Coordinates	3°5′00″N101°32′00″N
Name	Rey Mysterio, Jr.
Names	La Lagartija Verde (The Green Lizard)ColibríRey Misterio, Jr.Rey Mysterio, Jr.Rey Mysterio
Height
Weight
Birth date	December 11, 1974
Birth place	Chula Vista, California
Resides	San Diego, California
Billed	San Diego, California
Trainer	Rey Misterio, Sr.
Debut	April 30, 1989 }}

Óscar Gutiérrez (born December 11, 1974) is a Mexican American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Rey Mysterio. He is currently signed to WWE competing on its Raw brand, however he is currently inactive due to an injury. Gutiérrez was trained by his uncle Rey Mysterio and wrestled early on in Mexico where he learned the ''Lucha Libre'' high flying style that has been his trademark.

Gutiérrez originally worked for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) in Mexico, from 1992 to 1995. He wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 1996 and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1996 to 2001, as Rey Misterio, Jr./Rey Mysterio, Jr. but dropped the "Junior" from his name when he began working for WWE in 2002.

Mysterio is known for having a high flying style, which helped kick-start the cruiserweight wrestling revolution in the United States in the late 1990s during his time in WCW. In WCW, Mysterio won the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship five times, the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times, and the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship once with Billy Kidman as part of the Filthy Animals. In WWE, Mysterio is a three time world champion having held the World Heavyweight Championship twice, the WWE Championship once and is currently listed as the lightest world champion in WWE history. He has also held the WWE World Cruiserweight Championship three times (a record eight times overall when added with his WCW reigns), the WWE Tag Team Championship four times (also a record—shared with two others), and the WWE Intercontinental Championship twice. All totaled, he has won 21 titles between WWE and WCW. Mysterio was the 21st person to win the WWE Triple Crown Championship, and was the winner of the 2006 Royal Rumble.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Mysterio made his debut in Mexico on April 30, 1989 when he was only 14 years old. He was trained by his uncle Rey Mysterio and wrestled early on in Mexico where he learned the ''Lucha Libre'' high flying style that has been his trademark. He had ring names such as "La Lagartija Verde (The Green Lizard)" and "Colibrí" before his uncle gave him the name of Rey Misterio, Jr./Rey Mysterio, Jr.

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (1992–1995)

In Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), Mysterio feuded with Juventud Guerrera. Mysterio's uncle Misterio, Sr. also took on Juventud in a tag match: Misterio, Sr. and Mysterio, Jr., taking on Juventud and his father Fuerza Guerrera. Mysterio commonly teamed with the similarly undersized high flyer known as Romy "Romeo" Magruder.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995–1996)

Mysterio signed with Paul Heyman's Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 1995. He debuted in September at ''Gangsta's Paradise'', defeating Psicosis, who was also making his ECW debut. A feud between the two began, which included a two out of three falls match and a Mexican Death match. Mysterio also had a series of matches with ECW-newcomer Juventud Guerrera during the first half of 1996.

World Championship Wrestling (1996–2001)

Cruiserweight division (1996–1999)

Rey Mysterio, Jr. made his World Championship Wrestling (WCW) debut on June 16, 1996 at The Great American Bash, challenging Dean Malenko for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, which Malenko retained by cheating to win. In July at Bash at the Beach, he defeated longtime rival Psicosis in a number one contender's match to earn another opportunity at the Cruiserweight title. The next night, on the July 8 edition of ''WCW Monday Nitro'', he defeated Malenko to win his first Cruiserweight Championship. He reigned as champion for three months, which included title defenses against the likes of Ultimate Dragon, Malenko, and Super Caló before he lost the title to Malenko at Halloween Havoc. Following his Cruiserweight Championship reign, Mysterio challenged Ultimate Dragon for the J-Crown Championship, but was unsuccessful in his title match at World War 3 in November.

In early 1997, he feuded with Prince Iaukea over the WCW World Television Championship. Mysterio was defeated in his title match against Iaukea at SuperBrawl VII after Lord Steven Regal attacked him. Mysterio also lost a championship rematch at Uncensored in March. Mysterio soon began a feud with the New World Order (nWo), which culminated when he lost a Mexican Death match to nWo member Konnan at Road Wild in August. Mysterio then became involved in a feud with his real-life friend and Cruiserweight Champion Eddie Guerrero. He defeated Guerrero in a Title vs. Mask match at Halloween Havoc to win the Cruiserweight Championship for the second time. On the November 10, 1997 edition of ''Nitro'', he lost the title back to Guerrero. They had a rematch at World War 3, which Mysterio also lost.

On the January 15, 1998 edition of ''WCW Thunder'', Mysterio defeated Juventud to win his third Cruiserweight Championship, but lost it nine days later to Chris Jericho at Souled Out. After the match, Jericho continued the beating by using a toolbox he found at ringside. This storyline was used to cover Mysterio's need for a knee operation that kept him out of the ring for six months. He made his return at Bash at the Beach, where he defeated Jericho for his fourth Cruiserweight championship. The next night, however, the result was overturned and the belt returned to Jericho due to the interference by Dean Malenko. Later that year, Eddie Guerrero formed a Mexican stable known as the ''Latino World Order'' (LWO) (a spin off of New World Order) that included nearly every luchador in the promotion. Mysterio continually refused to join and feuded with Guerrero and the LWO members, including winning a match against longtime rival and LWO member Psicosis in a match at Road Wild. He, however, was finally forced to join the group after losing a match to Eddie Guerrero. Mysterio's on-and-off tag team partner Billy Kidman joined him during the feud with LWO, wrestling against the LWO despite Mysterio being a part of the group. His alliance with Kidman was formed after Mysterio helped Kidman defeat Juventud for the Cruiserweight Title at World War 3. Mysterio went up against Kidman for the Cruiserweight title at Starrcade 1998 but was unsuccessful winning back the title in a Triangle match that also involved Juventud. Kidman once again defeated Mysterio for the Cruiserweight title at Souled Out 1999 in a Fatal Four-Way match that also included Psicosis and Juventud.

Giant Killer and Unmasking (1999)

In 1999, after the two factions of nWo reformed – nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac – they demanded that the LWO disband. Mysterio refused to take off his LWO colors and was attacked by the nWo as a result. This led to a match at SuperBrawl IX where Mysterio and tag partner Konnan lost a "Hair vs. Mask match" against Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, forcing Mysterio to remove his mask. After the match, he phoned his uncle to tell him the news. Mysterio has publicly expressed his disappointment over being unmasked:

}}

Mysterio later became a "giant killer" by defeating large opponents such as Kevin Nash, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Scott Norton. He faced Nash at Uncensored in a match where Lex Luger interfered and helped Nash in winning the match. Although he participated in several notable matches with some of the heavyweight top card wrestlers, it was made very clear to him that he would never receive a push to become a main eventer. This was due to Eric Bischoff utilizing cruiserweights as alternative, mid-card entertainment as opposed to the more conventional style that led WCW programming. As one of the top wrestlers in the cruiserweight division, Mysterio would go on to voice his disdain in regards to not being pushed:

The next night on the March 15 ''Nitro'', he defeated Billy Kidman to win his fourth Cruiserweight Championship. On the March 22 Spring Breakout edition of ''Nitro'', Mysterio got his first shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against champion Ric Flair when the names of (allegedly) nearly everyone in the company were put into a hat and a lottery was held. El Dandy was the lottery winner, but he was injured, and Mysterio took the shot instead. The match ended with a disqualification win for Flair, even though Arn Anderson's interference on Flair's behalf should have theoretically disqualified Flair. The following week, Mysterio and Kidman teamed with each other and defeated Flair's Four Horsemen stablemates Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship, making Mysterio a double champion. Mysterio successfully defended his Cruiserweight Title against his tag team partner Kidman at Spring Stampede before losing the title on the April 19 edition of ''Nitro'' to Psicosis in a Fatal Four-Way match that also involved Juventud Guerrera and Blitzkrieg. On the following edition of ''Nitro'', he defeated Psicosis to win his fifth Cruiserweight Championship. At Slamboree, Mysterio and Kidman lost the World Tag Team titles to Raven and Perry Saturn in a Triangle match, also involving former champions Benoit and Malenko.

No Limit Soldiers; Filthy Animals (1999–2001)

In the summer of 1999, Mysterio teamed with longtime friend Konnan, becoming members of Master P's No Limit Soldiers, feuding with the West Texas Rednecks. At The Great American Bash, they defeated Rednecks members Curt Hennig and Bobby Duncum, Jr. in a tag team match. At Bash at the Beach, they defeated the Rednecks in a four-on-four Elimination tag team match when Mysterio pinned Hennig. After Master P's departure from WCW, Mysterio formed a stable with Eddie Guerrero and Billy Kidman known as the Filthy Animals. The three wrestlers soon began a feud with the Dead Pool. The Filthy Animals defeated the Dead Pool in a six-man tag team match at Road Wild and at Fall Brawl. On the August 19 edition of ''Thunder'', Mysterio lost the Cruiserweight Title to Lenny Lane.

On the October 18 edition of ''Nitro'', Mysterio and Konnan teamed up together (after Konnan joined the Filthy Animals) to defeat Harlem Heat for the World Tag Team Championship. Mysterio, however, was injured during the match and was sidelined due to injury. Billy Kidman substituted for Mysterio and teamed with Konnan during their title defense against Harlem Heat and The First Family, in which the Filthy Animals went on to lose the title back to Harlem Heat.

Mysterio returned in the spring of 2000 and remained a steady performer, eventually joining the New Blood faction in early 2000 opposing the Millionaire's Club. On the August 14 edition of ''Nitro'', Mysterio and Juventud defeated The Great Muta and Vampiro to win the World Tag Team Championship. They were stripped of the title, however, after Ernest Miller pinned Disco Inferno with the stipulation that if he pinned Disco, Mysterio and Guerrera would be stripped of the title. The Filthy Animals then feuded with the Natural Born Thrillers in the fall of the year. At Fall Brawl, the Filthy Animals fought the Thrillers to a no contest in an Elimination tag team match. Mysterio reformed his tag team with Kidman and the two challenged for the World Tag Team Championship in a Triangle match at Halloween Havoc, facing the champions Natural Born Thrillers and the Boogie Knights, where the Thrillers retained.

At the beginning of 2001, the Filthy Animals feuded with Team Canada, to whom they lost in a Penalty Box match at Sin. At SuperBrawl Revenge, Mysterio unsuccessfully challenged Chavo Guerrero, Jr. for the Cruiserweight Title. Kidman and Mysterio participated in a Cruiserweight tag team tournament for the newly created WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship and advanced to the final round where they ended up losing to Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo. On the March 26 (and the final) edition of ''Nitro'', they defeated Skipper and Romeo in a rematch to win the Cruiserweight Tag Team Titles before WCW was sold to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–present)

Debut and Tag Team Champion (2002)

In June 2002, Mysterio signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and promos that hyped his debut began airing. The "Jr." was dropped from his name and was billed simply as Rey Mysterio after Mysterio got permission from his uncle Rey Misterio, Sr. Mysterio made his WWE debut on the July 25, 2002 edition of ''SmackDown!'' as a fan favorite in a match against Chavo Guerrero, which Mysterio won. He eventually began a feud with Kurt Angle, which culminated in a match at SummerSlam that Angle won after forcing Mysterio to submit to the ankle lock. He later formed a tag team with Edge; the two participated in a tournament for the newly created and SmackDown!-exclusive WWE Tag Team Championship. They lost to Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in the finals of the tournament at No Mercy; the match was voted match of the year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. After they failed in winning the title, Mysterio and Edge defeated Los Guerreros in a number one contender's match on the October 24 edition of ''SmackDown!'' to earn a title shot. On the November 7 edition of ''SmackDown!'', they defeated Angle and Benoit in a two out of three falls match to win their first Tag Team Championship. They soon lost the tag titles to Los Guerreros in a Triple Threat Elimination match that also involved former champions Angle and Benoit at Survivor Series. Shortly after the loss, Mysterio and Edge disbanded as a tag team.

Cruiserweight Champion (2003–2004)

On the March 6, 2003 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Mysterio defeated Tajiri and Jamie Noble in a Triple Threat match to earn a shot at the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. At WrestleMania XIX, he challenged the champion, Matt Hardy, for the title but lost after Shannon Moore interfered. On the May 22 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Mysterio defeated Shannon Moore and Crash Holly in a Handicap Elimination match to become the number one contender for the Cruiserweight title. On the June 5 edition of ''SmackDown!'', he defeated Hardy to win his sixth Cruiserweight Championship. Mysterio's reign ended when he lost the title to Tajiri on the September 25 edition of ''SmackDown!''.

On the January 1, 2004 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Mysterio defeated Tajiri to win his seventh Cruiserweight Championship. After a successful title defense against Jamie Noble at Royal Rumble, Mysterio lost the title to Chavo Guerrero at No Way Out in February. At WrestleMania XX, Mysterio took part in a Cruiserweight Open for the title, but lost as Chavo retained the title. On the June 17 edition of ''SmackDown!'', he defeated Chavo Classic for a record-setting eighth Cruiserweight Championship. He successfully defended the title against Classic's son Chavo Guerrero at The Great American Bash. While Mysterio was Cruiserweight Champion, Spike Dudley turned heel after plowing Mysterio through a table and joined the other Dudleys before winning the Cruiserweight Title from Mysterio on the July 29 edition of ''SmackDown!''. At Survivor Series, he participated in a Fatal Four-Way match for the Cruiserweight Title involving the champion Spike, Chavo Guerrero, and Billy Kidman. Mysterio lost when Dudley pinned Guerrero to retain.

Feud with Eddie Guerrero (2004–2005)

Rey Mysterio had a tag team with Eddie and they were also best friends. After an unsuccessful attempt at regaining the Cruiserweight Title, Mysterio formed a tag team with Rob Van Dam, and went on to win the Tag Team Championship from Kenzo Suzuki and René Dupreé on the December 9 edition of ''SmackDown!''. They successfully defended the title against the former champions at Armageddon, before losing the title to the Basham Brothers on the January 13, 2005 edition of ''SmackDown!'' after Van Dam was injured. Mysterio then teamed up with Eddie Guerrero to win the Tag Team Championship back from the Bashams at No Way Out. During this time Rey had a video camera, which was called the "619 cam", during his entrance he taped members of the audience with this. In a departure from traditional booking, the new champions did not defend their title at WrestleMania 21, but instead had a match against each other which Rey won. Three months later, at ECW One Night Stand, Mysterio faced and defeated long-time rival Psicosis for the first time in nearly five years.

WWE Tag Team Champion with Batista (2005)

The match at WrestleMania was part of a storyline in which Guerrero turned on Mysterio and beat him up after abandoning him during a match against MNM for the Tag Team Championship. Then after a no disqualification match against Chavo, Eddie came out and slammed Mysterio on the steel steps, displaying Eddie's increasing frustration with being unable to defeat Mysterio. Guerrero and Mysterio continued to feud, with Guerrero threatening to reveal a secret he and Mysterio shared involving Mysterio's real-life son Dominik, unless Mysterio deferred to Guerrero's authority. Guerrero later revealed that, in the storyline, he was Dominik's biological father. The storyline went that Guerrero knew Mysterio was having trouble starting his own family, so Guerrero left Dominik as a baby with Mysterio and his wife Angie to raise. In subsequent weeks, Guerrero threatened to take custody of Dominik, drawing up custody papers and having his lawyer present them to Mysterio. At SummerSlam, Mysterio defeated Guerrero in a ladder match for the custody of Dominik. Their feud ended when Guerrero gained a victory over Mysterio in a steel cage match. On November 13, 2005, Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room in Minneapolis, Minnesota. That same day at a WWE "Super Show" where ''SmackDown!'' and ''Raw'' were both taped, Mysterio gave an emotional speech about Eddie, and in a show of respect removed his mask (though he put his head down, so no one could see his face). Mysterio went on to defeat Shawn Michaels in an interpromotional match later that night. After the match, Michaels and Mysterio hugged in the ring and Mysterio pointed up to the sky, crying, in memory of Guerrero.

Mysterio participated in the main event of Survivor Series as part of Team SmackDown! along with Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, Batista, and JBL who defeated Team Raw (Shawn Michaels, Kane, The Big Show, Carlito, and Chris Masters). After Survivor Series, Mysterio faced Big Show in a match billed as "David vs. Goliath" in a ''SmackDown!'' special show. The match stemmed from Mysterio eliminating Big Show at Survivor Series, and ended as a "no contest" when Big Show's tag team partner Kane interfered in the match. Mysterio continued to feud with Raw's World Tag Team Champions, even finding a tag team partner in World Heavyweight Champion Batista who, along with Mysterio, would be set to face Raw's Kane and The Big Show in a tag match at Armageddon. Before Armageddon, Batista and Mysterio defeated Mysterio's longtime rivals MNM on the December 19 edition of ''SmackDown!'' to win the Tag Team Championship in a match they both dedicated to Eddie Guerrero. Now the Tag Team Champions, Mysterio and Batista's match with Big Show and Kane was billed as "Champions vs. Champions." At Armageddon, Mysterio and Batista lost this "Raw vs. SmackDown!" match when Kane pinned Mysterio after a chokeslam. On the December 30 edition of ''SmackDown!'', MNM invoked their rematch clause, defeating Batista and Mysterio with help from Mark Henry to regain the Tag Team Championship. Mysterio and Batista lost a Steel Cage match in an effort to reclaim the titles the following week, again courtesy of interference by Henry.

