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 against
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 commentators 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. Particularly 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, particularly “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.