10 Best Jeff Hardy Matches (According To Cagematch)

Hamish Woodward

Former WWE pro-wrestler Jeff Hardy is one of the best wrestlers of all time. The Charismatic Enigma excelled in both single and tag team matches throughout his illustrious career.

On his own, Jeff Hardy’s best matches always had an element of risk to them. His matches were great because of his great in-ring psychology and how he’d always put his body on the line to have the best match he could.

However, Jeff Hardy’s best performances in matches came in tag team matches. Teaming with his brother Matt Hardy, the two men helped redefine tag ream wrestling in the WWE.

In terms of historic influence, their matches should be studied. In terms of being the most entertaining matches, The Hardy Boys had the most enjoyable fights in the history of the WWE.

Jeff Hardy Best Matches

10. vs Umaga – Monday Night Raw, January 7, 2008

The first match on the list of the best Jeff Hardy matches is his his bout with Umaga from the first Monday Night Raw in 2008.

Hardy was set to face Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, but in the meantime had to deal with the Samoan Bulldozer Umaga.

Jeff Hardy and Umaga had one of the best feuds in WWE in 2007. Jeff Hardy himself even called it his “most special rivalry” in WWE.

Every time I pray I say hello to him because he was the most special rivalry that I’ve ever had in the ring, and a good friend. The falls count anywhere match we did was just magic. There was a Great American Bash show where we had a killer match as well and I had messed up and it led to one of my suspension

Jeff Hardy, on his rivalry with the late Umaga

The pair had a number of exciting bouts in 2007 and 2008, including a brutal falls-count-anywhere match at One Night Stand 2008.

However, the best match in their feud came on the first Monday Night Raw of 2007, in a steel cage match. The match featured Randy Orton stalking Jeff Hardy at ringside, in preparation for their bout at the Royal Rumble.

Jeff Hardy and Umaga had brilliant chemistry, and it came to full fruition in this match. Umaga dominated Hardy, but he couldn’t keep the Charismatic Enigma down. Hardy was resilient, with too much heart, to be put down by the Samoan.

Jeff Hardy won one of his best matches with the best finish. He climbed the cage, and instead of climbing out, hit Umaga with a Whisper in the Wind from 20 feet. It was incredible.

The way Jeff Hardy put his body on the line to win at all cost made this match one of his best matches of his career, but somehow only ranks in at number 10 on this list.

9. vs The Undertaker – Monday Night Raw, July 1st 2002

The next match on the list is one of the matches that helped elevate Jeff Hardy from tag team wrestler to main event star, and eventual world champion.

The match between the two on Monday Night Raw in July 2002 was a star making performance from Hardy, but also a great showing by WWE Undisputed Champion The Undertaker.

The match was set out perfectly to accentuate both men’s qualities. The Undertaker dominated the young Hardy, throwing him around like a rag doll and showering him with huge punches.

However, Jeff Hardy showed his extreme resilience. He would not stay down. He came into the match at full pelt, and whenever he got a chance threw everything he had at the Deadman.

The Undertaker won the match, but raised the hand of Jeff Hardy after the match, showing respect for the future world champion.

The match also involved one of the great Jim Ross calls in WWE. As Hardy looked to be about to win the match, he yelled out his famous quote;

Climb the ladder kid! Make yourself famous!

Jim Ross

8. vs Kurt Angle – TNA No Surrender 2010

The first match on this list from Jeff Hardy’s time in TNA is his excellent bout against Kurt Angle from No Surrender 2010.

Despite Jeff being known mainly for his high flying and high risk stunts, this match against the Wrestling Machine Kurt Angle allowed him to showcase pure wrestling ability, without all the frills and gimmicks.

The match was a great showcase of both men, although it’s hard to have a bad match with Kurt Angle at this stage of his career.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Es3D-80BM

The match was part of the TNA Championship tournament, with this bout being a semi-final match-up in the competition. The title had been vacated by Rob Van Dam after an injury forced him out of competition.

Hardy and Angle wrestled to a time-limit draw, leaving questions as to who would move on to the final. The stipulation also stated that if Angle lost, he would have to retire, so a draw saved his career for now.

The pair would have a rematch on Impact, once again drawing. In the end, both men went through to the final in a triple threat match against Mr Anderson at Bound for Glory.

7. vs Edge – WWE Extreme Rules 2009

The ladder match where Jeff Hardy defeated Edge for the World Heavyweight Champion is seventh on this list. It is one of the best singles ladder matches, not just involved Jeff Hardy, but in the entire WWE.

The match has a kind of controlled demolition that makes ladder matches great. The spots the two stars conjure up are imaginative and original. However, you can never guess what’s coming next, until you’re rubbing your eyes in disbelief at what you’ve seen.

You cannot tell what spot each man is building to. Whether it’s whisper in the wind off the top of a ladder, or trapping Edge in between the ladder rungs, both men go to lengths to make this one of the most memorable ladder matches of their career – which for these men is no mean feat.

Jeff Hardy would win the match, but the fans would not cheer for long. CM Punk would cash in his Money in the Bank contract, for the second year in a row, and pinned Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight championship.

It was Hardy’s shortest world title reign, but would lead us to another great ladder match that will be discussed later on on this list.

6. vs Randy Orton – Hell in a Cell 2018

The most recent match on this list is one the Jeff Hardy has been wanting to do for years.

That would be Hell in a Cell match. The much larger and more violent cousin of the steel cage match, the Hell in a Cell match is usually reserved for feud-ending matches, where two men enter but only one leaves under his own steam.

In Jeff’s first and so far only appearance inside the demonic structure, he took on the Viper Randy Orton.