World Heavyweight Champion and injury (2006)

On the April 7 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Mysterio – who was billed as being an "underdog champion", made his first successful World Heavyweight title defense against Randy Orton. Mysterio went on to retain his title again during a WrestleMania rematch on ''SmackDown!'' against Kurt Angle, three weeks later. The week before the title defense took place saw the start of a feud between the then-United States Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Mysterio. The rivalry kicked off after JBL stated he deserved the World Heavyweight title during his celebration of becoming the U.S. Champion. The feud with JBL saw Mysterio face off against any opponent of JBL's choosing in the three weeks leading up to his title match against Mysterio at Judgment Day. Mysterio was defeated by Mark Henry and The Great Khali in separate non-title matches before wrestling Kane to a "no contest"; Mysterio retained his title against JBL at Judgement Day. The feud intensified when JBL lost the U.S. Title to Bobby Lashley five days later on ''SmackDown!'' after being tricked by Mysterio to take on all comers like he himself had. This led JBL to vow that if he did not win his rematch against Mysterio, he would quit SmackDown!. In the main event of the evening, Mysterio retained the World Heavyweight Championship, causing JBL to leave SmackDown!, until ECW One Night Stand, when JBL announced he would return as a color commentator.

It was revealed that Mysterio would have to defend his title against ECW wrestler Sabu at One Night Stand. In the weeks leading up to his title defense, Mysterio defeated Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms in a Champion vs. Champion match but was defeated by Rob Van Dam at ''WWE vs. ECW Head to Head'' on June 7. At One Night Stand, Mysterio retained his title in a match after he and Sabu were ruled unable to continue following a triple jump DDT through a table from Sabu. Mysterio then retained his title against Mark Henry, winning by disqualification after Chavo Guerrero handed Henry a chair and Mysterio acted as if he was hit, thus Guerrero stole a trick from his uncle Eddie Guerrero.

Mysterio began a feud with King Booker after Booker won a battle royal to become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Booker attacked Mysterio from behind backstage with the help of Booker's wife Queen Sharmell. The next week on ''SmackDown!'', Mysterio gained revenge by attacking Booker and his "court". This rivalry continued for several weeks and saw Mysterio defeating Booker's court member William Regal on an edition of ''SmackDown!'', moments before attacking the challenger and hitting him with a 619 around the steel post. At The Great American Bash, Mysterio lost the World Heavyweight Championship after Chavo Guerrero turned on Mysterio and hit him with a steel chair; Chavo cost Mysterio his rematch the following week. This culminated in a match at Summerslam where Mysterio lost to Guerrero after Vickie Guerrero tried to stop both men from fighting but accidentally knocked Mysterio off the top turnbuckle. Vickie then along with Chavo turned on Mysterio after she hit him in the back with a steel chair, thus, siding with Guerrero. Mysterio then defeated Guerrero in a Falls Count Anywhere match at No Mercy. Subsequently Guerrero challenged Mysterio to an "I Quit" match. In that match, Chavo injured Mysterio's knee, using the match to write Mysterio out of the storyline for a while to get knee surgery.

Return and feud with Chavo Guerrero (2007–2008)

Mysterio made his in-ring return at SummerSlam, defeating Guerrero with the 619, after Guerrero obsessed over Mysterio's return as well as wanting to injure Mysterio again.

On the August 31 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Mysterio won a "Championship Competition" to become the number 1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, defeating Batista and Finlay. On the September 7 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Mysterio had an "I Quit" match with Chavo Guerrero, which he won after hitting Guerrero's knee with a chair repeatedly in a similar manner to which Mysterio had been put out of action. Mysterio then began a feud with The Great Khali, which would lead to a match at Unforgiven where he would face Khali for the World Heavyweight Championship; the match was eventually made a Triple Threat match also involving Batista, but was unsuccessful in recapturing the title.

Mysterio then began a feud with Finlay, an opponent chosen by JBL. The rivalry was marked as "Fight vs. Flight", a competition between the two contrasting fighting styles of both wrestlers – Finlay's physicality, versus the high-flying Mysterio. On October 28, after fighting to a "no contest" at No Mercy, followed by a double-disqualification in a number one contender's match for Batista's World Heavyweight title on the next ''SmackDown!'' (The Undertaker would succeed the pair), he defeated Finlay in a Stretcher match at Cyber Sunday. During this feud, he conceded one match to Finlay on an episode of ''SmackDown!'' and was part of the winning team at Survivor Series which consisted of both wrestlers on opposing sides (although Mysterio was second to be eliminated). The rivalry ended after Survivor Series as Finlay turned face. At Tribute to the Troops 2007, Rey Mysterio faced and defeated former rival Mark Henry.

He re-entered the world title picture when he emerged victorious in the Beat the Clock challenge for the chance to face the World Heavyweight Champion Edge at Royal Rumble. However, he was unsuccessful in winning the championship. WWE.com announced on February 14 that Mysterio suffered a biceps injury during an overseas tour. Despite the injury, Mysterio faced Edge for the title again at No Way Out. On the February 22 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Mysterio announced that his injury would keep him out of action for at least six months, and he eventually underwent three surgeries within the space of a month.

Raw and feud with JBL (2008–2009)

Mysterio made his return on the June 23 episode of ''Raw'', as Mysterio was the first wrestler to be drafted in the 2008 WWE Draft from the SmackDown brand to the Raw brand. On the June 30 edition of ''Raw'', Mysterio came to make an announcement to all the Raw fans which led to a minor fight with Santino Marella. Mysterio made his Raw in-ring debut the next week, pinning Marella after a 619. General Manager Mike Adamle announced that John Cena was injured and that his replacement in the Championship Scramble at Unforgiven was Mysterio. The next week, Mysterio made his return to Raw after an extended absence by attacking Kane, turning back numerous claims that Kane had "ended his career". Mysterio then made his in-ring return at Unforgiven, competing in the Raw Championship scramble match. Mysterio began a feud with Kane next which lasted until Survivor Series. Kane called Mysterio a coward who hides behind a mask. As a result, Mysterio put his mask on the line against Kane at No Mercy, Mysterio won the match via disqualification after Kane hit Mysterio with a steel chair. Kane and Mysterio were once again booked in a No Holds Barred match at Cyber Sunday, Mysterio defeated Kane. The next night on Raw, Mysterio faced off against Evan Bourne in which Mysterio became victorious. After the match, he and Bourne were attacked by Kane and Mark Henry. Few weeks later, Rey Mysterio teamed up with Kofi Kingston in a losing effort against Kane and Henry, Kane once again made an attempt to attack Mysterio but he was saved by The Great Khali. At Survivor Series 2008, Team HBK which consisted of Shawn Michaels (the team captain), Rey Mysterio, The Great Khali and Cryme Tyme (JTG & Shad) defeated Team JBL (John Bradshaw Layfield, Kane, Montel Vontavious Porter, John Morrison & The Miz), thus ending the feud between Kane and Mysterio. He would shortly participate in an Intercontinental Championship tournament to determine the No.1 Contender for the William Regal's championship. Mysterio defeated The Miz and Kofi Kingston to advance to the finals of the tournament but ended up losing to CM Punk at Armageddon. Mysterio participated in the 2009 Royal Rumble match where he entered at the No.1 position. He spent 49 minutes and 24 seconds in the match before being eliminated by the No.30 and final entrant Big Show. He qualified for Elimination Chamber spot the next night for the World Heavyweight Championship. He started at the No.1 position and survived to the final two before being eliminated by the winner Edge who attacked the original participant Kofi Kingston before and replaced him. Later, Mysterio accepted John "Bradshaw" Layfield's (JBL) challenge for Layfield's Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania XXV, which Mysterio won in 21 seconds. With this win, Mysterio became the twenty first Triple Crown Champion in WWE history.

Return to Smackdown (2009–2011)

Mysterio was drafted back to SmackDown! during the 2009 WWE Draft on the April 13 episode of ''Raw'', in the process making the Intercontinental Title exclusive to SmackDown for the first time since mid-2002.

He then began a long-time feud with Chris Jericho, resulting in Mysterio defending and retaining his title at Judgment Day. At Extreme Rules, Jericho managed to unmask Mysterio and pin him for the Intercontinental Championship, however his face was never shown, as he covered it. As a result, Mysterio and Jericho were booked in a Title vs. Mask match at The Bash, in which Mysterio was victorious after tricking Jericho with a second mask. On the July 10, edition of Smackdown, following a successful title defense against Chris Jericho, Mysterio was attacked by Dolph Ziggler. This began a rivalry between the two which culminated in a title match at Night of Champions where Mysterio retained. Mysterio once again defeated Ziggler to retain the Intercontinental title at Summerslam. On August 2, WWE announced that Mysterio would be suspended for 30 days, effective September 2, for violating the company's Wellness Policy. In an interview with Mexican newspaper ''Record'', Mysterio stated that he was suspended for a drug he was using for his knee and arm. Mysterio stated that he had a prescription for the drug, but was unable to produce it in time to prevent his suspension due to being on vacation and doing a promotional tour. On the September 4 episode of ''SmackDown'' (taped on September 1), Mysterio lost the Intercontinental Championship to John Morrison.

Mysterio returned from his suspension at Hell in a Cell to face Chris Jericho and Big Show for the Unified Tag Team Championships with former tag team partner Batista, but they failed to win the title after Mysterio was pinned by Big Show. At WWE Bragging Rights, Mysterio was unsuccessful in winning the World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal Four-Way match including Batista, CM Punk, and then-champion The Undertaker. During the match, Mysterio broke up Batista's pin on Undertaker possibly costing him the match and the title. After the match, Batista turned heel by attacking Mysterio. Mysterio faced Batista at Survivor Series where Batista delivered three Batista Bombs on Mysterio leading to the referee stopping the match. Mysterio was defeated by Batista again in a street fight on the 11th December episode of SmackDown. A few weeks later Mysterio defeated Batista to be named the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Mysterio's title match against The Undertaker ended as a no-contest after interference from Batista. On January 1, 2010 Mysterio participated in a Beat the Clock Tournament for the #1 contendership of The Undertaker's World Heavyweight Championship at Royal Rumble. In the tournament, he defeated his former rival Chris Jericho, beating CM Punk's time. During Batista's "Beat the Clock" challenge against R-Truth, Batista was about to beat Mysterio's time, but Mysterio pulled the referee out of the ring during a pinfall as time ran out, costing Batista the tournament. Later it was announced that Mysterio and Batista would face each other the following week to decide the Number #1 Contender. However, this match also ended in a no-contest, following interference from the Undertaker. The following week in a rematch, Mysterio managed to win the title shot for the championship by defeating Batista in a Steel Cage match. At the Royal Rumble, The Undertaker successfully defended the championship against Mysterio.

Following the Rumble, Mysterio qualified for an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. In the weeks leading up to the Elimination Chamber, Mysterio began a feud with CM Punk that also involved Punk's Straight Edge Society. During the Elimination Chamber match, Mysterio eliminated Punk, but was ultimately eliminated by John Morrison. In the weeks following the Elimination Chamber event, Mysterio would continue to get the better of CM Punk, costing him a Money in the Bank qualifying match and defeating SES member Luke Gallows. During the on-screen celebration of Mysterio's daughter's ninth birthday, Punk interrupted, taunting Mysterio and challenging him to a match at WrestleMania XXVI. Mysterio later accepted the challenge. Punk later added the stipulation that if Mysterio were to lose at WrestleMania, he would be forced to join the SES. However Mysterio successfully defeated Punk at WrestleMania. Five days later on SmackDown, Punk challenged Mysterio to another match at Extreme Rules, with the stipulation that if Mysterio won, Punk would have his head shaved bald. At Extreme Rules, Mysterio lost to Punk. At Over the Limit, Mysterio faced CM Punk again with both previous stipulations in place (Mysterio's allegiance to The SES vs Punk's hair.) Mysterio defeated Punk, resulting in Punk's hair being shaved.

On the May 28 edition of ''SmackDown'', Mysterio fought The Undertaker unsuccessfully, to qualify for the World Heavyweight Championship title match at Fatal 4-Way but in the process, accidentally injured the Undertaker and took him out of the competition. On June 4, 2010, Mysterio won a Battle Royal involving the whole SmackDown roster by lastly eliminating Kane to earn The Undertaker's vacated spot, joining then-champion Jack Swagger, Big Show, and CM Punk at the pay-per-view. At Fatal 4 Way, Mysterio defeated Big Show, CM Punk and Jack Swagger to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the second time in his career. For the next month, Swagger continuously assaulted Mysterio using his ankle lock. At Money in the Bank, Mysterio successfully defeated Swagger to retain the World title, however Swagger continued attacking the ankle after the match until Kane, who had earlier won the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match, came to the ring to chase Swagger away, seemingly to protect Mysterio. However, Kane returned with a referee and cashed in his title shot, quickly defeating Mysterio to win the World Heavyweight Championship. On the July 20 edition of ''SmackDown'', Mysterio defeated Swagger in a 2 out of 3 falls match to remain the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, earning a title match against Kane at SummerSlam. However, during the weeks before SummerSlam, Kane had marked Mysterio as the one who had attacked The Undertaker putting him in a vegetative state (which was a storyline put in place to explain Undertaker's absence due to the injury he had sustained against Mysterio in the Fatal Four Way qualifying match). Mysterio retaliated by saying that Kane was the true culprit. After the match at SummerSlam, which Mysterio ultimately lost, Kane had attempted to put Mysterio in a casket, only for The Undertaker to emerge from the casket. Mysterio ended up clearing his name The Undertaker revealed Kane to be the real attacker.

On the August 20 edition of ''SmackDown'', he lost via submission to the debuting Alberto Del Rio. On the August 27 edition of ''SmackDown'', Mysterio lost a No Disqualification match to Kane, and afterwards was attacked by Alberto Del Rio on his injured left arm, sparking a feud between the two. Mysterio returned on the first episode of ''SmackDown'' on Syfy and confronted Alberto Del Rio. After Del Rio escaped the ring, he hit his personal ring announcer with a 619. On the October 8 edition of ''SmackDown'', Mysterio defeated Del Rio, and thus ending his undefeated streak. At Bragging Rights, Mysterio represented Team SmackDown, and despite an attack by fellow teammate Del Rio, he and Edge managed to defeat the rest of Team Raw, giving Team SmackDown the victory. At Survivor Series, Mysterio led a team consisting of himself, Big Show, Chris Masters, MVP and Kofi Kingston to defeat Team Del Rio ( Del Rio, Tyler Reks, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, and Cody Rhodes). At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2010), Mysterio participated in a fatal four way match for the World Heavyweight title against Kane, Edge and Del Rio, in a losing effort as Edge won the match to become the new champion. Mysterio would continue his feud with Del Rio which culminated on the January 7, 2011 edition of ''SmackDown'' in a 2 out of 3 falls match, which Del Rio ultimately won by countout due to interference from his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, ending the feud.

On the January 21 edition of SmackDown, Mysterio defeated Cody Rhodes. During the match, he also broke Rhodes' nose when he hit Rhodes with a 619 with his exposed knee brace, causing Rhodes to miss the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber pay-per-views, thus sparking a feud. Mysterio participated in in the Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble, though he was eliminated by Wade Barrett. The match would later be won by his rival, Alberto Del Rio. Five days later on SmackDown, Mysterio qualified for a spot in the Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view for the World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Jack Swagger. At the event he made it to the final two but was finally eliminated by Edge. On the February 25 edition of ''SmackDown'', Mysterio was tricked and attacked by Cody Rhodes and his father, Dusty Rhodes, resulting in Mysterio being unmasked by Rhodes. Mysterio accepted Rhodes' challenge to a match at WrestleMania XXVII, but was defeated by Rhodes. On the April 23 edition of Smackdown Mysterio defeated Rhodes in a rematch. Mysterio's feud with Rhodes ended at Extreme Rules when Mysterio defeated Rhodes in a Falls Count Anywhere match.

Return to Raw, various feuds, WWE Champion, and injury (2011)

In the 2011 WWE Draft, Mysterio was drafted to Raw. On the May 9 edition of ''Raw'', Mysterio lost a Triple Threat match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship. Following the match, Mysterio was attacked by R-Truth which led to a match between the two at Over the Limit, which R-Truth won. From May, Mysterio started feuding with CM Punk, with the pair exchanging victories on successive episodes of ''Raw''. Their feud ended at WWE Capitol Punishment when Punk beat Mysterio. Rey Mysterio failed to capture the Raw Money In The Bank briefcase, eventually the match was won by Alberto Del Rio by unmasking Mysterio as a distraction. Mysterio advanced to the finals of a one night tournament on the July 18 edition of ''Raw'', which culminated into a match between The Miz and Mysterio for the WWE Championship. The following week, Mysterio defeated Miz to win his first ever WWE Championship, nine years to the day of his WWE debut, also becoming a three-time world champion. Later that night, John Cena defeated Mysterio to become WWE Champion. On the August 8, 2011 edition of ''Raw'', Mysterio was brutally attacked by The Miz, leaving him with a storylined injury. At SummerSlam 2011, Mysterio competed in a six man tag-team match with Kofi Kingston and John Morisson to defeat The Miz, Alberto del Rio and R-Truth. The following night on ''Raw'', Rey Mysterio was unsuccessful in his WWE Title rematch against Alberto Del Rio. Mysterio suffered an in-ring injury in a house show earlier but was put in a storyline injury after Alberto Del Rio attacked him following their match. He is expected to be out of action for 6 months and expected to return after Wrestlemania next year.

