Hardys video an extreme letdown
By JON WALDMAN -- SLAM! Wrestling
Hardy Boyz: Leap Of Faith
Sony Music (Video)
60 minutes
The WWF clip machine has busy again, this time putting a together a tape
honouring Matt and Jeff Hardy, entitled "Leap of Faith".
The tape, which runs an hour long, includes clips from a few of the
Hardyz highlight matches, including their days as jobbers, their first
title victory agains the Acolytes, and their various matches with the
Dudleyz and the Canadian Blondes. For a few of the matches, including
the Steel Cage match against Edge and Christian, we watch along with
Matt and Jeff, with their commentary on the moves. It's an interesting
little technique that adds a bit more insight into the crazy things that
the boys do in their matches.
Of particular interest are the early Hardyz matches. Back in the day,
the Hardyz were jobbers for the likes of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin,
Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Rob Van Dam. Okay, not much has changed, but
it's definitely interesting to see the stars then and now.
This, however, is where I have the biggest problem with the video. Yes,
we see how the Hardyz got their humble starts in the WWF but would it
have killed the fed to include a couple full matches? I can kind of
understand the WWF not wanting to put the full No Mercy ladder match on
the tape, since the match is the selling point for that pay-per-view,
thus the selling point for that video.
These, however, are old RAW and Superstar matches that virtually no one
has. Given the amount of hype that the Internet gave the recent Jeff/RVD
feud because of their RAW match a fwe years back, the WWF would have
been wise to put the entire match on the tape and make it a major
selling point. Same goes for matches against Triple H and Austin.
Non-match content includes a trip down memory lane with the Hardys'
father, which gives some good insight into the Matt and Jeff's passion
for wrestling. We see a few clips from early backyard matches, but there
is no footage from OMEGA. We also learn that Matt made the early Hardy
costumes, and it's kind of funny to look back to the early 90s and see
how the styles have changed from the colourful costumes to the dark
"raver wear" of today.
We also get a look at Jeff Hardy's motocross passion, which includes a
full course in his front yard. In fact, more time is spent on Jeff than
Matt through the video. It's unfortunate that a video about both
brothers has more on Jeff, because it reinforces who is the more popular
of the two.
Interestingly enough, Lita is barely mentioned on the video. She makes a
few comments about the boys, but her involvement in Team Xtreme is
downplayed. Again, the WWF would have been well-served to show footage
of how the Hardyz rescued her from Essa Rios and how she became a member
of the group.
Other commenters in the video are pretty much as expected. Edge,
Christian, Bubba Ray Dudley (curiously no D-Von), Michael Hayes, and
Bruce Pritchard give a few comments about the boys. Particularily
interesting is Pritchard's comments, as he recalls how dedicated the
Hardyz were to making it in the WWF.
Overall, the video is a pretty good look at the boys, but I'm not 100 per cent
sold on it. A lot of the information can be found in various WWF
magazines, particularily "WWF Extreme". The clips of the early Hardy
days and pay-per-view matches are good, but again, there could be so
much more, especially given that the tape's runtime is only an hour.
They could have easily thrown in an extra hour or so of action, and that
would have made the video a worthwhile pickup. As it is, make it a
rental if you are a die-hard Hardyz fan, but there's no need to add it
to your permanent collection.
