IT IS WOKEN: WWE ‘Twist of Fate: The Best of The Hardy Boyz’ DVD Released Today – And Reviewed!

Matt and Jeff Hardy have been the subject of a fair few DVD profiles, so much so that the name of this compilation – “Twist of Fate” – has even been used for a previous release (the twin-disc set from 2008, where Matt and Jeff had a disc each). That aside, 2017 was a major year for the Hardy Boyz, as they took their rejuvenated popularity within Impact Wrestling to form the basis for a successful WWE comeback, and between a newly-rejuvenated Jeff and Matt bringing his Broken/Woken world to WWE screens, the Hardys are going to remain key members of the RAW and SmackDown rosters as 2018 rolls on.

So, it’s as good a time as any for WWE to provide us with this latest round-up of their incredible careers thus far. As you’ll see, much of the content (especially from 1999-2001) is very familiar and has been seen on many DVDs released in the past. But when the repeated matches are THIS good, it’s not usually a bad thing. Plus, this collection promised to cover their entire careers, from their early days as enhancement talent to their first peak in the Attitude Era, their various splits, their revivals in 2006/2007 and 2017, and even a little bit of TNA footage thrown in for good measure!

Let’s take a closer look at this DVD, then, match-by-match. Will it be as “WONDERFUL” as the line-up suggested, or does it prove to be “OBSOLETE”?

 

WOKEN TODAY! Get the new Hardy Boyz DVD now at Amazon.com (USA) or Amazon.co.uk (UK)

 
DISC 1

WWF Superstars – June 1, 1996
The New Rockers vs. The Hardy Boyz

This is a cool way to kick things off, since some forget that the Hardys were a staple of WWF television for several years as an act to put over more established stars. It’s also intriguing that tag team legend Marty Jannetty would serve as one of their opponents here.

WWF Heat – September 27, 1998
The Hardy Boyz vs. Kaientai

A turning point in the careers of Matt and Jeff, this marked their first televised win in the WWF, having signed “proper” contracts earlier in the year. The action isn’t too bad, either, and it was actually one of the stronger bouts of the evening (when you include the Breakdown PPV that followed), showcasing the daredevil style that would ultimately make them famous.

WWF RAW – July 5, 1999
WWF Tag Team Championship Match
The Acolytes (C) vs. The Hardy Boyz

This isn’t much of a match; Matt and Jeff basically get destroyed until some slightly shady tactics earn them the victory over Faarooq and Bradshaw. But it does bring them their first Tag Team Championships in a huge upset for the time. Had you told the Hardyz that their careers were over as of this moment, they might have accepted it, having achieved the ultimate dream of capturing these titles. Of course, their careers were only just getting started.

WWF SmackDown! – October 7, 1999
The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian

The first of several entries from the legendary Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian rivalry, this one is definitely enjoyable, but of course it pales in comparison to their other future collisions. Not least the one that comes up next on this DVD…

WWF No Mercy 1999 – October 17, 1999
Terri Invitational Tournament Final – Tag Team Ladder Match
The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian

Of course, I’m talking about the famous Ladder match from No Mercy 1999. Christian was quoted as saying that they entered this match as WWF wrestlers, but left as WWF Superstars, and that’s the most accurate way of describing the impact of this fantastic collection of jaw-dropping stunts at a time when no tag teams were capable of performing the spots that Matt, Jeff, Edge and Christian were here. A vital match in the careers of all four.

WWF SmackDown! – December 16, 1999
Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy

How many people remember that Matt and Jeff co-main evented the occasional television show in late 1999? Indeed, for a brief time, they became enemies of the newly-reformed DX, and when the McMahon-Helmsley Regime was formed shortly thereafter, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon chose to mess with Matt and Jeff, including pitting them against one another in this rare TV showdown.

WWF No Way Out 2000 – February 27, 2000
The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian

To me, the Hardys-Dudleys Tables match from Royal Rumble 2000 was as much, if not more, of a breakthrough than the No Mercy bout; listen to the pops that the brothers received that night and from then on. But that match isn’t present here, so we instead jump to another Hardyz vs. E&C clash from No Way Out 2000. Again, the action is very good, but again it is less memorable than their other matches that happened to involve ladders.