Personal life

Mysterio and his wife Angie have two children. In January 2009, Mysterio revealed that he and his wife were expecting their third child. He has tattoos of his two children's names on his right and left biceps. He also has tattoos dedicated to his wife, Angie.

On March 19, 2007, ''Sports Illustrated'' posted on its website an article in its continuing series investigating a steroid and HGH ring used by a number of professional athletes in several sports. That article mentioned several current and former WWE wrestlers, including Mysterio who was alleged to have obtained nandrolone and stanozolol. WWE subsequently stated that the allegations preceded the Talent Wellness program WWE launched in February 2006. On August 27, 2009, WWE announced that Gutiérrez would receive a 30 day suspension due to a violation of the wellness program. Days later Gutiérrez defended himself in a newspaper interview by explaining the drugs as being on a prescription for his knee and arm. While the Wellness Policy allows for prescribed drugs, Mysterio further contested he had been on a family holiday and subsequently in Europe promoting SummerSlam, giving him only a day to provide the prescription after being notified.

He is a devoted Roman Catholic, frequently crossing himself before every match and bearing numerous religious tattoos on his body, most notably a cross on his chest attached to rosaries as well as other crosses and allusions to God. Gutiérrez is friends with Noah "Wuv" Bernardo of P.O.D., who performed the original version of Booyaka along with Mysterio, and several other of Mysterio's themes in WCW.

He has stated that his favourite food is cupcakes, particularly the Banana Chip flavour from Heavenly Cupcakes in his home town of San Diego.

Mysterio has been a subject of several DVDs during his wrestling career, including "Rey Mysterio: 619", a documentary of Rey's career and personal life, which was released on DVD and VHS. The DVD featured ten additional matches and other special features, and was released in 2003. WWE also produced "Rey Mysterio: The Biggest Little Man", a three disc set featuring Rey's best matches. Rey also shares his thoughts about the matches he's had and the feuds that he's been in, the DVD was released on October 23, 2007. He was also featured on the DVD "Before They Were Wrestling Stars: Rey Mysterio Jr" in 2007 which featured matches from his time in Mexico.

In the UK, Silver Vision released a Rey Mysterio DVD as part of their Best of WWE collection. This featured his matches from SummerSlam 2005, Wrestlemania 22, No Mercy 2006, and SummerSlam 2007.

On July 12, 2011, WWE released Rey Mysterio: The Life of a Masked Man, a three disc set which is presented by Matt Striker, the DVD includes exclusive interviews with Rey and over two dozen of his past matches.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

''619'' (Tiger feint kick to the head of an opponent draped over the second rope) followed by:

*''Droppin' Da Dime / TJ Drop'' (Springboard leg drop, sometimes to the back of the opponent's head) - 1989-2003

**Frog splash – 2005–present; adopted from and used as a tribute to Eddie Guerrero

*Springboard into either a splash, a seated senton to the shoulder of a standing opponent , or a diving headbutt - 2006-2009

*''West Coast Pop'' (Springboard hurricanrana pin) - ECW / WCW / WWE; preceded by Mysterio spinning his arm around then pointing to the sky, signaling the move - 1989-2006

Signature moves

Armbar, often transitioned into a hammerlock

*Arm drag, often used as a counter

Arm wrench inside cradle

Baseball slide, sometimes transitioned into a headscissors takedown

Bronco buster

Bulldog, often used as a counter

*DDT, often used as a counter

Diving hurricanrana, sometimes off of the ring apron

*Dragonrana

*Dragon sleeper

Dropkick, sometimes while springboarding or from the top rope

*Green mist – 2011–present

*Headscissors DDT or headscissors reverse DDT

*Headscissors takedown

*High speed roundhouse kick to the head of a seated opponent, as a roll out counter to a sunset flip

*Inverted STF

*Leg-feed enzuigiri

*Multiple crossbody variations

**Diving

**Reverse

**Running

**Slingshot (Plancha), sometimes with corkscrew

**Springboard, sometimes from the second rope

*Multiple moonsault variations

**Diving, sometimes to a standing opponent

*Split-legged

*Springboard

**Standing

''Mysterio Express'' (Leg trap sunset flip powerbomb)

*''Mysterio-Rana'' (Mysterio jumps onto an opponent's shoulders and then twists around into a hurricanrana pin), sometimes preceded by a cartwheel

Slingshot or springboard somersault seated senton onto a standing opponent outside of the ring, sometimes transitioned into a hurricanrana

*Spinning heel kick, sometimes while springboarding

*Springboard sitout facebuster

*Standing shiranui

*Suicide dive

Thesz press

Tilt-a-whirl or tope-rope headscissors takedown

*Victory roll

Wheelbarrow bodyscissors transitioned into either an arm drag, a bulldog, or a DDT

With Billy Kidman

''619'' (Tiger feint kick) by Mysterio into a Shooting Star Press by Kidman

Baseball slide to the groin by Kidman into a Bronco buster by Mysterio

*Catapult by Kidman into a diving hurricanrana by Mysterio

*Double sitout chokeslam

''Nutcracker Suite'' (Kidman holds the opponents legs while Rey performs a ''Droppin' Da Dime'' to their groin)

*Wheelbarrow facebuster (Kidman) / ''Droppin' Da Dime'' (Mysterio) combination

With Edge

''619'' (Tiger feint kick) by Mysterio followed by a Spear or ''Edgecution'' by Edge

*''Bombs Away'' (Simultaneous powerbomb (Edge) / springboard seated senton (Mysterio) combination)

*Catapult by Edge into a diving hurricanrana by Mysterio

*Double missile dropkick

*Hurricanrana by Mysterio into a Spear by Edge

*Powerbomb lift by Edge to Mysterio, Mysterio then moonsaults on to the opponent (the opponent(s) is usually standing outside the ring)

With Rob Van Dam

*''4:20'' (Van Dam lifts Mysterio up and drops him while simultaneously dropping himself into a seated position, resulting in a double ''Droppin' Da Dime'' to an opponent's throat and chest)

''619'' (Tiger feint kick) by Mysterio followed by a Five-Star Frog Splash by Van Dam

*Catapult by Van Dam into a diving hurricanrana by Mysterio

*''Rolling Thunder'' by Van Dam followed by a ''Droppin' Da Dime'' by Mysterio

With Batista

''619'' (Tiger feint kick) followed by a Spinebuster from Batista

Managers

*Torrie Wilson

Nicknames

*"El Super Duper Niño" ("The Super Duper Kid") (ECW)

*"The Technical Kid From San Diego" (ECW / WCW)

*"Flying Fury" (WCW / WWE)

*"The Giant Killer" (WCW / WWE)

*"The Ultimate Underdog" (WCW / WWE)

*"The Human Highlight Reel" (WCW / WWE)

*"The Sensation" (WCW / WWE)

*"The Firecracker" (WCW / WWE)

"The Master of the 619" (WWE)

*"The Biggest Little Man" (WWE)

*"The Masked Maestro" (WWE)

Entrance themes

*"Sad but True" by Metallica (ECW; 1995-1996; as Rey Mysterio, Jr.)

*"March of Death" by Jimmy Hart (ECW/WCW; 1995–1998; 1999; as Rey Mysterio, Jr.)

*"Flying Fury" by Ill Harmonics (WCW; 1998-1999; as Rey Mysterio, Jr.)

*"Bow Wow Wow" by Konnan and Mad One (WCW; 1999; as Rey Mysterio, Jr.; used while part of the Filthy Animals)

*"Psycho" by Konnan and Mad One (WCW; 1999–2001; as Rey Mysterio, Jr.; used while part of the Filthy Animals)

*"619" by Chris Classic (WWE; July 25, 2002–September 15, 2005)

*"Booyaka" performed by Rey Mysterio and Mad One (WWE; November 13, 2005–May 26, 2006)

*"Booyaka 619" by P.O.D. (WWE; June 7, 2006–present)

Championships and accomplishments

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración

Mexican National Trios Championship (1 time) – with Octagón and Super Muñeco

Mexican National Welterweight Championship (1 time)

AAA Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)

International Wrestling All-Stars

IWAS Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Konnan

International Wrestling Council

International Wrestling Council World Middleweight Title (2 times)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI ranked him #9 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1999

PWI ranked him #56 in the PWI Years in 2003

Tijuana, Mexico

*Tijuana Hall of Fame (Class of 2006)

World Championship Wrestling

WCW Cruiserweight Championship (5 times)

WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Billy Kidman

WCW World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Billy Kidman (1), Konnan (1), and Juventud Guerrera (1)

*WCW Magazine Match of the Year (1997) vs. Eddie Guerrero, for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, WCW Halloween Havoc, October 26

World Wrestling Association

WWA Lightweight Championship (3 times)

WWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rey Misterio

WWA Welterweight Championship (3 times)

World Wrestling Council

WWC World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Entertainment

*WWE Championship (1 time)

World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

WWE Intercontinental Championship (2 times)

WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Edge (1), Rob Van Dam (1), Eddie Guerrero (1), and Batista (1)

WWE Cruiserweight Championship (3 times)

Royal Rumble (2006)

*Twenty First Triple Crown Champion

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

*Best Flying Wrestler (1995–1997, 2002–2004)

*Best Wrestling Maneuver (1995) West Coast Pop

*Match of the Year (2002) with Edge vs. Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle, for the WWE Tag Team Championship, WWE No Mercy, October 20

*Most Outstanding Wrestler (1996)

*Rookie of the Year (1992)

*Worst Feud of the Year (2008) with Kane

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2010)

Luchas de Apuestas record

{|class="wikitable" width=100% |- !style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Wager !style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Winner !style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Loser !style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Location !style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date !style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Notes |----- align="center" |Mask |Rey Mysterio, Jr. |Mr. Cóndor |Acapulco, Guerrero | | |----- align="center" |Hair |Rey Mysterio, Jr. |Rocco Valente |Tampico, Tamaulipas | | |----- align="center" |Hair |Rey Mysterio, Jr. |Tony Arce |Acapulco, Guerrero | | |----- align="center" |Mask |Rey Mysterio, Jr. |El Bandido |Querétaro, Querétaro | | |----- align="center" |Hair |Rey Mysterio, Jr. |Vulcano |Monterrey, Nuevo León | | |----- align="center" |Mask |Rey Mysterio, Jr. |Misterioso |Tijuana, Baja California | | |----- align="center" |Mask |Rey Mysterio, Jr. |Eddie Guerrero |Las Vegas, Nevada | | |----- align="center" |Mask |Kevin Nash and Scott Hall |Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Konnan |Oakland, California | | |----- align="center" |Title |Rey Mysterio, Jr. |Chris Jericho |Sacramento, California | || |----- align="center" |Hair |Rey Mysterio, Jr. |CM Punk |Detroit, Michigan | | |}

Notes

References

External links

Rey Mysterio Fansite

Rey Mysterio Mask

WWE profile

WWE Kids profile

Category:1974 births Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Living people Category:American professional wrestlers of Mexican descent Category:American people of Mexican descent Category:People from Chula Vista, California Category:People from San Diego, California

ar:ري ميستيريو bar:Rey Mysterio bg:Рей Мистерио ca:Rey Mysterio cs:Rey Mysterio da:Rey Mysterio de:Rey Mysterio et:Rey Mysterio el:Ρει Μυστέριο es:Rey Mysterio eo:Rey Mysterio fa:ری میستریو fr:Rey Mysterio gl:Rey Mysterio ko:레이 미스테리오 id:Rey Mysterio, Jr. is:Rey Mysterio it:Oscar Gutierrez he:אוסקר גוטיירז la:Rex Mysterius hu:Rey Mysterio nl:Rey Mysterio ja:レイ・ミステリオ・ジュニア no:Óscar Gutiérrez pl:Rey Mysterio Jr pt:Rey Mysterio ro:Rey Mysterio Jr. ru:Рей Мистерио simple:Rey Mysterio so:Rey mysterio fi:Rey Mysterio sv:Rey Mysterio th:เรย์ มิสเตริโอ จูเนียร์ tr:Rey Mysterio, Jr. vi:Oscar Gutierrez zh:雷·密斯特里歐

Coordinates	3°5′00″N101°32′00″N
Name	Alberto Del Rio
Names	Alberto BanderasAlberto Del RioDoradoDosDos CarasDos Caras, Jr.El DoradoEl Hijo de Dos Caras
Height
Weight
Birth date	May 25, 1977
Birth place	San Luis Potosí, Mexico
Resides	Tampa, Florida
Billed	San Luis Potosí, Mexico
Trainer	Leonel Kolesni (Greco-Roman wrestling)Juan Fernández (Greco-Roman wrestling)Dos Caras (Professional wrestling)Sicodelico (Professional wrestling)FCW TrainingMarco Ruas (MMA)
Debut
Retired	}}

Alberto Rodríguez (born May 25, 1977) is a Mexican professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE, performing on its Raw brand under the ring name Alberto Del Rio. He is the current WWE Champion and was the 2011 Royal Rumble winner, outlasting 39 other participants to win the largest Royal Rumble match ever, and 2011 Mr. Money in the Bank (''Raw''). Before working for WWE, Rodriguez used the name Dos Caras, Jr. as both a mixed martial artist and luchador in mostly Mexico and Japan. He worked in both of Mexico's main wrestling promotions and achieved success in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), where he is a former World Heavyweight Champion.

Son of noted luchador Dos Caras, nephew of Mil Máscaras and Sicodelico, and cousin to Sicodelico, Jr. and Hijo de Sicodelico, Rodríguez is part of one of the most well known Mexican wrestling families. The name Dos Caras translates to Two Faces, referring to the symbol of a double headed eagle on his mask.

Amateur wrestling

Born in San Luis Potosí as the son of luchador Dos Caras. Rodríguez graduated from Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosí where he earned a degree in architecture. Growing up in a family of wrestlers Rodríguez decided to take up Greco-Roman wrestling, training under Leonel Kolesni and Juan Fernández. He earned a place on the Mexican national team in Greco-Roman wrestling and while competing on the national team obtained several accomplishments. In 1997, he placed third at the World Junior Championships, in the Czech Republic. He also won the Central American and Caribbean Games in his weight division three times and won a medal at the Pan American Games. Rodríguez was on track to compete at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, but due to a lack of funding and support, Mexico did not send a wrestling team that year.

Professional wrestling career

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (2000–2002)

After not competing at the 2000 Olympic games Rodriguez turned to the family business, and trained with his father to become a professional wrestler. Caras made his debut appearance on May 9, 2000 as he ran in during an Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) show to save his father from a beat down from El Texano, Pirata Morgan and Espectro, Jr. After making follow up TV show appearances Caras did not make his in ring debut until September 29 of that year when he teamed with Sangre Chicana, El Alebrije and La Parka, Jr. to defeat Los Consagrados (El Texano, Pirata Morgan, Espectro, Jr. and El Cobarde) at AAA's summer event Verano de Escándalo. After his debut Rodriguez would travel to Japan to compete as well, making his Japanese debut on October 11 by teaming with his father to defeat the team of El Azteca and Chiba. Caras continued his AAA storyline with Los Consagrados, teaming with Octagón, La Parka, Jr. and Hong Kong Lee to defeat Los Consagrados by disqualification. Over the next couple of years Caras would work both in Mexico and Japan to gain experience in the ring. In Mexico he worked exclusively for AAA making appearances at shows such as the 2002 ''Verano de Escándalo'', where he teamed with Gronda and El Hijo del Solitario to defeat the trio of Pirata Morgan, Sangre Chicana and El Brazo.

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre

Técnico (2005–2009)

In 2005, Rodriguez was signed to a contract with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). In his first test in the company, Caras competed in the 2005 Copa Jr., but the storyline of the tournament saw him defeated in the semi-final by Dr. Wagner, Jr. Caras's advancement to the semi-final of the cup, mere months after signing with the company was an indicator that the bookers were interested in elevating him up the rankings, this was further supported when he received matches for both the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship and the CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship inside a three week period. The following year on March 31, 2006 Caras was entered again into the Copa Jr. tournament and earned a return victory over Dr. Wager, Jr. who knocked him out of the tournament the previous year. He also won against Heavy Metal and Apolo Dantes to gain a place in the final, defeating Héctor Garza to win the prize. While working in Japan, Caras had taken to teaming with another second generation wrestler, Lizmark, Jr., and when both found themselves in CMLL they were teamed up once again with the team's famous fathers being the selling point. Over the next year Caras found himself without much direction, he worked storylines with Último Guerrero and Kenzo Suzuki but nothing long term came of it. Caras received two opportunities to challenge Universo 2000 for the CMLL World Heavyweight title but came up short until his third attempt on July 8, 2007 when he became the CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. While in wrestling promotions outside of Mexico the Heavyweight title would indicate that he was the top man in the federation, Mexican wrestling promotions tend to put more emphasis on the lower weight divisions over the heavyweights.

