's like a video game move, but it's one of my favorite moves to hit in a match these days.

Did you find that working in TNA allowed you to experiment more with your characters and move sets?

Matt: Yeah, I think TNA has been a blank canvas. They've let us paint our own picture and make our own music, and that's something we take a lot of pride in. And I feel like, most importantly, they put us in positions to succeed because we still have a very loyal following. You know, we're generational talents. We've been followed for generations at this point, being 33 years deep. So, they know we can attract a fan base, and they put us in situations that highlight us. We highlight our opponents and do our best to make the most for them as well. They've been really good about that.

Jeff: And even thinking back to Matt and his genius, like coming up with the broken universe stuff, and they gave us that platform to showcase that, all of that wild, fun, cool stuff. It was just amazing.

What advice would you give younger wrestlers looking to adopt a similar high-risk style?

Matt: The one thing I'd say is try to make it a lifestyle. If it's something you really want to do, like take care of your body, work out in a certain way, do your cardio in a certain way, eat a certain way, sleep a certain way where you can, like, maximize your body, and then know everything's going on in all promotions. Because if you do enter the pro wrestling business, and you never know where you're going to get a break, and you've got to be ready for it at all times.

Jeff: Authenticity is a must, in my opinion. That's my biggest advice: be original and not be like anybody else. I take pride in my originality throughout my career. Even when I start painting the eyes on my eyelids, I made if feel like this is my deal; this is what I do. And it’s thanks to Sting and Ultimate Warrior for painting their faces back in the day, and that's why I still paint my face to this day. I still get so much joy out of it. So yeah, originality is so paramount.

What’s next for The Hardy Boyz, especially with January 23rd right around the corner when you’ll return to San Antonio? How excited are y’all?

Jeff: I'm super excited about January 23rd, 2025 going live in San Antonio, man. We haven't gone live in years. So that's going to be huge for TNA all around. And I think we will be doing a few more live shows throughout 2025. So we've got a lot to offer, and we're going to figure it out throughout 2025. I think Genesis 2025 will be a little genesis of itself regarding the new Hardy Boyz vibe.

Matt: Yeah, we've got some pretty good ideas. We wanted to win the titles as the OG Hardy Boyz, the two guys who bust their asses and work hard to achieve a goal, and we earned the titles. But I think now we're ready to evolve a little bit, maybe recreate our characters and persona. You know, perhaps we start to transcend being just pro wrestling superstars. We'll see; there's a lot of directions we can deal with.

If you had to describe yourself in five words, what would they be?

Matt: For me, I would say grateful. I would say passionate, committed, driven,and also fortunate.

Jeff: Yeah, and I'll say grateful, creative, loving, excited, and it's more than one word, but totally in love with life again. We’ll say all that counts as five.