WWF WrestleMania 2000 – April 2, 2000
WWF Tag Team Championship Triangle Ladder Match
The Dudley Boyz (C) vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian

Speaking of which, we come now to the Triangle Ladder match, though the layout of the match essentially made it the unofficial first TLC bout. Jeff’s Swanton Bomb onto Buh Buh Ray Dudley through a table off a ladder in the aisleway is the highlight, but it’s Jeff taking an incredibly hard face-first shot from a ladder moments earlier that seemed to be the most painful part of the match.

WWF SummerSlam 2000 – August 27, 2000
WWF Tag Team Championship Three-Team TLC Match
Edge & Christian (C) vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz

As much of a rollercoaster ride as the Triangle Ladder match was, though, it paled in comparison to the craziness of the first proper TLC match, held at SummerSlam 2000. At this point, tag team wrestling was hitting an all-time peak within the WWF, and this encounter saw all six men take some insane bumps. A must-watch for all fans.

WWF Unforgiven 2000 – September 24, 2000
WWF Tag Team Championship Steel Cage Match
Edge & Christian (C) vs. The Hardy Boyz

The one regret about the TLC contest was that the Hardy Boyz didn’t capture the Tag Team Championships again in their home state, but they did get hold of the titles for the second time after this bout, as Matt and Jeff pick up their first high-profile win over Edge and Christian since No Mercy. Still, a Hardys title win at SummerSlam, and a successful title defence in this match, seemed the more logical way to go.

WWF WrestleMania X-Seven – April 1, 2001
WWF Tag Team Championship Three-Team TLC Match
The Dudley Boyz (C) vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. Edge & Christian

Though there would be a third TLC bout involving the three teams as well as Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, TLC II is generally considered the end of an amazing era of tag team wrestling for the company, and part of the reason why many believe WrestleMania X-Seven marked the end of the Attitude Era. Everything is taken that extra step further from the first TLC contest, and the end result is one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all-time.

 
DISC 2

WWF RAW – April 23, 2001
Eight-Man Tag Team Match
The Hardy Boyz, The Undertaker & Kane vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Edge & Christian

So far, this DVD has been incredible if very familiar, but as we enter disc two, things start to cool down a bit. You wouldn’t know it from the crowd heat for this eight-man tag team main event from RAW, early on in Steve Austin’s 2001 heel run. Incidentally, this bout has also been previously released before on The Top 50 Superstars of All Time.

WWF SmackDown! – November 15, 2001
Six-Man Tag Team Match
The Hardy Boyz & Edge vs. The Dudley Boyz & Test

Mid-to-late 2001 was a relatively quiet time for the Hardys as a combo, with the WCW/ECW invasion taking up much of the WWF’s attention. Unintentionally, this match embodies part of the reason why the storyline didn’t live up to expectations: the action is fine and the fans are well into it, but only The Dudley Boyz previously worked for either of the Alliance “members”, and they had spent most of the previous two years in the WWF anyway.

WWF Survivor Series 2001 – November 18, 2001
WWF & WCW Tag Team Championship Steel Cage Match
The Hardy Boyz (C) vs. The Dudley Boyz (C)

That six-man tag brought us to this Steel Cage showdown, which has been released on several occasions in recent times. Why, I don’t know, as the Tables match from Royal Rumble 2000 was superior. Mind you, the finish laid the groundwork for a Hardy Boyz split which, while short-lived, ended an incredible two-year run of immense popularity for one of the company’s greatest ever teams.

WWE RAW – February 10, 2003
Jeff Hardy vs. Chris Jericho

After an up-and-down 2002, the Hardy brothers eventually split for good, and while Matt thrived as Version 1.0 in SmackDown’s mid-card, Jeff had a rough eight months that ended with him leaving WWE for the first time. He still had some occasional moments to shine, though, such as this match with Chris Jericho, which admittedly is a shade inferior to their No Way Out clash thirteen days later. (Incidentally, Jeff would team with Shawn Michaels in between the two Jericho matches, and he even opposed The Rock in The Great One’s last RAW match to date on April 14.)

