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Check back throughout the week for additional installments of this interview. The following was published in the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter in 2005. This is the first time it has ever been published at PWTorch.com.

Torch Talk with Jeff Hardy, pt. 1
Originally Published: September 24, 2005
Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter #880

The following is the first installment of a two-and-a-half hour one-on-one "Torch Talk" interview with Jeff Hardy. Now a headliner in TNA, about to go national on Spike TV, he is known as the flashier member of the Hardy Boys, but also the more mysterious. In this "Torch Talk," Hardy talks about his decision to return to pro wrestling after leaving WWE, his one ROH experience, and his negotiations with TNA. In future installment, he speaks freely and openly about the Matt Hardy-Lita-Edge situation in depth, explaining when he doubted his brother and why, how he feels bad for how he treated Lita and Edge during the ordeal, why he sees two sides to the story, why Matt decided to return to WWE, and how he thinks Matt handled the personal issue in a public way, plus many other subjects sure to add a new perspective to the controversy. This interview was conducted Sept. 15.

Wade Keller: Now that you've had the chance to watch the Ultimate Insiders DVD (featuring him and his brother Matt), is there anything you'd like to expand on or clear up?

Jeff Hardy: Yeah, probably the biggest thing that stood out is I was mad at myself for asking (so much about dates). I can't remember everything, so a lot of times throughout the video I noticed how I would ask Matt, "Was that right? Was it so-and-so when this happened?" I thought I was asking too much. That was the thing I didn't like the most. Other than that, I thought it was pretty cool and it was a good experience. I'm glad the Hardy Boys were back together for that time, the time we spent there doing the interview.

Keller: The whole time we were there doing the DVD interview, Matt was in the room with you either on camera or off camera. We never really talked about what your relationship is like now. Do you consider yourself and Matt really close friends and really close brothers, or have you two gone to a degree separate ways while still staying in touch, but you each have your own world you live in?

Hardy: We're like night and day. I think we're described a lot like that. I don't know who is night and who is day, but we're totally opposites, man, in a lot of ways when it comes to opinions. We're very different. I think the one thing we had in common more than anything is Pearl Jam being our favorite band. That's always been a connection there. We are total opposites when it comes to opinions and living styles.

Keller: How often have you talked to Matt in the last couple of years since you guys haven't been on the road together in WWE? Do you talk to him once a month or several times a week?

Hardy: Oh, yeah, at least. The time I wasn't wrestling at all I would always watch his match and talk to him before and after just to see how it went and what was going on with everything. I bet there wasn't a day or a week that went by throughout the time I wasn't wrestling that Matt didn't stop by here and ask me, "Hey, man, you thought about calling Jeff Jarrett lately to get back into the ring?" He pushed me as far as getting back into the ring with that. He would come by every week and ask me about TNA.

Keller: So Matt was really supportive of you getting back into wrestling. He thought that would be good for you and the promotion would benefit from having you?

Hardy: Oh, yes, definitely. My whole mindset was, like, wow, that would be cool actually knowing that my fanbase - I knew I had a pretty steady fanbase - and just to see that they stuck with me through all that time away from the ring was really cool. It was cool to watch everything in Nashville grow to that last show we had whenever I was wrestling Jeff Jarrett and they turned away, like, a thousand people, man. It feels good to be a part of something and help grow and mature.

Keller: What ultimately made you decide that it was the right time and the right circumstances to get back into wrestling? You probably wavered for a little while and then decided to do it? Was it money? The right time in your life?

Hardy: To me, it was that one year I took to complete my motorcross track. Throughout all that time I was all fired up about motorcross and that's all I wanted to do. I actually even raced a couple of times and competed and did fairly well. I kind of busted my ass at one of the big AMA races pretty bad. I was, like, wow, I need to get back to the ring and do what I know I can make money doing because with racing, I was spending money and getting hurt. More than anything, wanting to give it a try again and being a part of something as it matures.

Keller: It's not too often that wrestlers get back into wrestling for safety reasons because they want to be safer.

Hardy: Oh, yes, I know. That's probably pretty rare. If you see guys on TV now on the motorcross bikes, it makes me feel like I don't stand a chance.

Keller: Was it Jeff Jarrett who did most of the negotiations with you, or did you speak to other people at TNA when you were negotiating your return?

Hardy: Pretty much just me and Jeff Jarrett, one on one. That's how it went down.

Keller: What kind of background did you have with Jeff? Did you have a friendship already or an acquaintanceship already established?

Hardy: The biggest memory I have is back when Matt and I were still wearing the tights and I think for a little while we ran a little angle with Owen (Hart) and Jeff when they were the champs and all that. I remember one day when Owen said something about (the tag titles). He looked at Jeff and said they were hot about giving the titles to somebody. They said, "Oh, why don't we put them on somebody young. Some new, fresh talent like the Hardy Boys." We thought, oh, damn, they're pretty cool to say that. That was the most memorable thing about Jeff Jarrett at that time. And then, for now, him being my boss, it's all strange, but good.

