Born on August 31, 1977, Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy began wrestling at a young age. Hardy along with his brother Matt began their own federation named Trampoline Wrestling Federation. In 1998, the Hardy brothers were signed to WWF, where they were trained by Dory Funk, Jr. and managed by Michael Hayes. The two later won the WWE Tag Team Championship on six occasions and made sure that they became one of the most successful tag teams in WWE history. In 2000, the tandem included another individual, Lita, and the three became known as Team XTreme.
In 2001, Jeff Hardy won the WWF Intercontinental title against Triple H, the Light Heavyweight title against Jerry Lynn and Hardcore Championships against Mike Awesome. A year later, the Hardy Boyz began a feud with Brock Lesnar, and Jeff Hardy finally fought Lesnar in Jeff's first televised match. However, Lesnar dominated Hardy and later won by knockout.
In April 2003, Jeff Hardy was released from WWE due to his massive burnout. The reasons stated for his release were his erratic behavior, drug use, refusal to go to rehab, deteriorating ring performance, tardiness and no-show incidents. He took a year off wrestling and used this opportunity to finish his motocross track.
In June 2004, Hardy debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he lost to NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett for the title. He then spent 2004 teaming up with A.J. Styles and Ron Killings, and later won in a singles match with Scott Hall.
In 2006, Hardy re-signed with the WWE. He received several runs with the WWE Intercontinental Title - feuding primarily with Johnny Nitro and Umaga - and won the tag team titles with his brother Matt for the first time in five years.
At Armageddon 2007, Hardy began his rise to main event status with an upset victory over Triple H to become the number one contender for the world title. But he failed in attempt after attempt to take the gold from Triple H before being suspended due to a drug policy violation. Due to the suspension he was forced to miss Wrestlemania XXIV, where he had been expected to win the Money in the Bank Ladder match.
At Armageddon 2008 Jeff Hardy finally won the WWE Title, defeating Triple H and Edge in a triple threat match. But his reign was short lived, lasting only a month, as Edge took back the title at the Royal Rumble with the blindside interference of Jeff's brother Matt. The two brothers built up a feud modeled after the war between Bret "The Hitman" Hart and Owen Hart fifteen years later.
(Photo courtesy of WWE)