WWE WrestleMania XIX – March 30, 2003
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Matt Hardy (C) vs. Rey Mysterio

It would take a three-year absence from WWE, during which time he moonlighted in TNA, for Jeff to truly rediscover his passion for wrestling. But Matt was doing pretty well, and he opened WrestleMania XIX with a rushed but exciting battle against Rey Mysterio. Quick-fire burst of energy that bouts like this provide are missing nowadays from the four-hour and occasional five-hour WWE PPV events.

WWE SmackDown! – June 5, 2003
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Matt Hardy (C) vs. Rey Mysterio

The two would meet again on SmackDown, in Rey’s hometown of San Diego. Mysterio captures his first Cruiserweight crown in WWE here, and in the main event to boot, a (Matt) fact that the defending champion was very proud of at the time. Strangely, the next three years of Matt’s career are ignored on this DVD, which is particularly annoying considering the high drama of his worked-shoot rivalry with Edge and Lita in 2005.

ECW December To Dismember 2006 – December 3, 2006
The Hardyz vs. MNM

Instead, the DVD picks up in late 2006, as the reunited Hardy Boyz take on MNM. Matt and Jeff were slowly becoming an integral act in WWE again, with Jeff having recharged his batteries and Matt being motivated by his brother’s WWE comeback. This is a forgotten gem of a match, and though the two teams would meet again, one still feels that this could have been a truly epic tag team rivalry, had it been spread out over several months.

WWE Backlash 2007 – April 29, 2007
WWE World Tag Team Championship Match
The Hardyz (C) vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch

By the end of April 2007, the Hardys were back on top of the WWE tag team ranks. Their rivalry/storyline with Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch is an underrated part of their career, partly because WWE didn’t do much with The Redneck Wrecking Crew beyond this feud, but they had some damn good matches, with this bout being a perfect example.

WWE One Night Stand 2007 – June 3, 2007
WWE World Tag Team Championship Ladder Match
The Hardyz (C) vs. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas

You would think that during this time, it’d have been Cade and Murdoch who Matt and Jeff had a Ladder duel with, but instead it was Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. Not that this was a bad thing, though, because this is a cracking bout; it doesn’t reach the, erm, heights of other Hardy Ladder matches, but it’s still a tremendous effort by all involved, and the last hurrah for the Benjamin-Haas team during their WWE tenures.

 
DISC 3

WWE WrestleMania 25 – April 5, 2009
Extreme Rules Match
Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy

Over the next 22 months, Matt would capture the United States and ECW Championships, and Jeff would become arguably the most popular performer in the company, ultimately winning the WWE Title. But the DVD instead jumps to Matt and Jeff reigniting their feud, which leads to an Extreme Rules clash at WrestleMania 25. The graft is there, but the time is not, which may explain why this isn’t as fondly remembered as their ‘Mania matches alongside each other. That Jeff was taken out of the main event picture to lose this mid-card clash didn’t attract as much negativity as one might think, but it was a big mistake in hindsight, considering how WM25’s top title matches turned out.

WWE Backlash 2009 – April 26, 2009
I Quit Match
Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy

The Hardy feud wasn’t over, though; their hostilities would culminate in this I Quit clash, where Matt legitimately suffered a broken (or “BROKEN!”) hand on the finish. From there, Jeff would return to the main event scene before leaving WWE again in August 2009; Matt was released from the company just over a year ago. After some hard times for both, their careers (and their lives, really) would thankfully rebound, and by 2016, the world was introduced to The Broken Universe in Impact Wrestling. Cue some classic wrestling television, with a few clips of the likes of The Final Deletion shown on this DVD, amazingly.