Caras's run with the CMLL World Heavyweight championship remained largely uneventful with only four title defenses in the 533 days that he held the championship. After defending against Lizmark, Jr. and former champion Universo 2000 it would be 9 months before his next defense. By the fall of 2008 a story broke that Rodriguez had wrestled a dark match for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and that they had offered him a contract. Over the following months conflicting reports of whether he had signed or not arose but he remained CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. When Caras lost the title to Último Guerrero it was believed that he had indeed signed with WWE, with him being rumored to be a surprise participant in the 2009 Royal Rumble. However, Rodriguez remained with CMLL and stated that he signed a four year deal and chose CMLL because they offered him a better deal than WWE.

Rudo (2009)

Throughout his entire career Dos Caras, Jr. had always played a heroic character, known in Mexico as a técnico. However, after the contract dealings with WWE surfaced he began showing signs of becoming a villain, known as a rudo. He would turn his attention away from the matches and instead try to win the approval of the fans, often costing his team the match because he was distracted. Caras himself explained this behavior by stating that he "hurt his shoulder, but bravely stayed in the arena". After hinting at a change for weeks Caras finally cemented his villainous persona on April 11, 2009, the first member of the Rodríguez family to be a heel. After becoming a rudo, he began working a storyline with Shocker.

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE

Florida Championship Wrestling (2009–2010)

On June 17, 2009, Rodriguez confirmed that he had signed a three-year contract with WWE, stating that he would not have to go to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), WWE's developmental territory, but would go directly to the main roster. Furthermore, he would retain the rights to his name, mask and image but allow the WWE to use it for promotional purposes while he is under contract with them. He agreed to the contract since it addressed the main reasons why he turned down the WWE's offer in January 2009. Despite his claims, he had a match with Kris Logan at FCW wrestling under the name Dos. He later also went on to wrestle under the ring names Dorado and El Dorado. During a segment on the Abraham Washington show at the August 6 taping, Rodriguez revealed a new, unmasked wrestling character named Alberto Banderas. During Raw's ''WrestleMania Revenge'' tour of Europe in April 2010, Caras made numerous appearances in untelevised matches for the Raw brand. One night he wrestled as Dos Caras, but he did not wear his mask. He was presented as a villain in a losing effort against Christian. The following month Caras put his mask back on for WWE's tour of Mexico and worked as a hometown hero, prior to returning unmasked during untelevised matches for subsequent ''Raw'' and ''SmackDown'' shows.

SmackDown (2010–2011)

On the June 25, 2010 episode of ''SmackDown'', Rodriguez debuted on a pre-taped promotional video as the unmasked Alberto Del Rio. Thereafter, a vignette aired every week on ''SmackDown'' promoting his character as an arrogant rich Mexican aristocrat, espousing his own virtues of honesty, integrity and mental faculties. After two months, he debuted on the August 20 edition of ''SmackDown'' by defeating fellow luchadore Rey Mysterio in the main event using his new cross armbar submission. As part of his act, Del Rio makes his entrances in an expensive car, while he is being introduced by his personal ring announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez. The following week, Del Rio continued the storyline with Mysterio by attacking him after his match with Kane, giving him a storyline injury by refusing to relinquish his armbar. Two weeks later he defeated Matt Hardy via submission in Hardy's last appearance with the company causing Hardy's friend Christian to challenge Del Rio to a match at Night of Champions. Although he declined the match, on the September 24 edition of ''SmackDown'' Del Rio attacked Christian and injured him the same way he did Mysterio the previous month, marking the third successive wrestler Del Rio was scripted to injure. This was done to write Christian off television, as he had suffered a torn pectoral muscle. Mysterio returned on the October 8 ''SmackDown'' episode and handed Del Rio his first defeat in the main event match. In October Del Rio defeated Chris Masters to represent the SmackDown brand at Bragging Rights, but during the pay-per-view event he attacked teammate Rey Mysterio, before being eliminated from the match by Team Raw's CM Punk. At Survivor Series, in the traditional five-on-five elimination match, Del Rio captained a team against Rey Mysterio's team. Although Del Rio's team lost he was never technically eliminated, instead Big Show knocked him out with a punch and he was removed from the match. On the November 26 ''SmackDown'', Del Rio defeated Big Show via countout to qualify for the 2010 King of the Ring tournament. In the tournament the next week on ''Raw'', he made United States Champion Daniel Bryan submit in the first round, but would be defeated by John Morrison in the semi-final after being distracted by Mysterio who was inside his car. On the November 30 episode of ''WWE NXT'', it was announced that Del Rio would be a mentor to Conor O'Brian on the fourth season of ''NXT'', starting the following week. On December 19 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs Del Rio competed in a Fatal-4-Way Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Edge and also included the then champion Kane and Rey Mysterio. On the January 7, 2011, edition of ''SmackDown'', Del Rio defeated Mysterio in a Two Out of Three Falls match, with help from Ricardo Rodriguez to end his long feud with Mysterio.

On January 18 Del Rio's ''NXT'' rookie Conor O'Brian became the second contestant eliminated from the competition. The following week the rookies competed in a fatal four way match in which the winner would be able to change their pro. Brodus Clay won the match and chose Del Rio as his new pro. After the conclusion of ''NXT'', Clay was hired as the bodyguard of Del Rio. On January 30, 2011, Del Rio defeated 39 other participants to win the 2011 Royal Rumble and earn the right to compete for either the World Heavyweight Championship or the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXVII by last eliminating Santino Marella. The following night on ''Raw'', Del Rio chose to compete for the World Heavyweight Championship, which, at the time of his choosing, was held by Edge. At Elimination Chamber, Del Rio attacked Edge, after he had successfully defended his World Heavyweight Championship and solidified his spot as Del Rio's opponent at WrestleMania. However, Edge managed to come out the exchange victorious, after Christian made a return from his injury and attacked Del Rio. On the March 18 edition of ''SmackDown'', Del Rio and Christian finally had their first one–on–one match inside a steel cage, in which Christian was victorious. At WrestleMania XXVII, Del Rio was unsuccessful in his World Heavyweight Championship match against Edge. On the following edition of ''SmackDown'', Del Rio defeated Christian to earn a rematch against Edge at Extreme Rules. However, when Edge unexpectedly announced his retirement from professional wrestling on the April 11 edition of ''Raw'', Del Rio was instead booked to face Christian in a ladder match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship.

Raw and WWE Champion (2011–present)

On the April 25, 2011, edition of ''Raw'', Del Rio was drafted from ''SmackDown'' to ''Raw''. Ricardo Rodriguez moved to ''Raw'' with him, while Brodus Clay remained on ''SmackDown''. On May 1 at Extreme Rules, Christian defeated Del Rio in a ladder match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. On the May 23 edition of ''Raw'', Del Rio slapped the Big Show after he had gotten into a confrontation with Ricardo Rodriguez. After competing in a match, Show was run over by Del Rio's car, being driven by Rodriguez, leaving him sidelined with a storyline knee injury. Big Show made his return three weeks later, chasing Del Rio out of the ring and beating Rodriguez down. On June 19 at Capitol Punishment, Del Rio defeated Big Show via referee stoppage, when Show was unable to continue the match as a result of a pre-match assault by Mark Henry. On the June 27 edition of ''Raw'', Del Rio defeated Big Show in a steel cage match, again with help from Mark Henry. On July 17 at Money in the Bank, Del Rio defeated Alex Riley, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, R-Truth and Rey Mysterio in a Money in the Bank ladder match to earn the right to challenge for the WWE Championship whenever and wherever he wanted. Following the orders of Vince McMahon, Del Rio attempted to cash in his contract later that same night on CM Punk, who had just defeated John Cena for the WWE Championship, but was attacked and laid out by him before he could do so. Del Rio eventually cashed in his contract on August 14 at SummerSlam, challenging CM Punk after the main event, where he had defeated John Cena to become the undisputed WWE Champion. Between the two matches, Punk was attacked by Kevin Nash, which led to Del Rio scoring a quick pinfall victory to win the WWE Championship for the first time. In winning the title, Del Rio became the first ever Mexican WWE Champion.

Mixed martial arts

name	Dos Caras, Jr.
birth date	May 25, 1977
birth place	San Luis Potosí, Mexico
nationality	Mexican
height
weight
weight class	Heavyweight
style	Professional wrestling
fighting out of	San Luis Potosí, Mexico
mma kowin	2
mma subwin	7
mma koloss	2
mma subloss	1
mma decloss	1
mma dqloss	1
sherdog	2269
updated	}}

After making his professional wrestling debut in 2000, Dos Caras, Jr. decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts (MMA). After training with MMA fighter and trainer Marco Ruas, Caras, Jr. made his debut for Japanse MMA organisation Deep using both his wrestling name and luchadore mask. In his first match he demonstrated his professional wrestling background by executing a Belly to belly suplex on opponent Kengo Watanabe, a move that broke Watanabe's arm to end the match. In Caras, Jr.'s second match he lost to Watanabe by submission in the second round.

In 2003 Japanese MMA organization Pride Fighting Championships put out an open challenge for anyone to face their top star Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović in a match. Over 50 competitors stepped forward, including a couple of Japanese professional wrestlers, out of the group Dos Caras, Jr. was chosen since he had an MMA background and also a "name" due to his and his father's association with professional wrestling. Pride rules were amended to allow Dos Caras, Jr. to wear his signature mask in the match against Filipović. On October 5 Dos Caras, Jr. faced Cro Cop with his father, Dos Caras, and his cousin, Sicodelico, Jr. in his corner. The match lasted 46 seconds before Filipović hit Dos Caras, Jr. with one of his signature moves, the left high kick, and knocked him out. Following the quick loss, Dos Caras, Jr. has competed in eight further MMA matches, attaining six wins and only two defeats with seven overall wins coming via submission.

Mixed martial arts record

|- |Loss | 9-5 | Yamamoto Hanshi | TKO |Cage of Combat 4 - Spanish Bombs | | 2 | 2:47 |Madrid, Spain | |- |Win | 9-4 | Arthur Bart | KO |Cage of Combat 3 - San Vale Todo | | 1 | 3:51 | Torreon, Mexico | |- |Win | 8-4 | Toshiyuki Moriya | Submission |COC I - Cage of Combat I | | 1 | 3:17 | Veracruz, Veracruz | |- |Win | 7-4 | Ignacio Laguna | Submission |Berkman MMA Promotions I | | 2 | 2:36 | Mexico City, Mexico | |- |Win | 6-4 | Hato Kiyoshi | Submission |MMA Xtreme 17 | | 2 | 2:31 |Honduras | |- |Win | 5-4 | Joao Tua | Submission |MMA Xtreme 14 | | 1 | 2:41 | Honduras | |- |Win | 4-4 | George King | Submission |VFX: Vale TudoFighters Mexico | || 1 | 4:00 | Tláhuac, Mexico | |- |Loss | 3-4 | Kazuhiro Nakamura | Decision |Pride 27 | | 3 | 5:00 | Osaka, Japan | |- |Loss | 3-3 | Mirko Filipović | KO |Pride Bushido 1 | | 1 | 0:46 |Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |- |Win | 3-2 | Brad Kohler | Submission |Deep (mixed martial arts): 12th Impact | | 1 | 1:25 |Tokyo, Japan | |- |Loss | 2-2 | Hiroyuki Ito | DQ |Deep (mixed martial arts): 9th Impact | | 1 | 3:21 | Tokyo, Japan | |- |Win | 2-1 | Tatsuaki Nakano | Submission |Deep (mixed martial arts): 6th Impact | | 1 | 4:05 | Tokyo, Japan | |- |Loss | 1-1 | Kengo Watanabe | Submission |Deep (mixed martial arts): 4th Impact | | 2 | 3:52 | Nagoya, Japan | |- |Win | 1-0 | Kengo Watanabe | TKO |Deep (mixed martial arts): 2nd Impact | | 1 | 0:50 |Yokohama, Japan |

In wrestling

Finishing moves

*As Alberto Del Rio

*''Cross Armbreaker'' (Cross armbar, sometimes while rolling)

*As Dos Caras, Jr.

*Military press dropped into a bridging German suplex

Signature moves

Bridging / Release German suplex

Double knee armbreaker

Step-up enzuigiri, sometimes with the opponent on the top rope

Nicknames

"The Essence of Excellence" / "La Esencia de la Excelencia"

"The Mexican Aristocrat"

Managers

*Dos Caras

*Ricardo Rodriguez

Brodus Clay

'''Entrance themes

"Realeza" by Jim Johnston featuring Mariachi Real de Mexico (2010–present)

Championships and accomplishments

Amateur wrestling

World Junior Championships

*Third place (1997)

Central American and Caribbean Games

*First place (3 times)

'''Pan American Games

*Placed (1 time)

Professional wrestling

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre

CMLL World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Copa Jr. (2006)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI ranked him #6 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011

World Wrestling Entertainment

WWE Championship (1 time, current)

Mr. Money in the Bank (Raw) (2011)

Royal Rumble (2011)

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Best Gimmick (2010)

Luchas de Apuestas record

{|class="wikitable" width=100% |- !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=5%|Wager !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=20%|Winner !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=20%|Loser !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=20%|Location !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=15%|Date !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=20%|Notes |----- align="center" |Mask || Dos Caras, Jr. || Darketo || Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, Mexico || || |}

References

External links

WWE Profile

Online World of Wrestling Profile

Debut in Japan - Gallery 1 / Gallery 2

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:Mexican mixed martial artists Category:Heavyweight mixed martial artists Category:Mexican professional wrestlers Category:Mexican sport wrestlers Category:People from San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí

ar:ألبرتو دل ريو bg:Алберто Дел Рио ca:Alberto Rodríguez da:Alberto Del Rio de:Alberto Del Rio es:Alberto Rodríguez (luchador) fa:آلبرتو دل ریو fr:Dos Caras, Jr. it:Alberto Rodríguez (wrestler) nl:Alberto Rodríguez (worstelaar) ja:ドス・カラス・ジュニア no:Alberto Del Rio pl:Alberto Del Rio pt:Alberto Del Rio ro:Dos Caras, Jr. ru:Альберто Дель Рио simple:Dos Caras, Jr. fi:Dos Caras, Jr. sv:Alberto Del Rio th:อัลเบอร์โต เดล รีโอ tr:Alberto Del Rio

Coordinates	3°5′00″N101°32′00″N
Name	Eddie Guerrero
Names	Black Tiger IIEddie GuerreroEddy GuerreroEl CalienteGory Guerrero, Jr.Máscara Mágica
Height
Weight
Birth date	October 09, 1967
Birth place	El Paso, Texas
Death date	November 13, 2005
Death place	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Resides	El Paso, Texas
Billed	El Paso, Texas
Debut	September 18, 1987
Website	}}

Eduardo Gory "Eddie" Guerrero (October 9, 1967 – November 13, 2005) was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions. In the United States, Guerrero wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and in World Wrestling Entertainment (then WWF, later renamed to WWE). Guerrero's gimmick was that of "Latino Heat", a crafty, resourceful wrestler who would do anything to win a match. His catchphrase became "I Lie! I Cheat! I Steal!," which was used in one of his entrance themes. Guerrero partly used this phrase in his autobiography ''Cheating Death, Stealing Life''.

Despite being a villain for most of his career, he got over in and outside the ring. Throughout his career, Guerrero encountered various substance abuse problems outside of wrestling, including alcoholism and an addiction to painkillers. His real-life problems were sometimes integrated into his storylines. Notwithstanding these issues, Guerrero won twenty-three titles during his career, including the WWE Grand Slam Championship.

Early life

Eddie Guerrero became a wrestler, while his uncle Enrique Llanes (Yañez) and cousin Javier Llanes (Yañez) wrestled in Mexico. As a boy, Eddie Guerrero's father allowed him and Chavo Jr. to wrestle one another during intermissions in the wrestling promotions that Gory held. Gory ran wrestling promotions for nearly 15 years in the El Paso Coliseum.

Eddie Guerrero was born and raised in El Paso, Texas where he graduated from Jefferson High School and attended the University of New Mexico as well as New Mexico Highlands University on an athletic scholarship where he wrestled collegiately before returning to El Paso to train as a professional wrestler,which he loved.

Professional wrestling career

Early years (1987–1992)

From 1987 until 1992 Eddie Guerrero wrestled in Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (EMLL) (now Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), World Wrestling Association (WWA) in Mexico and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the United States.

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (1992–1994)

In Mexico, he wrestled mainly for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), teaming with El Hijo del Santo as the new version of La Pareja Atómica (The Atomic Pair), the tag team of Gory Guerrero and El Santo.

After Guerrero turned on Santo and allied with Art Barr as La Pareja del Terror (The Pair of Terror), the duo became arguably the most hated tag team in lucha libre history. Along with Barr, Konnan, Chicano Power, and Madonna’s Boyfriend, Guerrero formed Los Gringos Locos (The Crazy Americans), a villainous stable. Guerrero later said that no matter how many people joined Los Gringos Locos, the stable was all about Art. Locos feuded mostly with El Hijo del Santo and his partner Octagón, eventually ending in a Hair vs. Mask match at the first lucha pay-per-view in America, ''When Worlds Collide'', which they lost.