Keller: Is it strange to be talking to Jeff, not as a fellow wrestler, but as someone you had to negotiate money and dates and details on? Was it awkward to take that role with him?

Hardy: Well, yeah, it is, at first anyway. At first, though, he makes it very clear that there are two sides - a business side and a personal side. With me, that is something I've always been, like, ah, man, come on, personal is personal. I always disliked that, but I understand to a certain extent you have to be like that. He made that very clear from the very first day I showed up in TNA. There's going to be times when he's got to lay down the law and there's gonna be times when he is just a friend.

Keller: After leaving WWE, you were able to live off of your savings. Do you mind saying what your best year was money-wise?

Hardy: I think ballpark would be 700 thousand.

Keller: That's what I would have figured hearing dollar figures over those years. And you were in WWE how many years?

Hardy: Five. Almost five.

Keller: Obviously not every year was that good, but you had some money. You probably didn't burn through all of it. But did you figure at some point you'd need more money and wrestling was a way to do it, or did you get back into wrestling just because you actually had a passion for it again? Or was it kind of a combination of practical and emotional factors?

Hardy: As far as passion, no, I had hardly any passion still. But I did want to find it. I felt that it was somewhere in TNA for me to reach again. I was just totally confident in so many other things. I would sell paintings. The first three paintings I sold on eBay, they all went for over a thousand dollars. I was, like, wow! That was for just an 11-by-16 painting on a canvas. I always felt some part of my talent, whatever it may be, everything will work out okay. That's the way I've always seen it and felt it.

Keller: When you finally said yes to return to TNA, was it relief that you finally made the decision or was it apprehension that your heart may not be in it and you might not have the drive to make it work? Were you nervous about having been out so long and whether you'd still be remembered?

Hardy: I was totally nervous, probably more than anything, especially after I heard Jeff (Jarrett) had told me what he had in his mind for the show. He said, "You're coming out and working A.J." Oh my God. I'm like, "Do you think we could do something else?" I was totally underconfident wrestling A.J. and who he is and doing the things he does. It's phenomenal. That turned out great. After that match and seeing it back, I thought it wasn't too bad for being a year or so since I had wrestled.

Keller: It's amazing how it's like riding a bike to a degree other than the cardiovascular element how you remember where to be and how to execute the moves.

Hardy: The ring - that's something that drew me to TNA. When I saw that hexagon ring, I thought, whoa, that's pretty sweet. That was pretty exciting to perform in a different ring. I love it still to this day.

Keller: Did you have a chance to work out much in the six-sided ring before the match with A.J. to get used to the timing of bouncing off the ropes and how far to be from him at certain spots?

Hardy: No, I didn't even go in the ring one time before the match. I just went out there when it was time for the match and that was it.

Keller: Once you got in the ring and you were wrestling A.J., did it kind of hit you, oh man, the ropes have a different spring to them or they're further apart? Did that throw you off, or did you feel at home within a few minutes?

Hardy: The weirdest thing was not knowing which way to run. There is one way you run rope-to-rope, but it felt real weird running the ropes. That was the main thing that felt the most strange. Pretty much I had it down pat after that match and I can't imagine wrestling in a square ring now.

Keller: How much of A.J. had you watched before that match? Were you a regular watcher of tapes or ROH DVDs or the TNA PPVs?

Hardy: Yeah, I had seen a few pay-per-views. Not too many, but I had seen a few. A.J. was part of (NWA) Wildside. A long time ago I remember Matt telling me about this kid and it was A.J. he was talking about. He was out there, man, right off the bat and he did a 450. He was telling how he was a big fan of ours. I thought, whoa, the guy sounds pretty cool. That's what I think about most every time I see A.J.

Keller: When you did agree to come to TNA, was it a tough negotiation with Jeff when it came to the money? Was it tough when it came to the details of how you'd be used or maybe some promises in terms of how you'd be featured? What kind of demands did you make and what kind of concessions did you have to make?

Hardy: Well, whenever I wrestled A.J., the whole deal was I told Jeff that I just wanted to test the waters because I still didn't know if I wanted to do it for sure. I was just going to give it a try. The main thing was I didn't want any pressure that night to sign a contract. They were super-cool with that. I went in and tested the waters and it was a good vibe, a real good vibe the whole night. Then I came home and a month or so went by and finally I let him know that I would sign a contract. About a month later is when I signed. Basically they said they couldn't pay me what I was worth. I was, like, whoa, I took that as a compliment. Just what can you pay me? And that's what we settled on.

Keller: Do you think you negotiated a good bargain for yourself, but also where TNA could be happy?

Hardy: I wouldn't even call it negotiating, man. It was so easy. It worked out fine. I haven't complained since and I don't plan to.

