Jeff Hardy - My Life, My Rules DVD (Disc 3) Review

From January 23, 2010.

In my personal opinion, Jeff Hardy ranks as one of the best wrestlers of the past decade and the last couple years of Hardy's career would definitely back me up on that.

Match 1: One Night Stand 2008 - Falls Count Anywhere - Jeff Hardy vs. Umaga
Jeff Hardy's series of matches with Umaga have definitely been a great enjoyment in the past years of the WWE and their match here on One Night Stand was a bit strange. Considering the two men have had matches that went back and fourth and were very exciting, this one threw those things out the window as both men brawled all over the arena. The corny spots in Hardy sliding down a rail to hit Umaga and Hardy jumping off a truck onto Umaga might seem very odd but they were very exciting. The match served it's purpose as an entertaining opener that would leave the fans begging for more.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Rating: *1/4

Match 2: Raw 2008 - Jeff Hardy vs. John Cena
To this day, I am overwhelmed that the WWE decided to give this match away on free TV as a match between these two could easily headline a WrestleMania. Anyway, that is a story for another time and the bottom line is, these two had an outstanding #1 contender's match for the WWE Championship on Raw in 2008. To my surprise, the fan running in during the match wasn't edited out which boggles me since the WWE normally edits fan altercations out of everything. After that, the match went on for over 10 minutes with lots of back and fourth action until Cena pinned Hardy to become the #1 contender for Triple H's WWE Championship.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ***

Match 3: SmackDown 2008 - Jeff Hardy vs. John Morrison
In Jeff Hardy's welcoming match to SmackDown, he faced off against ECW's rising star, John Morrison. Although both men have had some phenomenal matches against each other on Raw in 2006, this one felt fresh in that both men were in elevated spots. You may disagree over the fact that Morrison was used as a tool to elevate Hardy in this match, there was good reason for it in that Hardy was the WWE's hottest thing going that time. And although Hardy won this match, Morrison was elevated as well as he got in a good amount of offense in a free TV match against the up and coming Jeff Hardy.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Rating: **

Match 4: No Mercy 2008 - WWE Championship - Triple H (c) vs. Jeff Hardy
It's no secret, Triple H is a fan of Jeff Hardy. We have seen Triple H put over Hardy on several occasions and at No Mercy 2008, Hardy was set for a WWE Championship oppurtunity against The Game. Because there was no clear winner in this match, the crowd was red hot and standing on the edge of their seats as Hardy and Triple H gave us one of the most memorable WWE Championship matches in recent memory. This match is the clear gem of the DVD as I can easily consider this one as one of my favorite Jeff Hardy matches. There were so many times in this match where it looked like Hardy was going to win and for Triple H as well. After over 20 minutes of keeping the fans on their feet, Jeff Hardy hit the Swanton Bomb on Triple H who reversed it into a pin to win the match and retain his title.
Winner: Triple H
Rating: ****1/2

Match 5: SmackDown 2008 - Extreme Rules - Jeff Hardy vs. The Undertaker
Let's clear the air first, whenever you get a win over The Undertaker, you know you have reached a pinnacle in your career. In November of 2008, Jeff Hardy defeated The Undertaker in an Extreme Rules match. Their Ladder match in 2002 is a famous one in which Hardy came so close to capturing the WWE Championship but so close isn't enough for Hardy. After requesting this match against The Undertaker, Hardy was sure to deliver something special and that he did. Throughout the match, it seemed as if The Undertaker would be the winner but once The Big Show came out, Hardy took advantage of The Undertaker as he landed a huge move off the top of the ladder onto The Undertaker to pick up the huge victory.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Rating: ***3/4

Match 6: Armageddon 2008 - WWE Championship - Edge (c) vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H
Since he was a little boy, Jeff Hardy dreamed of becoming a WWE Champion and at Armageddon 2008, his dream was finally realized. After failing in so many other opportunities to capture the WWE Championship, Hardy winning at Armageddon seemed like a near impossible task. The match began fast and didn't look back after as all three men were in their game mode. The back and fourth action in the match is indescribable and the emotion displayed by Hardy is unmatched. There were also so many times during the match in which the whole world thought that Hardy was not going to leave as the champion as Edge nailed a Spear on Hardy through a table and Kozlov even interfered in the match. Thankfully, these spots during the match had no effect on the outcome as Hardy wit the Swanton Bomb on Edge to capture his very first ever WWE Championship in one of the most emotional moments in WWE history.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Rating: ****1/2

Match 7: Raw 2009 - Extreme Rules - Jeff Hardy vs. Dolph Ziggler
Of all the matches that Jeff Hardy had in 2009, they had to chose this one? This match was nothing more than a glorified squash match made to advance the ongoing storyline between Jeff and Matt Hardy. The match itself wasn't anything special and only held down an up and coming superstar in Dolph Ziggler. I don't have a problem with Hardy going over, I just have a problem the way it was done as the predictability was through the roof and the time given to this match was unexplainable.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Rating: 1/2*

Match 8: SmackDown 2009 - Stretcher - Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy
Before SmackDown had their incredible summer 2009 run, they had a pretty good spring run as this match can be shown as a prime example. After having an underrated match at WrestleMania 25, the two had at it again in a Stretcher match on SmackDown in which Matt Hardy once again got the better of Jeff. Although I would much prefer their WrestleMania bout, this one was still a good selection as Jeff landed some nice spots including a dive off the top rope onto the stretcher parked outside of the ring. This was definitely a good match but I felt like there was something missing from it.
Winner: Matt Hardy
Rating: **3/4

Match 9: Night of Champions 2009 - World Heavyweight Championship - CM Punk (c) vs. Jeff Hardy
Following their disqualification ending in their match at The Bash, a rematch was set for Night of Champions as the main event match. Just like their match at The Bash, this one ended up being a bigger dissappointment than a show stealer. There were just so many slow spots during the match and for the better part of the match, they wrestled on the match which really didn't make much sense considering these two hate each other and also, it's Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk! In the end, Hardy hit the Swanton Bomb to capture his third World Heavyweight Championship in another feel good moment.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Rating: ***1/4

Match 10: SmackDown 2009 - World Heavyweight Championship - Steel Cage - CM Punk (c) vs. Jeff Hardy
A lot was at stake during this match as not only would the loser leave with no title around his waist, but he would also be leaving the WWE. This was their blow off match and it was obvious that they wanted to end the feud in style. Just like any other good Steel Cage match, this one started off slow to build up the anticipation and near the middle of the match, they sped things up. Seeing Hardy take some of the bumps like a fall off the top of the cage or being thrown into the sides of the cage was a lot to handle but he was doing it for all the fans. After Hardy nearly escaped the cage, CM Punk managed to drop himself out of the cage to win the match, retain his title, and also have Jeff Hardy leave the WWE. This was a phenomenal Steel Cage match and one that I would highly reccommend you check out because it's the blow off to the amazing feud of 2009 between Jeff Hardy and CM Punk.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: ****

Overall Thoughts and Rating:
2008 & 2009 proved to be Jeff Hardy's most successful years and Disc 3 displays his best matches of those years. With some amazing matches against guys like Triple H and CM Punk, this disc makes the entire DVD set a must buy.
Rating: 4.5/5