Guerrero and Barr's first break would come when they were noticed in late 1994 by the owner of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Paul Heyman, and were approached about wrestling for him in 1995. Barr, however, died before he could join ECW with Guerrero.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (1993–1996)

In 1993, Guerrero began wrestling in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he was known as the second incarnation of Black Tiger. He became more successful upon his return when he won the Best of the Super Juniors 1996 tournament of junior heavyweights. He received a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion The Great Sasuke at NJPW Skydiving J but lost the match.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995)

Guerrero won the ECW World Television Championship from 2 Cold Scorpio on his debut in ECW, and went on to have a series of acclaimed matches with Dean Malenko before they both signed with World Championship Wrestling later that year. Guerrero lost the ECW Television Championship to Malenko on July 21 of that year, but Guerrero regained the title on July 28. Guerrero lost the ECW Television Championship back to 2 Cold Scorpio on August 25. The next day, they had their last match which ended in a draw in a two out of three falls match at the ECW Arena. After the match, the locker room emptied and the two were carried around the ring by their fellow wrestlers while the crowd chanted "please don't go".

World Championship Wrestling (1995–2000)

Return (1995)

Guerrero returned to WCW in late 1995 along with Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit with whom he had worked with in NJPW and ECW. During his first few pay-per-view events, he competed in dark matches against Alex Wright. His first televised pay-per-view appearance was at World War 3 where he competed in the 3-ring, 60-man World War 3 battle royal for the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Guerrero was one of the final nine men in the battle royal until he was tossed out of the ring by Four Horsemen members. At Starrcade 1995, Guerrero represented WCW in a WCW vs. NJPW World Cup tournament. He lost to Shinjiro Otani in the match, but WCW went on to win the series.

United States and Cruiserweight Champion (1996–1997)

In 1996, Guerrero received several shots at the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship against Konnan at Uncensored and Ric Flair at Hog Wild. He feuded with Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen during 1996 after Guerrero's partner Arn Anderson turned on him during a tag team match against Ric Flair and Randy Savage. In late 1996, he feuded with Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) after defeating him in a match at Clash of the Champions XXXIII. He started feuding with DDP to steal his nickname of "Lord of the Ring" but lost. Guerrero participated in a tournament for the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight Championship and defeated DDP in the final round at Starrcade 1996 to win the United States title.

In 1997, Guerrero defended the United States Heavyweight Championship against Scott Norton at Clash of the Champions XXXIV, Syxx in a ladder match at Souled Out, and Chris Jericho at SuperBrawl VII. His reign came to an end at Uncensored when Dean Malenko defeated him for the title.

After losing the United States Championship, Guerrero feuded with Jericho focusing on Jericho's WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. He challenged Jericho for the title at Clash of the Champions XXXV but lost. Guerrero demanded a rematch for the title. In the opening match of Fall Brawl 1997, Guerrero defeated Jericho to win the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. He dropped the Cruiserweight title to Rey Mysterio, Jr. at Halloween Havoc in a Title vs. Mask match where Mysterio's mask was also on the line. On the November 10 edition of ''WCW Monday Nitro'', he regained the Cruiserweight title back from Mysterio, and made a successful title defense against Mysterio at World War 3. After retaining the title against Dean Malenko in the opening bout of Starrcade 1997, Guerrero dropped the title to Último Dragón the following day on the December 29 episode of ''Nitro''.

Feuding with Chavo Guerrero (1998)

Guerrero feuded with Booker T. On the March 9, 1998 edition of ''Nitro'', Guerrero's nephew Chavo Guerrero lost to Booker in a match. After the match, Guerrero suplexed Chavo to teach him a lesson. On the March 12 edition of ''WCW Thunder'', he defeated his nephew Chavo in a match and forced him to become his "slave". At Uncensored, Chavo was forced to support Guerrero when he faced Booker T for Booker's WCW World Television Championship. Guerrero lost the match after receiving a missile dropkick. Guerrero and Chavo feuded with Último Dragón. Chavo lost to Dragón at Spring Stampede. At Slamboree, Guerrero defeated Dragón despite interference from Chavo. After the match, Chavo kissed Eddie and began to display insane behavior. At The Great American Bash, Chavo got an upset victory over Guerrero. They faced each other in a Hair vs. Hair match at Bash at the Beach which Guerrero won. Continuing to show his crazy behavior Chavo would shave his own head while Guerrero looked on in disbelief. Guerrero saved Chavo from beatings by Stevie Ray, seeming that he would align with Chavo but he wanted his release.

Latino World Order (1998)

Despite his success and popularity, Guerrero had been one of many wrestlers who were frustrated at never being given a chance to be main event stars in WCW. These frustrations came to a head when Guerrero requested that WCW President Eric Bischoff either push his character or give him a raise for family reasons. Bischoff responded by allegedly throwing coffee at Guerrero (however, in his autobiography, Guerrero states that Bischoff accidentally knocked his coffee off the table and that it was a complete accident that he was hit). Furious, Guerrero demanded Bischoff release him from his contract on a live episode of ''Nitro''. Guerrero then left the company for a period of months, angry at Bischoff for what he had done. Guerrero later returned to WCW, leading to the belief that maybe Guerrero's angry speeches against Bischoff were actually a work (Guerrero later confirmed it to be a worked shoot). Guerrero would later contradict himself on WWE's DVD ''Monday Night War'' claiming that he tried to put personal differences aside for the good of the company, yet found himself angry and outraged once more because of Bischoff's supposed continued refusal to elevate Guerrero and other similar wrestlers. He let Brian Adams pin him and get an upset victory in a match.

On-screen, Guerrero responded to Bischoff's actions by forming the ''Latino World Order'' (LWO), which was a take-off of Bischoff's New World Order. The group was an answer to Bischoff's "refusal" to push Latino wrestlers in ways they felt they deserved. The LWO was formed in October when Guerrero returned to WCW, with Héctor Garza and Damien. The group eventually grew to encompass almost all the Mexican wrestlers working for WCW at the time. They mainly feuded with Rey Misterio, Jr. and Billy Kidman because they wanted Misterio to join the group. He faced Kidman in a match for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship but Misterio interfered and helped Kidman win the match and keep the title. However, Guerrero was involved in a serious car accident on New Year's Day, 1999 that cut short the LWO storyline. Guerrero survived the accident and returned to wrestling in a matter of months.

Filthy Animals (1999)

After his return in the summer of 1999, Eddie was the founding member of the Filthy Animals stable with Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Konnan (later growing to include Juventud Guerrera, Billy Kidman, and Disco Inferno). They feuded with the Dead Pool (Insane Clown Posse and Vampiro). They received two straight victories over the Dead Pool at Road Wild and Fall Brawl. They next feuded with The Revolution (Shane Douglas, Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn). Guerrero was victorious over Saturn by disqualification in a singles match at Halloween Havoc. At Mayhem, the Animals lost to Revolution in a mixed tag team elimination match. When Vince Russo was fired as WCW booker and replaced by Kevin Sullivan, Guerrero asked for and received a release from his contract on January 19. He signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 2000 along with WCW stars Benoit, Malenko, and Saturn.

World Wrestling Federation (2000–2001)

The Radicalz (2000)

Guerrero and the other WCW wrestlers debuted in the WWF on the January 31, 2000 edition of ''Raw is War'' as The Radicalz, interfering in a match involving the New Age Outlaws. During his first match with the WWF, a tag team match with the Radicalz against the Outlaws, Guerrero performed a Frog Splash off the top rope and severely injured his elbow on the landing. As a result, he was sidelined for several weeks.

Latino Heat (2000)

In March 2000, Guerrero began pursuing the affections of Chyna, who he referred to as his "Mamacita". Chyna initially rejected his advances, but allied with him following WrestleMania 2000, declaring that she could not resist his "Latino Heat." Guerrero won his first WWF title on the April 3, 2000 edition of ''Raw is War'' by defeating Chris Jericho for the WWF European Championship with help from Chyna. After Chyna abandoned Lita to be attacked by the Dudley Boyz, he and Chyna began a feud with Essa Rios and Lita, ending in a European title defense at Backlash, which was also billed as the night of Guerrero's prom (he was said to have just earned a GED). Guerrero defeated Rios after arriving at ringside in a 1957 Chevrolet, even wrestling in his tuxedo pants and a bow tie. Guerrero successfully retained the title against former Radicalz friends Saturn and Malenko in a Triple Threat match at Judgment Day, before finally losing the title to Saturn at Fully Loaded.

Over the next few months, friction began to build between Guerrero and Chyna. Chyna was upset when Guerrero pinned her to advance in the King of the Ring tournament. At SummerSlam, Chyna won the WWF Intercontinental Championship in a mixed tag match. They had also inserted themselves in the drama between Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Kurt Angle. Guerrero claimed to not mind and then begged Commissioner Mick Foley to let him take part in a title defense between Chyna and Angle on the September 4 edition of ''Raw is War'', claiming he was afraid that Angle would injure Chyna. After Angle knocked Chyna down with the title belt, Guerrero "accidentally" pinned her to win his first Intercontinental Championship while trying to revive her. Chyna became visibly uncomfortable as Guerrero began to cheat in order to retain his title, while Guerrero was upset that Chyna was posing for ''Playboy'' magazine, even trying to invade the Playboy Mansion to stop the shooting. Just when it appeared that Chyna would leave Guerrero, he proposed to her and she accepted. At Unforgiven, Chyna helped Guerrero in retaining his title against Rikishi. The engagement was called off when Guerrero was caught showering with two of The Godfather's hos (one was Victoria) claiming that "Two Mamacitas are better than one!"

The Radicalz reunion (2000–2001)

Guerrero turned into a villain as a result of the incident. Then, the Radicalz reunited and feuded with the reformed D-Generation X (Chyna, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, and K-Kwik). They defeated DX at Survivor Series in an elimination tag team match and assisted Triple H in his match with Stone Cold Steve Austin. Guerrero was later defeated by Gunn for the Intercontinental Championship, with help from Chyna. At Rebellion, Guerrero and Malenko lost to Gunn and Chyna. Benoit left the group to focus on a singles career while the rest of the Radicalz feuded with Lita and the Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff). At Armageddon, the Radicalz defeated the Hardyz and Lita in an elimination tag team match.

In early 2001, Guerrero feuded with Chris Jericho, Benoit, and X-Pac over Jericho's Intercontinental Championship. At No Way Out, the four men faced each other in a Fatal Four-Way match, which Jericho won. Guerrero focused on the European Championship, feuding with the champion Test defeating him at WrestleMania X-Seven to win his second European Championship with help from Saturn and Malenko. In April, Radicalz feuded with Test and his partners. Guerrero eventually left the Radicalz, siding with the Hardy Boyz and Lita. At this point, Guerrero developed an addiction to pain medication stemming from his 1999 car accident and in May 2001 was sent to rehab. To explain his absence, a storyline was created where Guerrero was "injured" by Prince Albert in a match. On November 9, 2001, he was arrested for drunk driving and was subsequently released by the WWF three days later.

Independent circuit (2001–2002)

Guerrero started wrestling on the independent circuit after his release from WWF. On February 23, he faced fellow Mexican Super Crazy on the debut show of Ring of Honor known as ''The Era of Honor Begins'' to crown the first-ever IWA Intercontinental Champion. Guerrero lost the match. On February 24, he debuted in the Australian promotion World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) at The Revolution beating the champion Juventud Guerrera and Psicosis in a Triple Threat match for the WWA International Cruiserweight Championship. On March 1, he defeated the champion CM Punk and Rey Mysterio in a Triple Threat match for the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship. He dropped the title back to Punk one day later on March 2. He vacated the WWA Cruiserweight title in April 2002 after returning to WWF.

Return To World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (2002–2005)

Return to Raw (2002)

Guerrero returned to WWF on the April 1, 2002 edition of ''Raw'', attacking Rob Van Dam. He feuded with Van Dam defeating him for his second WWF Intercontinental Championship at Backlash. After retaining the title against Van Dam at Insurrextion and Judgment Day, he finally lost the belt to Van Dam on the May 27 episode of ''Raw'' in a ladder match although a drunk fan jumped in the ring knocking down the ladder that Guerrero was climbing caused both Guerrero and Van Dam to think up some new moves to continue the match without any mistakes. Guerrero then feuded with Steve Austin, but Austin left WWE before a match could take place. Chris Benoit returned to WWE the night Guerrero lost the title and reunited with him. Guerrero and Benoit feuded with Ric Flair for a while and Guerrero even lost a match to Flair at King of the Ring. Guerrero lost a match to The Rock, challenging him for the WWE Undisputed Championship after The Rock sang a version of "La Bamba" with the words changed to insult Guerrero on the July 29 edition of ''Raw''.

Los Guerreros (2002–2003)

On August 1, 2002, Guerrero and Benoit began to wrestle exclusively for WWE's SmackDown! brand. Guerrero feuded with Edge, to whom he lost at SummerSlam. Eddie continued his feud with Edge, whom he defeated at Unforgiven; they then had a No Disqualification match two weeks after Unforgiven on ''SmackDown'' which Edge won thus ending the rivalry. With Benoit focusing on Kurt Angle, Guerrero aligned himself with his nephew Chavo, forming the tag team Los Guerreros. In contrast to a previous WCW storyline with his nephew, Chavo fully agreed with his uncle as their slogan stated "We lie, we cheat, and we steal, but at least we're honest about it." In order to push the new tag team, vignettes were produced, which included things such as the two finagling their way into a rich lady's house and throwing a pool party.

The duo entered the eight-team tournament for the new WWE Tag Team Championship, sneaking past Rikishi and Mark Henry in the opening round, before starting a feud with the newly formed tag team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. In one of the team's definitive moments, Chavo told Benoit that his former friend Guerrero was assaulted by his tag team partner Angle. Benoit ran to make the save, only to have himself locked inside a room. Guerrero then appeared in the room and assaulted Benoit with a steel chair. Benoit and Angle managed to overcome their differences and eventually defeated Los Guerreros in the tournament semi-finals. Later on, Benoit and Angle won the title. Benoit and Angle then fought for a trophy for being the first WWE Tag Team Champion. Much to Benoit's surprise, Los Guerreros helped him win the match.

At Survivor Series, Los Guerreros faced the new champions Edge and Rey Mysterio and the team of Angle and Benoit for the title. Eddie made Mysterio submit to The Lasso From El Paso to win their first WWE Tag Team Championship. They were defeated by Team Angle (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) on the February 6, 2003 edition of ''SmackDown!''. Los Guerreros and Team Angle began feuding with each other. Los Guerreros participated at WrestleMania XIX as contenders for the Tag Team Title, along with the team of Benoit and Rhyno. Both teams lost to Haas and Benjamin in a Triple Threat match. At Backlash, Los Guerreros lost to Team Angle in a rematch.

Teaming with Tajiri (2003)

Five days prior to Judgment Day, Chavo tore his biceps, forcing Eddie to look for another partner. He chose Tajiri. They won the WWE Tag Team Championship, Guerrero's second and Tajiri's first at Judgment Day by defeating Team Angle in a ladder match. The following week, Guerrero and Tajiri managed to retain their title by cheating. In addition, they also defeated Roddy Piper and his protegè Sean O'Haire in Madison Square Garden. After Guerrero and Tajiri lost the titles to Team Angle on the July 3 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Guerrero turned on Tajiri, slamming his partner through the windshield of his low-rider truck.

United States Champion (2003–2004)

In July 2003, Guerrero competed in a tournament for the United States Championship. He managed to advance to the final round, defeating Último Dragón and Billy Gunn in the process, where he would meet Chris Benoit. At Vengeance, Guerrero turned to his cheating tactics, hitting Benoit with the belt at one point in the match. Guerrero tried to get Benoit in trouble by placing the title belt on top of the unconscious Benoit. It did not work, however, since he knocked out the referee earlier with a belt shot to the kidneys. The match ended with interference and a Gore from Rhyno, Benoit's own partner, who was furious at the team's failure. Guerrero himself said that this was a major point in the character of Latino Heat, since he himself realized that the fans wanted to see him lie, cheat, and steal. Guerrero pinned Benoit and won the WWE United States Championship.

At SummerSlam, Guerrero retained his title by defeating Rhyno, Benoit, and Tajiri in a Fatal Four-Way match. He turned face again by engaging in a rivalry with John Cena. On the September 11 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Guerrero challenged Cena to a "Latino Heat" Parking Lot Brawl match for the United States Championship, which Guerrero won with help from his returning nephew, Chavo. The next week, Los Guerreros defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team (previously Team Angle) to win the WWE Tag Team Championship, making Eddie a double champion.

Guerrero engaged in a feud with The Big Show, which involved Guerrero giving the Big Show some laxative laced burritos and then later spraying the Big Show from a sewage truck. The feud ended when Guerrero dropped the United States title to Big Show at No Mercy. Four days later, Los Guerreros lost the Tag Team Championship to The Basham Brothers (Doug and Danny). They began feuding with The Basham Brothers, but failed to regain the titles at Survivor Series. As Los Guerreros attempted to regain the tag team title, things began to go downhill between Chavo and Guerrero and animosity began to build. Chavo then attacked and turned on Eddie after he suffered a beating from The Bashams. Guerrero feuded with Chavo and defeated him at the Royal Rumble to settle their feud.

