Friday, March 29, 2024
EditorialThis Day In WWE History: Jeff Hardy Wins the WWE Championship

This Day In WWE History: Jeff Hardy Wins the WWE Championship

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2008 was a pretty eventful year. The Boston Celtics won their first championship since the Larry Bird led dynasty of the 80s. The housing market crashed in the infamous recession, and this country elected its first African American president.

In spite of all of these things happening simultaneously and more, one event in 2008 usurped all of that. That would of course be Jeff Hardy final reaching the brass ring and winning the “big one”.

It’s Armageddon 2008. The main event is a triple threat match for the WWE Championship, pitting challenger Jeff Hardy against established main eventers and perennial world champions Triple H and the champion, Edge. This was such a monumental moment in WWE history, and a moment that received one of the biggest pops you’ll ever hear, and with good reason.

Up to this point, Jeff Hardy had carved his niche in professional wrestling as the Charismatic Enigma. He doesn’t look like a professional wrestler. He looks like an outsider in his own world that does his own thing on his own terms. He dyes his air, wears ambiguous arm sleeves, and regularly performs death-defying stunts that most certainly takes an impact on his body. In terms of what he had accomplished up to this point, he was primarily known for being one-half of one of the most successful tag teams in the modern era, The Hardy Boyz. However, even from their early days as an established tag team in the late 90s, Jeff started to separate himself as the charismatic character that may go on to have a successful singles career.

He had shown flashes of being able to reach the top, but not quite getting there. We of course remember his famous ladder match against the Undertaker in 2002 in one of the more memorable matches in the history of the show. Jeff came within inches of doing the unthinkable, dethroning the Undertaker and winning the championship. He would ultimately fall short. Over the years, he would often lose his footing, getting himself into trouble outside of the squared circle and working for other promotions. Upon returning to WWE in 2006, he would continue his career somewhat as he did when he was first in WWE. He would win a few more Intercontinental Championships and experience another tag team title reign with his brother, Matt. However, towards the end of 2007, it was clear that Jeff was ready to realize his potential fully. He would defeat Triple H in singles competition at Armageddon in 2007, which earned him a title shot against then-champion Randy Orton at Royal Rumble 2008. This is of course the feud that you will remember the moment when he would perform a Swanton Bomb on Randy from the top of the arena.

These are the kinds of acts that had almost always defined Jeff’s career, but he was still a tier or two below the established main eventers. Eventually, once he got drafted to SmackDown, he would quickly rise the ranks and get into a feud with Triple H over the WWE Championship. He had opportunities at No Mercy and Unforgiven, but he would always come short. However, his fortune would change at Armageddon 2008. The match was back and forth between all three competitors, and it appeared as though disappointment would strike for Jeff once again. However, Triple H would hit a Pedigree on Edge, and Jeff would quickly swoop in with his signature Swanton Bomb, and would take the championship.

“Jeff hardy has realized the dream of a lifetime! from daredevil to champion! from enigma to icon!”

It was no secret that Jeff was a fan favorite not only in WWE, but in the entire professional wrestling community. This was because he was not your typical superstar with your typical main event attributes. He didn’t have a chiseled body made out of granite like a Batista or Triple H. He didn’t have the fiery, mainstream intensity of a John Cena. He didn’t have a family background like Randy Orton. All he had was his own unique, outgoing personality, and high-risk stunts that would captivate the crowd. He engineered his own path to the top, and it resulted in him finally winning the big one.

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