Wrestling’s the Hardy Boyz – famous sons of the Cameron area of Moore County – returned to the sport’s biggest stage Sunday, making a surprise appearance at World Wrestling Entertainment’s Wrestlemania 33, where they won the promotion’s tag team title.
CBS Sports has partial video of the event.
Jeff and Matt Hardy hadn’t appeared in the WWE since 2009, and while the last several years have seen the brothers active with other promotions – on the night prior, in fact, they appeared in a Ring of Honor event at which they lost that organization’s tag title – their return to the wrestling industry’s biggest name appears to be the culmination of a lengthy comeback which began after a series of personal problems, including addiction issues and trouble with the law. One night after the comeback, the team appeared on WWE Raw, the promotion’s weekly Monday night show, defended their titles, and spoke about how they had “not only healed physically but mentally and emotionally.”
A wrestling news website has details about how the team’s return at Wrestlemania was kept under wraps from fans and fellow wrestlers alike.
The brothers got their start locally, wrestling in the late 90s in smaller promotions, including one they created and managed called OMEGA. According to Wikipedia, the brothers first signed with WWE in 1998 after having appeared several times as “jobbers” at various points throughout the decade.