WWE Champion (2004)

When Chris Benoit defected to ''Raw'' after winning the Royal Rumble, using his title shot to go for Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship, Eddie won a 15-man Royal Rumble style match on the January 29, 2004 edition of ''SmackDown!'' to earn a shot at the WWE Championship. After becoming the number one contender, Guerrero elevated himself to main event status and began feuding with the WWE World Champion Brock Lesnar. At No Way Out, Guerrero defeated Lesnar in the main event to win the WWE Championship. His next feud was with Kurt Angle, whom he defeated at WrestleMania XX to retain his title in his first big defense. At the end of this event, Guerrero celebrated in the ring with longtime friend Chris Benoit, who had just won the World Heavyweight Championship.

In March, he started a feud with fellow Texan John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) after JBL interrupted Eddie's match with Booker T. At Judgment Day, Guerrero defended his WWE title against JBL and retained the title after getting himself disqualified because JBL had kayfabe given his mother a heart attack. At The Great American Bash, Guerrero defended the title against JBL in a Texas Bullrope match. JBL won after Angle (who was General Manager of ''SmackDown!'' at the time) reversed the decision after Guerrero appeared to have retained the title. On the July 8 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Guerrero pulled a switcharoo with Shannon Moore, who was wrestling as "El Gran Luchadore" and wore the costume. The next week on ''SmackDown!'', Guerrero faced JBL in a steel cage match for the WWE title where El Gran Luchadore appeared again and cost Guerrero the match; he later revealed himself as Kurt Angle. Guerrero continued his feud with Angle again.

At SummerSlam, Guerrero lost to Angle after submitting to his ankle lock. Guerrero then allied himself with the Big Show. Each week Angle and his new allies Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak began targeting Guerrero and Big Show. Guerrero defeated Reigns in a singles match at No Mercy. General Manager Theodore Long booked a Survivor Series Elimination match between a team led by Guerrero and a team led by Angle. Guerrero's team consisted of himself, Big Show, John Cena (replacing the originally chosen Rey Mysterio), and Rob Van Dam. At Survivor Series, Guerrero's team defeated Angle's team. Guerrero, along with Booker T and The Undertaker, then challenged JBL for a WWE Championship rematch. Along the way, Guerrero found a partner in Booker T. At Armageddon, Guerrero and Booker's initial teamwork broke away, and the match ended with JBL pinning Booker following the Clothesline From Hell. Afterwards, Guerrero and Booker briefly and unsuccessfully attempted to win the Tag Team Championship.

Teaming and feuding with Rey Mysterio (2005)

At No Way Out, Eddie teamed up with longtime friend and sometimes rival, Rey Mysterio and defeated The Basham Brothers to win his final title, the WWE Tag Team Championship for a fourth time, with it being Mysterio's third reign. Many expected the new champions to defend their title at WrestleMania 21, but after encouragement from Chavo, Guerrero challenged Mysterio to a one-on-one match instead so they could "bring the house down." The two wrestled a match at WrestleMania with Mysterio getting the win. Although visibly frustrated, Guerrero congratulated his partner. After several mishaps in the weeks following WrestleMania, the growing tension between Guerrero and Mysterio finally erupted when they lost their tag team championship to the new team MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) on the April 21 edition of ''SmackDown!''. Although the next week they received a rematch to regain the title, Guerrero turned heel once again by abandoning his partner, whom he had considered "his family" earlier in the show.

At the end of one episode of ''SmackDown!'', he attacked his former tag team partner, Mysterio, leaving him bruised and bloody after suplexing him onto a set of steel steps. Guerrero, having turned heel, then adopted a new, somewhat sociopathic gimmick. During this time, he also stopped driving his low-riders down the ring and walked to the ring with a frown on his face, and reverted to using the Lasso from El Paso as his finishing move. At Judgment Day, Guerrero lost to Mysterio by disqualification after hitting Mysterio with a chair.

On the June 30 edition of ''SmackDown!'', Guerrero threatened to reveal a secret about Mysterio and his son Dominick. The storyline grew to involve the families of both men, with both sides pleading for Guerrero not to reveal the secret. Mysterio defeated Guerrero again at The Great American Bash, a match with a stipulation that if Guerrero lost, he would not tell the secret. Yet Guerrero revealed the secret anyway on the following episode of ''SmackDown!'' - telling Dominick and the audience that Guerrero was his real father. In the following weeks, Guerrero revealed the details of the secret in a series of what he called "Eddie's Bedtime Stories." During that time he now had a dark comical gimmick. He claimed that he had a child out of wedlock (Dominick) while his marriage was going through hard times. He claimed he then allowed Mysterio and his wife, who were "having trouble conceiving", to adopt the child as their own. At SummerSlam, Guerrero lost a ladder match over Dominick's custody to Mysterio. Their feud ended when Guerrero gained a victory over Mysterio in a steel cage match(even with commentator Matt Striker commenting "the monkey is off your back now I guess").

His last days (2005)

Following his feud with Rey Mysterio, Guerrero was named number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship and given a title match with Batista. Despite this, Guerrero quickly proclaimed himself to be Batista's friend. Batista was well aware of Guerrero's sneaky reputation, and despite eventually accepting his friendship (initially to keep an eye on him), Batista would continually play mind games with Guerrero to expose his true intentions. A series of matches with MNM only supported Batista's suspicions that Guerrero was up to no good, as Guerrero appeared to have reverted to his cheating ways. In response to Batista's suspicions, Guerrero helped Batista win a match against his tag team partners, John "Bradshaw" Layfield and Christian. Batista defeated Guerrero at No Mercy to retain the World Heavyweight Championship in what would be Guerrero's last pay-per-view match. During the match, Guerrero struggled with a decision about whether or not to use a steel chair to secure the victory, eventually opting not to use it and losing as a result. Though the two demonstrated mutual respect after the match, Guerrero seemed displeased by the loss. Guerrero told Batista that he realized how low he had sunk since losing the WWE Championship in 2004, having attacked his best friend Rey Mysterio. Guerrero told Batista that shaking his hand at No Mercy had returned his respect to him. This turned Guerrero face again.

Guerrero wrestled his final match on the November 11 edition of ''SmackDown!'', defeating Mr. Kennedy to qualify for a place on the ''SmackDown!'' team at the Survivor Series Randy Orton was named as the official replacement for Guerrero on the team. It was also noted that for the November 18, 2005 edition of Smackdown being pretaped, a triple threat match between World Heavyweight Champion Batista, Randy Orton, and Guerrero for the title was to take place.

Other media

On March 13, 2004 (before WrestleMania XX), Guerrero (WWE Champion), along with The Big Show (United States Champion), Trish Stratus and Chris Jericho, made their guest appearances on ''MADtv'' as they "beat up" Jay Leno (Frank Caliendo) while Tonight Show Band leader Kevin Eubanks (Aries Spears) watched.

There have also been several DVDs and books released about his life and career, including ''Cheating Death, Stealing Life — The Eddie Guerrero Story'' (DVD, 2004), ''Cheating Death, Stealing Life — The Eddie Guerrero Story '' (book, 2005), and ''Viva La Raza: The Legacy of Eddie Guerrero'' (DVD 2008). In addition, the song "We Lie, We Cheat, We Steal" that he performed with Chavo was released on the ''WWE Originals'' CD.

Guerrero's catch phrase during the later part of his wrestling career with WWE was "Viva La Raza" (which is Spanish for "Long Live the Race"). In the mid parts of his wrestling career Guerrero took the title of "Latino Heat", which was also his theme song in the early 2000s

Personal life

Guerrero is survived by his widow Vickie Guerrero. The two married on April 24, 1990 and had two daughters: Shaul Marie Guerrero (born October 14, 1990) and Sherilyn Amber Guerrero (born July 8, 1995).

Guerrero also has another daughter; Kaylie Marie Guerrero (born 2002) with a woman named Tara Mahoney. He was separated from Vickie at the time, however Eddie had split from Tara before Kaylie was born. He reconciled with Vickie soon afterward, and they renewed their wedding vows.

Guerrero was also a born-again Christian.

Death

On November 13, 2005, Guerrero was found unconscious in his hotel room (The Marriott City Center) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by his nephew, Chavo. Chavo attempted CPR, but Eddie Guerrero was pronounced dead when paramedics arrived on the scene. He was 38 years old. An autopsy revealed that Guerrero died as a result of acute heart failure due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Guerrero's wife Vickie Guerrero claimed that he had been unwell in the week preceding his death. On the November 30 edition of ''WWE Byte This!'', Chavo said that Guerrero had been working hard and was at peak physical fitness as a result, doing cardiovascular and weight training exercises every day.

The episodes of ''Raw'' on November 14, 2005 and ''SmackDown!'' on November 18, 2005 each aired as tributes to Guerrero. No WWE employees were forced to perform, although several matches took place, including one featuring Chavo, who finished the match with his uncle's frog splash. ''Raw'' started off with all the superstars and several personnel on stage, as Vince McMahon addressed the live crowd before finishing with a ten-bell salute. In addition to the ''Raw'' and ''SmackDown'' tribute shows, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling dedicated the pay-per-view TNA Genesis (which aired the evening of his death) to Guerrero. while Ring of Honor named their next show "Night of Tribute." Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), WWE's former developmental territory, also paid tribute to Guerrero on their television taping following his death. Many of the wrestlers there wore arm bands with "E.G." on them. Eventually, other wrestlers, primarily his nephew Chavo and friends Mysterio and Christian, paid tribute to him in their matches by using the Frog Splash, Eddie's finisher. Combat Zone Wrestling also Guerrero with a ten-bell salute during one of their cards.

Hall of Fame and other mentions

Guerrero was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006 by Rey Mysterio, his nephew Chavo Guerrero, and Chris Benoit in Chicago, Illinois on the night before WrestleMania 22. His widow, Vickie Guerrero, accepted the honor. The next night at Wrestlemania, Rey Mysterio won the World Heavyweight Championship, and dedicated the victory and the title to Guerrero.

There have been several tributes made to honor Guerrero since his induction into the Hall of Fame, including a video package that featured not only his time on SmackDown!, but expanded to his life outside the ring, that aired on the ''Decade of SmackDown!'' special on October 2, 2009; a special titantron feature of WWE Hall of Famers who had competed in the Royal Rumble, which aired before the 2011 event, included Guerrero; and a place on the WWE Top 50 Superstars of All Time DVD, as voted by fellow superstars, who placed him 11th.

Guerrero has also been featured in the game ''WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006'', which was completed during mid-2005 and Eddie provides his own voice. The game attracted some minor controversy due to an in-game story where Eddie is placed into a coffin by The Undertaker, particularly the fact that life imitated art in this sensitive instance. The coincidence was more resounding in the United Kingdom, where the game was released during the week of Guerrero's death. He also appeared as a legend in the games WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2007, WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2008 (PSP only) and WWE '12 and is included on the WWE Legends roster in the THQ video game "WWE All Stars."

Guerrero's family members within the business have also made numerous references to Eddie, ranging from simple guestures and anecdotes to the adaptation of his signature moves and mannerisms in the ring. When his brother Hector signed with TNA, Hector looked up to the sky and mentioned how his father and brother have inspired him and he thanked them. At WrestleMania XXVI Vickie Guerrero competed in a 10-Diva Tag Match, in which her team was victorious after she climbed the turnbuckle, pointed to the sky and connected with a "Frog splash." And on the November 15, 2010 "Old School" edition of WWE Raw, WWE Legend and Eddie's older brother Chavo Guerrero, Sr. (aka Chavo Classic) gestured to the sky and shouted "Eddie!" as he was introduced.

During the 2011 Royal Rumble match itself. Eddie's nephew Chavo Guerrero paid tribute to him by the doing one of Eddie's signature moves "The Three Amigos" (triple vertical suplex), and followed up by pointing to the sky and doing the dance Eddie used to do.

''Sports Illustrated'' steroid investigation

On March 19, 2007, ''Sports Illustrated'' posted on its website an article in its continuing series investigating a steroid and HGH ring used by a number of professional athletes in several sports. This article mentioned several current and former WWE wrestlers, including Guerrero, who was alleged to have obtained hCG and the steroid stanozolol in early 2005. At the time of the alleged steroid usage, the WWE had not yet instituted its Wellness Policy in which wrestlers are tested for substances, which was stated by WWE.com on the day the article was released.

In wrestling

As Eddie Guerrero

*Finishing moves

**"The Three Amigos" (Triple rolling Verticals)

*Frog splash (WCW / WWF/E) / ''Jackknife Splash'' (WCW) – adopted from and used as a tribute to Art Barr

*''Lasso From El Paso'' (Elevated cloverleaf with a knee to the back)

*Signature moves

*Brainbuster

*Dropkick, sometimes to the opponent's knee or from the top rope

*Figure four leglock

*Gory special – adopted from his father

*''Hilo'' (Slingshot somersault senton)

*Hurricanrana, sometimes to an oncoming opponent, while springboarding or from the top rope

*Monkey flip to cornered opponent

**Multiple suplex variations

**German

**Super

**Vertical

*Plancha

*''Splash Mountain'' (Sitout crucifix powerbomb)

*Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker

*Tornado DDT

As Black Tiger

*Finishing moves

*''Black Tiger Bomb'' (Sitout crucifix powerbomb, sometimes from the second rope)

*Signature moves

*Slingshot somersault senton

*Tornado DDT

Managers

*Chyna

Nicknames

*"Latino Heat"

Entrance themes

*Extreme Championship Wrestling

**As Eddie Guerrero

***"Animal" by Pearl Jam (1995)

***"Live and Let Die" by Guns N' Roses (1995)

*World Championship Wrestling

**As Eddy Guerrero

***"Bad Man" (1995–1998)

*World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

**As Eddie Guerrero

***"Latino Heat" by Jim Johnston (2000–2001, 2002–2003)

***"We Lie, We Cheat, We Steal" by Jim Johnston (used while partnering with Chavo Guerrero; 2003–2004)

***"I Lie, I Cheat, I Steal" by Jim Johnston (2004–2005)

***"Can You Feel the Heat" by Jim Johnston (2005)

***"Gangsta Lean" by Jim Johnston (2005)

Championships and accomplishments

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración

AAA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Art Barr

AAA Hall of Fame (Class of 2008)

Extreme Championship Wrestling

ECW World Television Championship (2 times)

Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South

IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Latin American Wrestling Association

LAWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

New Japan Pro Wrestling

NJPW Junior Heavyweight Super Grade Tag League Championship (1 time) – with The Great Sasuke

Best of the Super Juniors (1996)

Pro Wrestling Federation

PWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Hector Guerrero

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI Comeback of the Year (1999)

PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2002, 2004)

PWI Stanley Weston Award (2005)

PWI ranked him # 2 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2004.

PWI ranked him #81 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003

PWI ranked him # 18 with Art Barr of the top 100 tag teams of the "PWI Years" in 2003

World Championship Wrestling

WCW Cruiserweight Championship (2 times)

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling All-Stars

WWA International Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Association

WWA Welterweight Championship (1 time)

WWA Trios Championship (1 time) – with Chavo Guerrero and Mando Guerrero

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment

WWE Championship (1 time)

WWE Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Chavo Guerrero (2), Tajiri (1), and Rey Mysterio (1)

WWE United States Championship (1 time)

WWF European Championship (2 times)

WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (2 times)

WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2006)

*Eleventh Triple Crown Champion

*Sixth Grand Slam Championship

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

*Best on Interviews (2005)

*Feud of the Year (1994) with Art Barr vs. El Hijo del Santo and Octagón

*Feud of the Year (1995) vs. Dean Malenko

*Most Charismatic (2004, 2005)

*Tag Team of the Year (1994) with Art Barr as La Pareja del Terror

* 5 stars match Los Gringos Locos (Eddie Guerrero and Art Barr) vs. El Hijo del Santo and Octagón(hair vs. masks; 2-out-of-3 Falls Match) – November 6, 1994 AAA When Worlds Collide PPV

*Tag Team of the Year (2002) with Chavo Guerrero as Los Guerreros

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2006)

Luchas de Apuestas

{| style="margin:auto;" class="wikitable" border="1" |- style="text-align:center;" !style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Wager !style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Winner !style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Loser !style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Location !style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date |- style="text-align:center;" | Hair || Eddie Guerrero || Ari Romero | Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua || 1987 |- style="text-align:center;" | Hair || Eddie Guerrero || Negro Casas | Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua || Unknown |- style="text-align:center;" | Hair || El Hijo del Santo and Octagón || Eddie Guerrero and Art Barr | Los Angeles, California || November 6, 1994 |- style="text-align:center;" | Hair || Eddie Guerrero || Chavo Guerrero, Jr. | San Diego, California || July 12, 1998 |- style="text-align:center;" | Custody of Dominic|| Rey Mysterio || Eddie Guerrero|| Washington D.C ||August 21, 2005 |}

References

External links

WWE Hall of Fame profile of Eddie Guerrero

Eddie Guerrero's Complete Biography at Wrestling Gimmicks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis

Category:1967 births Category:2005 deaths Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:American professional wrestlers of Mexican descent Category:Mexican professional wrestlers Category:People from El Paso, Texas Category:WWE Hall of Fame

ar:إدي غوريرو bar:Eddie Guerrero ca:Eddie Guerrero da:Eddie Guerrero de:Eddie Guerrero es:Eddie Guerrero fr:Eddie Guerrero ko:에디 게레로 io:Eddie Guerrero it:Eddie Guerrero he:אדי גררו lmo:Eddie Guerrero nl:Eddie Guerrero ja:エディ・ゲレロ no:Eddie Guerrero pl:Eddie Guerrero pt:Eddie Guerrero ro:Eddie Guerrero ru:Герреро, Эдди simple:Eddie Guerrero fi:Eddie Guerrero sv:Eddie Guerrero th:เอ็ดดี เกอร์เรโร tr:Eddie Guerrero

Coordinates	3°5′00″N101°32′00″N
Name	Jeff Hardy
Names	GalaxionGladiatorThe IcemanJeff HardyMean Jimmy JackWillow the WhispWolverine
Height
Weight
Birth date	August 31, 1977
Birth place	Cameron, North Carolina
Resides	Raleigh, North Carolina
Billed	Cameron, North Carolina
Trainer	Dory Funk, Jr.Michael Hayes
Debut	October 15, 1993
Retired	}}

Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy (born August 31, 1977) is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a former two–time TNA World Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for his stint with the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWE), where he was a two–time World Heavyweight Champion and a one–time WWE Champion.

