I love looking for retro wrestling matches that really show the early years of some superstars. Sometimes it’s rare stuff while other times it’s known but rarely spoken about. I’d say a New Dimension Wrestling match between Matt and Jeff Hardy fits the bill. This one can be found on the Indie Wrestling Archive on YouTube with a lot of other good, forgotten indy stuff.
This match took play in September 1997 and featured Jeff Hardy in his Willow the Wisp gimmick and Matt Hardy as Surge. By this time, the two had appeared on WWE television as enhancement talents and wouldn’t be signed until 1999.
First Impressions
One thing I enjoy about retro wrestling is—and it’s somewhat minor—the hear of the time. This was the earlier end of the late 90s so tights with designs on them were still in play. The baggy pants tucked into boots and water-look pants days were a few years off.
So, first Matt Hardy—badass blue tights. Classic black boots. He’s got his wrists wrapped ups. He looks like he’s ready to get beaten by more established wrestlers on WCW Saturday Night. However, he will definitely win a match one night. That’s something I noticed about WCW jobbers: their gear got better earlier than WWE regular scrub crew in New England.
It’s weird. Sometimes I’ll rewatch those shows, see a stylish jobber and try to remember who they were exactly—as if they were signed.
So, good on Surge. The commentator would really swap between the two names, so whatever. As for Jeff Hardy as Willow the Wisp…liked the character, hated the gear. He looked like dark side Blitzkrieg or Blitzkrieg’s arch nemesis.
That could be a good thing because he stood out on his coast. He was like a discount regional luchador. That wasn’t the gimmick but that’s a decent way to explain it.
Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy – New Dimension Wrestling, September 1997
This match is kind of wild, folks. It’s a tale of two brothers and a lot of misfortune. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it. The pace was really good, it was a pretty exciting and shocking at times, and I loved it as a snap shot.
This was an early example of the daredevil style that occupied part of the U.S junior scene before becoming a significant part in the early 2000s. The common term is spot monkey sh**. This is a very spotty match and let’s just say not all of them hit. Even worse, there are some that should’ve hit but didn’t either.
To add on to that, this was peak athletic Matt and Jeff. They were going at it to the point some stuff looked rough as hell. This was a very wild, wholly, and raw match. However, Matt Hardy came out looking cleaner. Most of his stuff was clean and the stuff that should’ve hit connected most of the time.
As for Jeff, there were a few times when once he hit it, it just didn’t look good. A good example is Jeff dodging Matt and going to springboard off the ropes only to kind of kick Matt.
I mean, Matt fell so, mission accomplished. There’s also the springboard chair dive from Jeff that looked like he landed on his head in the sawdust. Earlier in the match, he missed a dive and later flat outside. As if someone threw a bag of potatoes.
Outside of the batches, both men were very athletic in-ring. They were doing stuff that was out of their TV-ready style when they debuted. Jeff picks up the win in a sloppy finish.
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