WWE WrestleMania 33 – April 2, 2017
WWE RAW Tag Team Championship Ladder Match
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson (C) vs. Sheamus & Cesaro vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. The Hardy Boyz

Had it not been for the ongoing ownership and financial problems in Impact (previously TNA), Broken Matt and Brother Nero might have still been there now. Instead, they abruptly left the company in early 2017, which paved the way for a WWE return that had been rumored with hope more than expectation, and then led to an almighty crowd pop when fans at WrestleMania 33 realized Matt and Jeff really were back. The match is like a mini-Greatest Hits for the Hardys, and Jeff finally gets a WrestleMania victory as a result!

WWE Extreme Rules 2017 – June 4, 2017
WWE RAW Tag Team Championship Steel Cage Match
The Hardy Boyz (C) vs. Sheamus & Cesaro

The Hardys’ feud with The Bar evoked memories of their previous squabble with Cade and Murdoch a decade earlier, with the action being of a high quality. Hostilities between the two teams led to yet another Steel Cage match (for a team that are renowned for Ladder/TLC matches, Matt and Jeff have been in an awfully high number of Cage battles), and once again, it’s a dive off the structure from Jeff that leaves the strongest impression.

WWE Great Balls Of Fire 2007 – July 9, 2007
WWE RAW Tag Team Championship 30-Minute Iron Man Match
Sheamus & Cesaro (C) vs. The Hardy Boyz

The rivalry between Matt/Jeff and Sheamus/Cesaro culminated in an extremely well-executed Iron Man match. The sudden early fall courtesy of a Brogue Kick starts the match with a jolt, and from there the story is simple: can the babyfaces regain the lead before the clock expires? Ultimately, the answer is no, but the final 90 seconds, in particular, are very dramatic, amidst some heavy unplanned blood loss for Matt.

WWE RAW – September 4, 2017
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
The Miz (C) vs. Jeff Hardy

From there, The Hardy Boyz went a bit quiet on RAW, and in September, Jeff went on the shelf with a shoulder injury that he has only recently recovered from. Before he left, though, he challenged The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship in a strong showing, and this is a reminder that Jeff still has the ability to thrive as a solo act in the company.

WWE RAW – October 20, 2017
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
The Miz (C) vs. Matt Hardy

As for Matt, he had his own title challenge against Miz in a good bout, but a slightly anticlimactic end to a DVD full of extreme high spots. Still, this defeat played a minor role in Matt having something of a losing streak, which led to him eventually becoming “WOKEN!” Sadly, the DVD was completed before the recent Ultimate Deletion match with Bray Wyatt, which would have been a fitting finale to this Hardys round-up.

 

This is an excellent compilation, and an absolute treat for Hardy fans new and old. It’s amazing to see how the brothers have evolved, from their early days where their high-risk spots were truly extraordinary and innovative, to Matt’s Version 1.0 gimmick, to their 2006/2007 reunion where they were treated as veterans even then, to Jeff’s main event breakthrough in 2008, to their rebirth within the Broken Universe in 2016, to their WWE return in 2017 and current prosperity on opposing brands, with the potential to create further classic moments. And while they are unlikely to take the huge bumps that they did during the TLC matches of 2000/2001 (and rightfully so), Matt and Jeff both remain great performers, and will be an integral part of WWE for years to come, ahead of a sure-fire Hall of Fame induction.

Obviously, longtime Hardy Boyz fans will probably own most of the matches featured here, particularly on the first disc, so it’s hard to say that this is an essential purchase for everybody reading this. But from an in-ring standpoint, there’s barely a dull moment, and every chapter of their collective careers provides something different, with each of their doubles runs providing at least one truly great encounter on this set. For the newer fans, this is a great collection to have, and for those who have followed Matt and Jeff throughout their careers, the “Twist of Fate: The Best of The Hardy Boyz” DVD is a superb anthology for one of the greatest tag teams in wrestling history.

 
Get your copy of WWE “Twist of Fate – Best of The Hardy Boyz” DVD…

 
– UK/Europe: RIGHT NOW! Grab a copy of the Hardy Boyz DVD now on Amazon.co.uk.

– USA: RIGHT NOW! Grab the new Hardy Boyz DVD right now here on Amazon.com.

– Australia: June 20th. Pre-order opportunities available for next month at Madman.com.au.