The match was as violent as the match type demands. Spots like chair-assisted Swanton Bombs, and splashes from the top of the cage through tables almost killed Randy Orton, but the Legend Killer survived.

Orton responded by brutally and disgustingly shoving a screwdriver through the earlobe of Jeff Hardy. It was an incredibly unique spot, but I cannot describe just how disgusting it was.

Randy Orton pinned Jeff Hardy to win in one both men’s best matches. Jeff Hardy came out looking like a star, and really convinced me he had another world title run in him.

Watch out Roman Reigns.

5. vs Edge vs Triple H – Armageddon 2009

The crowning glory of Jeff Hardy’s career finally came at Armageddon 2009. The Charismatic Enigma fought his way to the top of the mountain, beating Triple H and Edge to win the WWE Championship.

Edge walked into the show as the WWE Champion. Triple H was a multi time world champion at this point, while Jeff Hardy had yet to taste World Championship gold.

The match was really a showcase of Jeff Hardy, and how he had grown as a world title level performer. He was the star of the watch, with Edge and Triple H working to make him look great in victory.

Multiple times he looked to have Edge and Triple H pinned, by one way or another, the other man managed to break up the pin fall.

He won the match eventually, hitting a Swanton Bomb onto Triple H, after the Game had hit Edge with a Pedigree and pinned the champion.

The win was one of Jeff Hardy’s best matches. If not for the quality in the ring, then just the pure emotion of watching someone who has struggled throughout his life finally achieve his dream of being WWE Champion.

4. Hardy Boys vs Young Bucks – RoH Supercard of Honor X1

When Matt and Jeff Hardy started their Expedition of Gold in 2017, few people expected it ending a ladder match against the Young Bucks.

The Hardy Boys were TNA talents, and had not worked elsewhere whilst under contract with the company. Meanwhile, the Young Bucks had poor experiences with TNA previously, and were enjoying their time in New Japan and Ring of Honor, making them signing for TNA very unlikely.

However, when The Hardy Boyz beat the Briscoe’s for the RoH Tag Team Championship, it set up a match that fans across the country had been dreaming about;

The Hardy Boyz vs The Young Bucks in a ladder match.

The match is exactly what you’d expect. Four men putting their bodies on the line in the most extreme way possible.

It has to be seen to be believed.

3. vs CM Punk – Summerslam 2009

Jeff Hardy went out on a high in his third run in WWE. In his second to last match in WWE, he defended his World Heavyweight Championship against the man who beat him for the title earlier that year, CM Punk.

It was the third best match of Jeff Hardy’s career. He and Punk had brilliant chemistry, with the pair working excellently together.

This ladder match was less of a spot fest like most of Jeff’s were, and told a great story in the ring. CM Punk won the match in the end, in a match that main evented the 2009 edition of Summerslam.

The pair had a rematch inside a steel cage later that week on Smackdown. Jeff Hardy would lose the match, with the stipulation being “Loser Leaves WWE”. He left the company, not to return again until Wrestlemania 33.

2. vs Matt Hardy – The Final Deletion

The second best match of Jeff Hardy’s career is one his most influential. Without The Final Deletion, the cinematic matches that helped guide WWE and AEW through the pandemic may never have happened at all.

The Final Deletion was a pioneering match concocted from the brain of Matt Hardy. He was under his “Broken” Matt Hardy persona, feuding with his brother Jeff over the rights to the Hardy family name.

Broken Matt was one of the most ground-breaking characters of the decade in wrestling. It completely transformed a bland Matt Hardy character who some thought had nothing left to give to business. Instead, the funny-accented, lexicon-rich crazy Broken character ushered in a revolution of pre-taped, cinema-type matches that took the wrestling world by storm, all starting with the final deletion.

The match took place in Jeff Hardy’s garden, of all places. A ring was set up in his backyard, and the pair fought it in, even jumping off a tree for extra Jeff Hardy-like offence. They soon brawled around the garden, culminating on Jeff’s homemade dirt bike track, underneath a giant “Hardy Boys” logo. It ended as Jeff was about to seal the win with a Swanton Bomb off the logo, but Broken Matt set it alight, causing Jeff to fall and stealing the pin fall.

The Final Deletion match between Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy was ground-breaking. It invented the cinematic match that would take the world by storm during the pandemic era of wrestling. Jeff Hardy lost the match but his acting and wrestling skills helped make it one of the best matches of his career, even though he didn’t do as many stunts as he usually does.

1. Various TLC Matches – 2000-2001

It is obvious that one of the many tag team ladder matches would be voted as Jeff Hardy’s best match. They were revolutionary contests that defied physics and made all six men involved stars overnight. It “stole the show” at Wrestlemania X7 according to the man who main evented the show, Stone Cold Steve Austin. That goes to show just how good the various TLC matches involving The Hardy Boyz were.

The early 2000s was when tag team wrestling exploded in WWE, all thanks to six men and the reliable, trusty ladder. With Edge and Christian, Jeff Hardy teamed with Matt Hardy for the earliest ladder match between the two teams. Soon however, the Dudley Boys would enter the fray, and trio would have a number of ladder matches and TLC matches between them.

Edge and Christian won seemingly all the ladder matches between them, but in each time, the six men managed to up the antes in the matches. The best one was one of the first. The TLC match at Wrestlemania X7, which is considered the best PPV in WWE history, stole the show. All six men came out looking like stars, and it was the first steps to Jeff Hardy’s rise to stardom.

Do you think that one of the TLC matches deserves to be ranked as one of the best matches of Jeff Hardy’s WWE career? Let us know in the comments down below or tell us if you think we missed out one of Hardy’s classic bouts off this list.

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