Before gaining prominence in WWE, Hardy performed for the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA), a promotion he ran with his brother Matt. After being signed by WWE, the brothers worked as jobbers, before gaining notoriety in the tag team division, partly due to their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. With the addition of Lita, the team became known as Team Xtreme and continued to rise in popularity. As a tag team wrestler, Hardy is a six-time World Tag Team Champion and a one-time WCW Tag Team Champion.

Hardy has also experienced success as a singles wrestler and is a five-time world champion, having held the WWE Championship once, the World Heavyweight Championship twice and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice, a four-time Intercontinental Champion, and has held the Light Heavyweight, and European Championships once each. He is also a former Hardcore Champion, having held the championship on three occasions. He received his first major main event push towards the end of 2007, including challenging for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble in 2008, and eventually won the WWE Championship at the Armageddon pay-per-view in December 2008. Hardy went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship twice, before he left WWE in mid-2009. He returned to TNA in January 2010, and in October of that year, he won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Moreover, Hardy is involved in motocross, music, painting, and other artistic endeavors. He is currently a member of the band Peroxwhy?gen.

Early life

Hardy is the son of Gilbert and Ruby Moore Hardy, and the younger brother of Matt. Their mother died of brain cancer in 1986, when Hardy was nine. He developed an interest in motocross aged 12 and got his first bike, a Yamaha YZ-80, at age 13. He had his first race when he was in ninth grade. Hardy played baseball as a child, but had to stop after he crashed during a motocross race, injuring his arm. He also played football during high school as a fullback and linebacker. He briefly competed in amateur wrestling in high school. He had to stop playing sports in high school, after he was ordered to pick between professional wrestling and playing sports, and he chose wrestling. Hardy's favorite subjects in school were U.S. history and art, which he did for extra credit.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Hardy cites Sting, The Ultimate Warrior, and Shawn Michaels as his childhood inspirations to wrestle. Hardy had been on World Wrestling Federation (WWF) television as a jobber—a wrestler who consistently loses to make his opponents look stronger—as early as age sixteen. His first WWF match was against Razor Ramon on May 24, 1994. The next day he wrestled against The 1-2-3 Kid, and the match aired on the June 25 episode of ''Superstars''. He occasionally wrestled as a jobber as late as 1997 before beginning his first major run in 1998. Hardy, along with his brother Matt and friends, started their own federation, the Trampoline Wrestling Federation (TWF) and mimicked the moves they saw on television. Later on, the TWF went under several different names, eventually being integrated into a county fair in North Carolina. The brothers and their friends then began to work for other independent companies. They drove all over the East Coast of the United States, working for companies such as ACW and other small promotions.

Before arriving in the WWF, Matt formed his own wrestling promotion, the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA) with Thomas Simpson. The promotion was a more successful version of the original TWF and included talent such as both Hardy brothers, Shannon Moore, Gregory Helms, Joey Matthews, and Steve Corino, among others. In OMEGA, each of the brothers portrayed several different characters; Hardy portrayed such characters as Willow the Wisp, Iceman, Mean Jimmy Jack Tomkins, and The Masked Mountain. While there, Hardy held the New Frontier Championship as a singles competitor and the Tag Team Championship with Matt. The promotion folded in April 1998 when they signed contracts with the WWF.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

The Hardy Boyz (1998–2002)

The Hardy brothers eventually caught the eyes of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). After being signed to a contract in 1998, they were trained by Dory Funk, Jr. in his Funkin' Dojo with other notable wrestlers such as Kurt Angle, Christian, Test, and A-Train. When the team was finally brought up to WWF television, after months of 'jobbing' and live events, they formed the acrobatic tag team called the Hardy Boyz. While feuding with The Brood in mid-1999, they added Michael Hayes as their manager. On July 5, they won their first WWF Tag Team Championship by defeating the Acolytes, but lost it back to them a month later. After the dissolution of the Brood, the Hardys joined forces with Gangrel as The New Brood and feuded with Edge and Christian. This stable did not last long, however, and on October 17, 1999 at No Mercy, the Hardy Boyz won the managerial services of Terri Runnels in the finals of the Terri Invitational Tournament in the WWF's first ever tag team ladder match against Edge and Christian.

In 2000, the Hardy Boyz found a new manager in their real-life friend Lita. Together, the three became known as "Team Xtreme". They continued their feud with Edge and Christian throughout 2000, defeating them for the WWF Tag Team Championship on two occasions. At SummerSlam the Hardy Boyz competed in the first ever Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (TLC match), for the Tag Team Championship against the Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian, but were unsuccessful.

Hardy gained attention for his high risk stunts in the TLC matches in the year 2000, 2001, and 2002. He made a name for himself as one of the most seemingly reckless and unorthodox WWF performers of his time. In 2001, Hardy received a push as a singles competitor, and he held the WWF Intercontinental (defeating Triple H), Light Heavyweight (defeating Jerry Lynn) and Hardcore Championships (defeating Mike Awesome and Van Dam on two separate occasions). At the end of 2001, the Hardys began a storyline in which they began to fight, which led to Matt demanding a match at Vengeance, with Lita as the special guest referee. After Hardy beat Matt at Vengeance, while Matt's foot was on the ropes, Hardy and Lita began feuding against Matt. In the middle of the feud, however, Hardy faced The Undertaker in a Hardcore Championship match and lost. After the match, the Undertaker was scripted to attack both Hardy and Lita, injuring them. On the next episode of ''SmackDown!'', the Undertaker also attacked Matt, also injuring him, in storyline. The Hardys and Lita were not seen again until the Royal Rumble, because WWE did not have another storyline for their characters. The Hardys later came back as a team, and there was never any mention of their previous storyline split. At Backlash, Hardy faced-off against Lesnar in his first televised match. Lesnar dominated Hardy and won the match by knockout. Lesnar and the Hardys continued to feud over the next few weeks, with the Hardys coming out victorious only once by disqualification. At Judgment Day, Lesnar gained the upper hand on the Hardy Boyz before tagging his partner, Paul Heyman, in to claim the win for the team. In July 2002, Hardy won his third Hardcore Championship by defeating Bradshaw.

Singles competition (2002–2003)

After years in the tag team division, Hardy took on The Undertaker in a ladder match for the Undisputed Championship. Hardy came up short, but earned the Undertaker's respect. Hardy competed for singles titles on several occasions and defeated William Regal for the WWE European Championship. Hardy was defeated a few weeks later by Rob Van Dam in a match to unify the European Championship and the Intercontinental Championship, and the European Championship was dropped. Finally, the Hardy Boyz split apart, as Hardy continued to pursue his singles ambitions on ''Raw'' and his brother, Matt was drafted to the SmackDown! brand.

In January 2003, he briefly turned into a heel (villain) after he attacked Van Dam and Shawn Michaels. It ended a month later when he saved Stacy Keibler from an attack by then-villain, Christian. In February, he had a brief program with Michaels, which saw the two team up. Then, in storyline, Hardy began dating Trish Stratus after saving her from Steven Richards and Victoria in March. Hardy and Stratus had a brief on-screen relationship that saw the duo talking backstage, kissing, and teaming together in matches. Hardy, however, was released from WWE on April 22, 2003. The reasons given for the release were Hardy's erratic behavior, drug use, refusal to go to rehab, deteriorating ring performance, as well as constant tardiness and no-showing events. Hardy also cites "burn out" and the need for time off as reasons for leaving WWE.

Time off and independent circuit (2003)

Hardy made his first wrestling appearance after being released from WWE at an OMEGA show, on May 24. Using his old gimmick, "Willow the Wisp", Hardy challenged Krazy K for the OMEGA Cruiserweight Championship, but lost the match. Hardy performed with the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion on one occasion. Hardy appeared at ROH's 2003 show, ''Death Before Dishonor'', under his "Willow the Wisp" gimmick, wearing a mask and trench coat. Hardy was quickly unmasked and lost his jacket, wearing attire similar to that he wore in WWE. Hardy was booed and heckled before, during, and after the match by the ROH audience, who chanted "We want Matt!" and "You were fired!" during his match with Joey Matthews and Krazy K, which Hardy won. Hardy then took a whole year off of wrestling to concentrate on motocross and finish his motocross track.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004–2006)

Hardy debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on June 23, 2004, at the ''Second Anniversary Show'', in a match against TNA X Division Champion A.J. Styles, for the title. He also debuted his new entrance theme "Modest", a song performed by Hardy himself, and a new nickname, "The Charismatic Enigma". The match ended in a no contest when Kid Kash and Dallas interfered. Hardy returned to TNA on July 21 and was awarded a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Hardy challenged for the title on September 8, losing to NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett. In October 2004, he won a tournament, earning a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on November 7 at Victory Road, TNA's first monthly pay-per-view. Hardy was defeated by Jarrett once again in a ladder match at Victory Road following interference from Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. One month later at Turning Point, Hardy, Styles and Randy Savage defeated Jarrett, Hall and Nash (collectively known as the Kings of Wrestling). Hardy went on to defeat Hall in a singles match, substituting for Héctor Garza at Final Resolution on January 16, 2005.

At Against All Odds in February 2005, Hardy lost to Abyss in a "Full Metal Mayhem" match for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Hardy returned the favor by defeating Abyss in a Falls Count Anywhere match at Destination X in March. Hardy then went on to feud with Raven, with Hardy booked to defeat Raven in a steel cage match at Lockdown in April. Hardy was suspended from TNA after no-showing his "Clockwork Orange House of Fun" rematch with Raven at Hard Justice on May 15, allegedly due to travel difficulties. Hardy's suspension was lifted on August 5, and he returned at Sacrifice approximately a week later, attacking Jeff Jarrett. He wrestled his first TNA match in four months at Unbreakable on September 11, losing to Bobby Roode following interference from Jarrett. Throughout October 2005, Hardy became embroiled in a feud with Abyss, Rhino and Sabu. The four way feud culminated in a Monster's Ball match at Bound for Glory on October 23, which Rhino won after delivering a second rope Rhino Driver to Hardy. In the course of the match, Hardy delivered a Swanton Bomb to Abyss from a height of approximately . Later that night, Hardy competed in a ten-man battle royal for the number one contendership to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which Rhino also won. At Genesis in November, Hardy lost to Monty Brown in another number one contender match.

Hardy was scheduled to wrestle on the pre-show of Turning Point in December 2005, but once again no-showed the event, again citing traveling problems. Hardy was suspended as a result and did not appear on TNA television again. In March, April, and May 2006, Hardy appeared on several live events promoted by TNA in conjunction with Dave Hebner and the United Wrestling Federation.

Return to World Wrestling Entertainment

Raw (2006)

On August 4, 2006, WWE announced that Hardy had re-signed with the company. In the following weeks, vignettes aired hyping his return on the August 21 episode of ''Raw''. On the day of his return, Hardy received a push and defeated then-WWE Champion Edge by disqualification when Lita pulled Edge out of the ring. After failing to capture the Intercontinental Championship from Johnny Nitro over the next few weeks, including at Unforgiven, Hardy finally defeated Nitro to win his second Intercontinental Championship on the October 2 episode of ''Raw''. On the November 6 episode of ''Raw'', Hardy lost the Intercontinental Championship back to Nitro, after Nitro hit him with the Intercontinental Championship title belt. One week later, Hardy regained it on the November 13 episode of ''Raw'', with a crucifix pin. This marked Hardy's third reign as Intercontinental Champion.

The Hardys reunion (2006–2007)

On the November 21 episode of ''ECW on Sci Fi'' Hardy teamed with his brother, Matt, for the first time in almost five years to defeat the Full Blooded Italians. At Survivor Series, they both were a part of Team D-Generation X, which gained the victory over Team Rated-RKO with a clean sweep. The brothers then received their first opportunity since Hardy's return to win a tag team championship at Armageddon. They competed in a four-team ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but they came up short in their attempt. In the course of the match, however, they inadvertently legitimately injured Joey Mercury's face.

With Hardy still feuding with Johnny Nitro and the other members of MNM into 2007, he was challenged once again by Nitro at New Year's Revolution in a steel cage match for the Intercontinental Championship. Hardy once again defeated Nitro. Hardy then teamed with Matt to defeat MNM at both the Royal Rumble and No Way Out pay-per-views. The next night on ''Raw'', February 19, Hardy was defeated for the Intercontinental Championship by Umaga. In April 2007, Hardy competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23. During the match, Matt threw Edge onto a ladder and encouraged Hardy, who was close to the winning briefcase, to finish him off. Hardy then leaped off the ladder, drove Edge through the ladder with a leg drop, seemingly injuring both Edge and himself. The two were unable to continue the match and were removed from ringside on stretchers.

The next night on ''Raw'', April 2, the Hardys competed in a 10-team battle royal for the World Tag Team Championship. They won the titles after eliminating Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. They then began a feud with Cade and Murdoch, with the Hardys retaining the Championship in their first title defense against them at Backlash and again at Judgment Day. The Hardys, however, dropped the titles to Cade and Murdoch on June 4 on ''Raw''. The Hardys earned a rematch at Vengeance: Night of Champions but were defeated.

Main event status (2007–2009)

In the midst of feuding with Umaga, who defeated Hardy at The Great American Bash to retain the Intercontinental Championship in late July, Hardy was abruptly taken off WWE programming. He posted on his own website and in the forums of TheHardyShow.com that it was time off to heal, stemming from a bad fall taken in a match against Mr. Kennedy on the July 23 episode of ''Raw''. He made his return on the August 27 episode of ''Raw'' beating Kennedy by disqualification after Umaga interfered. The following week, on September 3, Hardy successfully captured his fourth Intercontinental Championship by defeating Umaga for the title.

This was the start of a push for Hardy, and at Survivor Series, Hardy and Triple H were the last two standing to win the traditional elimination match. Hardy began an on and off tag team with Triple H, which eventually led to a respectful feud between the two. The scripted rivalry continued at Armageddon, when Hardy defeated Triple H to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship. In the weeks leading up to the Royal Rumble, Hardy and Randy Orton engaged in a personal feud, which began when Orton kicked Hardy's brother, Matt, in the head in the storyline. Hardy, in retaliation, performed a Swanton Bomb on Orton from the top of the Raw set and seemed to have all the momentum after coming out on top in their encounters. Hardy, however, lost the title match at the Royal Rumble, but was named as one of six men to compete in an Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out, where he survived to the final two before being eliminated by the eventual winner, Triple H.

During the March 3 episode of ''Raw'', Hardy appeared on Chris Jericho's "Highlight Reel" segment as a special guest, but ended up attacking Jericho. This led to an Intercontinental title match on the following ''Raw'' where Hardy dropped the title to Jericho. Off-screen, Hardy dropped the title after he was suspended for sixty days, as of March 11, for his second violation of the company's Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Policy. Hardy was also removed from the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXIV after the suspension was announced. Hardy returned on the May 12 episode of ''Raw'', defeating Umaga. This reignited the rivalry between the two, and they met in a Falls Count Anywhere match at One Night Stand, which Hardy won.

On June 23, 2008, Hardy was drafted from the Raw brand to the SmackDown brand, as a part of the 2008 WWE Draft. Hardy made his ''SmackDown'' debut on the July 4 episode, defeating John Morrison. Hardy participated in the WWE Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven and also challenged for the Championship at No Mercy and Cyber Sunday, but failed to win each time. He was originally scheduled to be in the WWE Championship match at Survivor Series, but, in storyline, was found unconscious in his hotel, allowing the returning Edge to replace him in the match and win the title. At Armageddon in December 2008, Hardy defeated the defending champion Edge and Triple H in a triple threat match to capture the WWE Championship, his first world heavyweight championship.