Keller: What was your first reaction to the atmosphere behind the scenes in TNA? It was a televised event, so it had to remind you to some degree of a WWE pay-per-view or TV taping. What stood out that was different and what stood out that was better?

Hardy: Probably more than anything - this is probably the biggest thing I miss from WWE, is the crowds, man. The building in Nashville where we did shows was small compared to WWE civic centers and places they hit. Even Orlando, it's kind of like a miniature version. Everything is smaller, but it's such a good energy, man, that it's totally worth it. But I do miss the crowds with WWE more than anything.

Keller: How important is it to wrestlers, or maybe you can only speak of yourself, if you go into an arena whether it's for a TV or house show, and the crowd is 1,600 in a 15,000 seat building where its echoing, or it's half full, or it's completely full - does that really change how you look forward to wrestling and how much energy you put forth inside the ring?

Hardy: Yeah, totally, like, man, it fuels my fire for sure. Just coming out every time in the Impact Zone, it seems like it's the same people there so it's hard to fuel off of that sometimes. When you're in WWE, you're in all those different towns. One town's hot and the next isn't that hot. It varies itself. Now I'm always in the same place. It's kind of strange. But it will be super-exciting to get out wherever the next venue is we start to do shows in and experience it. I'm sure it will be off the hizzle!

Keller: When you were in the WWF and you went from town to town, did the mood of the backstage area when everyone started arriving change because of the city you were in? Were there towns that you just loved and everybody was upbeat because in some towns the crowd is always off the wall and crazy or you're in another town where the crowd is hard to please or quiet? Did you know going into a town that it would change the way you guys would feel about your work day?

Hardy: Yeah. You'd hit these towns so much. There's a few hard-ass towns, like the Baltimore area and Washington. Those are really tough crowds. Even the Meadowlands. MSG was always a place you'd want to be accepted. If they accepted you there, you were doing your job well. Once you did it so much and you hit these buildings over and over again, you start to recognize the drive and energy that is in that town or area or whatever. You totally look forward to it or dread it.

Keller: Did you have just one match between WWE and Ring of Honor?

Hardy: Yeah, and then I did one more very small one, an independent deal. Oh, and I did a Big Time Wrestling deal in California. Those were the only three matches I did.

Keller: The Ring of Honor appearance didn't go as well as you wanted in terms of how the crowd reacted. It was almost like they treated you like you had to prove yourself to them before they would accept you. Was that the feeling you had from them?

Hardy: I haven't even called it Ring of Honor since then. It's Ring of Horror. There was a big magazine that called it "Jeff Hardy's Ring of Horror" and "he got booed out of the building." Going into that, I knew they were going to be looking for the slightest little thing to get all over me. I even said I was probably going to get booed. I've never seen those people as haters. They were a huge, big-ass crowd. When I went out there, I went out to do my bow gimmick in the corner and I slipped a little, and right away they chanted, "You f---ed up! You f---ed up!" I thought, my God, these mothers are all over me. Then they went into "We want Matt! We want Matt!" So to counter that I'd go, "I f--ed up! I f---ed !" and "I want Matt! I want Matt!" I chanted with them. I felt I didn't have anything to prove to those guys. It was a good experience, man. I'm glad I took part in it.

Keller: Was there any talk of you doing more than that? And why did you agree to do that one match in the first place?

Hardy: I don't know, to be honest. Thomas Simpson was the guy who was involved in OMEGA with us back in the day. It was just him. He would call me every now and then. It was something with Kirby, the guy who was my protege is what they said, and something about giving him a shot to be seen. There was talk of me coming back and being a heel if I were to choose to come back. But I told them beforehand it was a one-time shot.

Keller: If the crowd had reacted differently, do you think you might have come back once every couple of months or something to work a match or two for them?

Hardy: No, honestly, I had no desire or plans. It was a one-time shot and I was set on that.

Keller: The crowd response had nothing to do with you only working once with them? You would have only worked once no matter what? Even if they had chanted your name and given you a standing ovation, your head wasn't in it at that point?

Hardy: Yeah, totally, either way I wouldn't have done more than the one shot. Then every time I hear that "booed out of the building," I think they're crazy. I know it's just a figure of speech and everything, but I guess the majority of the people think I was hurt or something. Even that Kirby, the guy who was my supposed protege, the first thing he said to me after the match, he said, "I can't believe those guys booing you after all of the TLC matches and stuff." I said, "You know what, I'm just gonna face the facts man. I am the sh---s. Oh my God." If those guys really feel that way, the haters, they're just the same kind of fan as the little girls who love me.

Keller: What do you mean by that?

Harrdy: As far as hating and loving. I know after that show, I was signing autographs and stuff. There were several guys who would walk by and say, "Hardy, you f---in' suck!" I never said anything until I let a few of them go by. They would say it, and finally I said, "You paid to see me!" I said that really loud. That's the way I look at it. They paid to come boo me. I didn't lose sleep over it. Not a wink.

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