This Sunday in Lowell offers a rare chance to witness history repeat itself.
When the Hardys and Dudleys headline TNA’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view at the Tsongas Center, the two teams will wrestle in a Tables Match. It is a rematch of their industry-turning match from the WWE Royal Rumble at Madison Square Garden in 2000, a bout that elevated all four men to an altogether different tier of stardom.
“When we wrestled at Madison Square Garden in 2000, we put our names on the map,” said Mark LoMonaco, who is better known as Bubba Dudley/Bully Ray. “After that night, the world knew the Dudleys and Hardys.”
In what turned out to be an integral building block toward the creation of the famed TLC matches, the first-ever tables match caused an awakening. Already synonymous with putting opponents through tables, the ground-and-pound Dudleys found their wrestling soulmates in the Hardys, aerial sensations who were a distinct blend of charisma and athleticism. Called by the iconic voice of Jim Ross, their fast-paced, intense match stands as an all-time classic. Without a cellphone in sight, people were stunned to see Jeff Hardy win the match by diving off the top of a balcony and putting D-Von Dudley through a table.
“It was madness back then,” said Jeff Hardy. “Now we’re near the end of our careers, but we’re still out here going through tables and jumping off ladders, which is insane. And this match in Lowell is going to be extreme – it has to be. We owe that to the fans.”
Twenty-five years after the original, the four men once again seek to capture lightning in a bottle. This is a unique match, with both the TNA and NXT tag titles at stake. It is also a chance for a proper sendoff to D-Von Dudley, who plans on making this his farewell bout.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to go out there and wrestle for one last time,” said Devon Hughes, who is wrestling for the first time this year. “Vince McMahon wanted me to retire and be a producer in WWE, which is why I originally retired [in 2016]. I’m healthy, I’m ready, and this is my chance to finally go out on my terms.”
Jeff Hardy, 48, is the youngest wrestler in the match. Bubba (54), D-Von (53), and Matt Hardy (51) are all in their 50s, marking a stark contrast from the exceptional athletic performance that wrestling fans witnessed when these teams wrestled a quarter of a century ago.
“We’ve put our bodies through a tremendous amount of abuse since then,” admitted Matt Hardy. “Back then, we were up-and-coming. We were starting to create what we’d be known for, and the first-ever tag team ladder match with the Dudleys changed our path. It was a true car crash of a match. Now we’re viewed by wrestling fans as icons. That’s a lot different than how we were viewed back then.
“All of us were very driven and passionate, and that includes Edge and Christian, who were part of those legendary TLC matches with us and the Dudleys. We work a little smarter now. We are fathers and have our own families, so the risks are more calculated – but we remain hungry to entertain the fans to the absolute highest degree.”
Given their ages and the inherent danger involved in this match, it is valid to ask whether it should even be taking place. All four are already verifiable legends, with their names etched into wrestling history. Neither the Hardys, a once-in-a-lifetime combination, nor the Dudleys – who expanded their notoriety around the globe as Team 3D – need to put their bodies on the line again.
Yet that doesn’t mean they won’t.
“For those who don’t think this is a good idea, they don’t have a clue what they’re talking about,” said LoMonaco, whose argument is buttressed by the fact that the most dangerous parts of the original match were the unprotected steel chair shots to the head, which should not happen here. “This is about the two most decorated and iconic tag teams of all time going out there one last time. People still talk about our match at Madison Square Garden from 25 years ago. We’re going to create a new memory in our final table match.”
“We’re not going to reinvent the wheel here,” added Hughes. “We already did that. But we know how to create something legendary, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Nostalgia and modern-day wrestling prepare to intersect at the Tsongas in Lowell. Wrestling fans who grew up watching with their elders can now share this moment with the next generation. While VHS has long been replaced by DVR, these four are going to wrestle in a manner that makes people want to save the tape.
“You’re going to see the four of us close out the end of an era,” said Matt Hardy. “At the end of the night, there will be real emotion. We’re going to tell a great story and celebrate the legacy of wrestling.”