In January 2009, Hardy's next storyline led to his involvement in scripted accidents, including a hit-and-run automobile accident and an accident involving his ring entrance pyrotechnics. At the 2009 Royal Rumble, Hardy lost his WWE Championship to Edge after Hardy's brother, Matt, interfered on Edge's behalf and hit Hardy with a steel chair. The buildup to this feud involved Matt implying that he was responsible for all of Hardy's accidents over the past few months, and at WrestleMania XXV, Hardy was defeated by Matt in an Extreme Rules match. In a rematch at Backlash, however, Hardy defeated Matt in an "I Quit" match.

At Extreme Rules, Hardy defeated Edge to win the World Heavyweight Championship in a ladder match. Immediately after the match, however, CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, which gave him a guaranteed world championship match at any time he wanted, and defeated Hardy to win the championship. Hardy received his rematch at The Bash, and won the match via disqualification, with Punk still retaining the title. At Night of Champions, however, Hardy won the championship for the second time, by defeating Punk. At the SummerSlam pay-per-view in August, Hardy lost the title back to Punk in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. On the August 28 episode of ''SmackDown'', Punk defeated Hardy in a steel cage rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship, resulting in Hardy being forced to leave WWE, in storyline, per the pre-match stipulation. This storyline was put in place to allow Hardy to leave WWE to heal his injuries, including a neck injury. Hardy also had two herniated discs in his lower back and was suffering from Restless legs syndrome.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling return

Early storylines (2010)

On TNA's first live Monday edition of ''Impact!'' on January 4, 2010, Hardy made his return to TNA, along with Shannon Moore. He was attacked by Homicide after emerging from the crowd, but hit Homicide with a steel chair and performed the Twist of Fate on the Impact! Zone ramp. He later appeared in backstage segments throughout the evening. The following day, it was reported that Hardy had signed a new contract with TNA. Hardy would make his next appearance for the company on the March 8 episode of ''Impact!'', saving D'Angelo Dinero, Abyss and Hulk Hogan from A.J. Styles, Ric Flair and Desmond Wolfe. The following week Hardy defeated the TNA World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles in a non-title match. On the April 5 episode of ''Impact!'' Hardy was introduced as a member of Team Hogan for the annual Lethal Lockdown match, where they would face Team Flair. At Lockdown Team Hogan (Hardy, Abyss, Jeff Jarrett and Rob Van Dam) defeated Team Flair (Sting, Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode and James Storm). At Sacrifice Hardy defeated Mr. Anderson. After the event, Anderson turned face and eventually managed to convince the skeptical Hardy that he really had changed, after which the two went on to form a tag team. At Slammiversary VIII Hardy and Anderson, now known as Enigmatic Assholes, defeated Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm) in a tag team match.

Immortal and World Heavyweight Champion (2010–2011)

On the August 19 episode of ''Impact!'' the TNA World Heavyweight Championship was vacated and Hardy was entered into an eight man tournament for the championship, defeating Rob Terry in his first round match. At the semifinals at No Surrender Hardy first wrestled Kurt Angle to a twenty minute time-limit draw, after which Eric Bischoff ordered a five minute period of extra time. After that and a second five minute extra time period also ended in draws, it was ruled that Angle was unable to continue and the match ended in a no contest. After wrestling a draw on the September 16 episode of ''Impact!'', it was announced that both Hardy and Angle would advance to the finals at Bound for Glory, where they would compete with Mr. Anderson in a three–way match.

At Bound for Glory, Hardy turned heel with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff and with their help defeated Angle and Anderson to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. They were then joined by Jeff Jarrett and Abyss, revealing the group that Abyss had been referring to as "they" for several months. On the following edition of ''Impact!'' the stable was named Immortal, as it formed an alliance with Ric Flair's Fortune. Meanwhile, Hardy debuted a new dark character, using cryptic messages as he explained the reasons behind his turn. At Turning Point Hardy retained his title in a defense against Matt Morgan, a replacement for Mr. Anderson, who was sidelined after suffering a concussion during an attack by Hardy. On the following episode of ''Impact!'' Hogan presented Hardy with a new design of the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, which he dubbed the TNA Immortal Championship. At Final Resolution in December, Hardy successfully defended the championship in a rematch against Morgan after incapacitating the special guest referee Mr. Anderson and having a replacement referee count the pinfall. On January 4, 2011, Hardy made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) at ''Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome'', where he successfully defended the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naitō.

On January 9 at Genesis, Hardy's brother, Matt, made his TNA debut as a surprise member of Immortal and defeated Rob Van Dam to prevent him from receiving a match at Hardy's championship. That same night Hardy gave Anderson a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, immediately following Anderson's victory in a number one contender's match. Despite Matt, Flair, and Bischoff interfering in an attempt to help Hardy, Anderson defeated Hardy for the championship. On the January 13 episode of ''Impact!'' the Hardy Boyz reunited and defeated Anderson and Van Dam in a tag team match, following interference from Beer Money, Inc.. On the February 3 episode of ''Impact!'', Hardy received his rematch for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. The rest of Immortal interfered in the match, but were stopped by Fortune, which led to Anderson retaining the championship. On February 13 at Against All Odds Hardy defeated Anderson in a ladder match to regain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Hardy held the championship for less than two weeks, defending it once against Rob Van Dam, before losing it to Sting on February 24, at the tapings of the March 3 edition of ''Impact!''. On March 13 at Victory Road, Hardy received a rematch for the title under No Disqualification rules, but was defeated in ninety seconds. TNA had made the decision to cut the match short after deeming that Hardy was in no condition to wrestle. The following day it was reported that TNA had sent Hardy home from the week's ''Impact!'' tapings. On the March 17 episode of ''Impact!'', Immortal severed their ties with Hardy.

Return (2011–present)

On August 23, 2011, TNA announced that Hardy would be making his return to the promotion at the ''Impact Wrestling'' tapings on August 25 in Huntsville, Alabama. The return would take place only five days after Matt Hardy was released from his TNA contract. In his return, which was taped for the September 8 edition of ''Impact Wrestling'', Hardy spoke to the audience as a face, acknowledging that he had hit rock bottom at Victory Road in March, before asking the fans for "one more shot".

Other media

Hardy appeared on the February 7, 1999 episode of ''That '70s Show'' entitled "That Wrestling Show", along with Matt, as an uncredited wrestler. Hardy and Matt also appeared on ''Tough Enough'' in early 2001, talking to and wrestling the contestants. He appeared on the February 25, 2002 episode of ''Fear Factor'' competing against five other World Wrestling Federation wrestlers. He was eliminated in the first round. In September 2009, Hardy signed a deal with Fox 21 studios to appear in a reality television show.

In 2001, Hardy, Matt and Lita appeared in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2001 Sports Hall of Fame issue. In 2003, Hardy and Matt, with the help of Michael Krugman, wrote and published their autobiography ''The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire''.

As part of WWE, Hardy has appeared in several of their DVDs, including ''The Hardy Boyz: Leap of Faith'' (2001) and ''The Ladder Match'' (2007). He is also featured in the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling release ''Enigma: The Best of Jeff Hardy'' (2005) and ''Pro Wrestling's Ultimate Insiders: Hardy Boys – From the Backyard to the Big Time'' (2005). On April 29, 2008, WWE released ''"Twist of Fate: The Matt and Jeff Hardy Story"''. The DVD features footage of the brothers in OMEGA and WWE, and also briefly mentions Hardy's first run with TNA. In December 2009, WWE released a DVD about Hardy entitled ''Jeff Hardy: My Life, My Rules''.

Artistic pursuits

Hardy has an eclectic set of interests outside of wrestling. He calls his artistic side "The Imag-I-Nation". At one stage, Hardy constructed a statue of an "aluminummy" named "Neroameee" out of tin foil outside of his recording studio (a spray painted trailer). On another occasion, he created an artificial volcano in his front yard, which he then jumped over on his motocross dirtbike. On another occasion Hardy created a large sculpture of his brother Matt's hand signal "V1", which was seen on "The Hardy Show", an Internet web show which features both the Hardys, Shannon Moore and many of their friends. Hardy is also an artist and poet.

Hardy taught himself how to play guitar and later bought a drum kit. In 2003, Hardy formed a band, Peroxwhy?gen, with members of the band Burnside 6, and Moore, who later left. He also converted a trailer into a recording studio. The band recorded two songs; One song was "September Day", a song Jeff wrote in reaction to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Rumors arose that Peroxwhy?gen split up in 2004 shortly after recording the second song, "Modest", which Hardy later used as his entrance music in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. On the official Peroxwhy?gen MySpace, however, the rumors were denounced. Currently, Peroxwhy?gen only has two members, Hardy and JR Merrill.

Personal life

He has a tattoo of roots that starts on his head, behind his ear, and finishes at his hand. He also has a few other signature designed tattoos, one of which, a dragon, he hid from his father. It was also the first tattoo he got in 1998. He later got tattoos of the Chinese symbols for "Peace" and "Health", as well as tattoos of fire and a wave. Hardy regards his tattoos as his "artistic impulses". Hardy is very good friends with Shannon Moore, who he has known since around 1987. He is also good friends with Marty Garner and Jason Arhndt. He regards Vanilla Ice as a big influence on him, and he was even nicknamed "Ice" by Scott Hall.

Hardy met his girlfriend Beth Britt in 1999, shortly after the Hardy Boyz had won the WWF Tag Team Championship for the first time. Hardy and his brother Matt went to a club in Southern Pines, North Carolina, where Hardy met her. On March 15, 2008, it was reported that Hardy's house had burned to the ground in a fire. Hardy and his girlfriend were not home at the time, but his dog, Jack, was killed in the fire. It is believed that the fire was started by faulty electrical wiring. In October 2008, Hardy was building a new home in the same area, which was expected to be completed by early 2009. In August 2010, Hardy announced that Britt was pregnant with the couple's first child, a daughter, who was born on October 28. Hardy married Britt on March 9, 2011.

On September 17, 2008, Hardy was involved in an incident at the Nashville International Airport's Southwest gate. A Southwest Airline employee reported that Hardy appeared to be intoxicated and therefore, he was not allowed to board the flight. He was not, however, arrested as he was said to be "calm" and "co-operative", and he made other arrangements to get home.

On September 11, 2009 Hardy was arrested on charges of trafficking in controlled prescription pills and possession of anabolic steroids, after a search of his house yielded 262 Vicodin prescription pills, 180 soma prescription pills, 555 milliliters of anabolic steroids, a residual amount of powder cocaine, and drug paraphernalia. Over a year later, the district attorney announced that Hardy would likely plead guilty to the charges, though the court hearing is still pending.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

*450° splash - WWE; 1999-2001

''Reverse of Fate'' (Inverted facelock neckbreaker slam)

''Spine Line'' (Armlock cloverleaf) – OMEGA; used as a regular move in TNA

''Swanton Bomb'' / ''The Swanton'' (High-angle senton bomb)

''Twist of Hate'' (TNA; 2010–2011) / ''Twist of Fate'' (180° facelock cutter)

Signature moves

Baseball slide

Diving clothesline from off a barricade

Double leg drop to an opponent's midsection

''Hardyac Arrest'' (Rope-aided corner dropkick)

Mule kick

Plancha

Positioned at the top rope or on another ladder, Hardy performs a diving leg drop after leapfrogging over a ladder

Sitout inverted suplex slam

Sitout jawbreaker

''Whisper in the Wind'' (Turnbuckle climb into a rebounded corkscrew senton to a standing opponent)

Managers

Gangrel

Michael Hayes

Lita

*Trish Stratus

Terri

Nicknames

"The Charismatic Enigma" (TNA / WWE)

"The Legend Thriller" (WWE)

"The Rainbow–Haired Warrior" (WWE)

"The anti-Christ of professional wrestling" (TNA)

Entrance themes

"Loaded" by Zack Tempest (WWF / WWE; 1999–2003, 2006–2008)

"Tourniquet" by Marilyn Manson (ROH; 2003)

"Modest" by Peroxwhy?gen (TNA; 2004–2006, 2010)

"No More Words" by EndeverafteR (WWE; 2008–2009)

"Another Me" by Jeff Hardy and Dale Oliver (TNA; 2010–present)

"Immortal Theme" by Dale Oliver

Championships and accomplishments

National Championship Wrestling

NCW Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

New Dimension Wrestling

NDW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

NDW Tag Team Championship (1 time)¹ – with Matt Hardy

New Frontier Wrestling Association

NFWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

North East Wrestling

NEW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

NWA 2000

NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Matt Hardy

Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts

OMEGA New Frontiers Championship (1 time)

OMEGA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Matt Hardy

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI Comeback of the Year (2007)

PWI Match of the Year (2000) with Matt Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian in a Triangle Ladder match at WrestleMania 2000

PWI Match of the Year (2001) with Matt Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at WrestleMania X-Seven

PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2008, 2009)

PWI Tag Team of the Year (2000) with Matt Hardy

PWI ranked him #13 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2009

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

TNA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

Universal Wrestling Association

UWA World Middleweight Championship (1 time)

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment

World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

WWE Championship (1 time)

WWE European Championship (1 time)

WWF Hardcore Championship (3 times)

WCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Matt Hardy

WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (4 times)

WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

WWF/E World Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Matt Hardy

Terri Invitational Tournament – with Matt Hardy

*Ninth Grand Slam Champion

*Eighteenth Triple Crown Champion

Slammy Award for Extreme Moment of the Year (2008) Swanton Bomb to Randy Orton from the top of the Raw set (Raw, January 14)

*Slammy Award for Extreme Moment of the Year (2009) Jumping from ladder onto CM Punk at SummerSlam

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Best Flying Wrestler (2000)

*Feud of the Year (2009) vs. CM Punk

Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic (2008) Hardy attacked in stairwell before Survivor Series

¹The titles have been vacant since 1999 due to the Hardy Boys signing contracts with the WWF and have been declared inactive until they defend the titles again.

Notes

References

External links

TNA Wrestling profile

Professional wrestling record for Jeff Hardy from The Internet Wrestling Database

The Hardy Show

Slam! Sports bio and story archive

Online World of Wrestling profile

Category:1977 births Category:American musicians Category:American poets Category:American professional wrestlers Category:American sculptors Category:Artists from North Carolina Category:Living people Category:People from Raleigh, North Carolina

ar:جيف هاردي bar:Jeff Hardy bg:Джеф Харди ca:Jeff Hardy cs:Jeff Hardy da:Jeff Hardy de:Jeff Hardy el:Τζεφ Χάρντι es:Jeff Hardy eu:Jeff Hardy fa:جف هاردی fr:Jeff Hardy gl:Jeff Hardy ko:제프 하디 hi:जेफ़ हार्डी it:Jeff Hardy he:ג'ף הארדי kn:ಜೆಫ್ ಹಾರ್ಡಿ lt:Jeff Hardy nl:Jeff Hardy ja:ジェフ・ハーディー no:Jeff Hardy pl:Jeff Hardy pt:Jeff Hardy ro:Jeff Hardy ru:Харди, Джефф simple:Jeff Hardy fi:Jeff Hardy sv:Jeff Hardy ta:ஜெஃப் ஹார்டி th:เจฟฟ์ ฮาร์ดี tr:Jeff Hardy uk:Джефф Харді vi:Jeff Hardy zh:傑夫·哈迪

Coordinates	3°5′00″N101°32′00″N
Name	Matt Hardy
Names	Evil KnievalExecutionerGrim ReaperIgnis FatuusHigh VoltageMatt HardyMatt Hardy Version 1.0SurgeWhite Cheetah
Height
Weight
Birth date	September 23, 1974
Birth place	Cameron, North Carolina
Resides	Cameron, North Carolina
Billed	Cameron, North Carolina
Trainer	Dory Funk, Jr.
Debut	October 15, 1992
Retired	}}

Matthew Moore "Matt" Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and most recently worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

Before signing with WWE, Hardy, with his brother Jeff, founded a wrestling organization called Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA). While there, Hardy held many championships including the Heavyweight and Tag Team Championship, which he held with Jeff. The promotion folded in October 1999 when they signed contracts with WWE. The Hardys gained notoriety in WWE's tag team division due to their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. As a tag team wrestler, Hardy is a six-time World Tag Team Champion, a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion, and a one-time WCW Tag Team Champion.

Apart from his success as a tag team wrestler, Hardy is a one-time world heavyweight champion, having won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship in 2008. He also has won other singles championships, having held the Hardcore, European, Cruiserweight, and United States Championship on one occasion each.

Professional wrestling career

Hardy, along with his brother Jeff and friends, started their own federation, the Trampoline Wrestling Federation (TWF) and mimicked the moves they saw on television. They later created their own wrestling promotion, OMEGA Wrestling, in which Hardy competed under the name High Voltage. Shortly after Hardy sent in a tape for the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Amateur Challenge using the ring name High Voltage, a tag team named High Voltage began competing in WCW, causing Hardy to change his name to Surge. A few years later, it was revealed to him by Chris Kanyon that the tape had been kept in the WCW Power Plant, watched multiple times, and that the name High Voltage was blatantly stolen from it.

The Hardys also wrestled for several other North Carolina based wrestling organizations and adapted a number of alter-egos. As The Wolverine, Hardy captured the New England Wrestling Alliance (NEWA) Championship in May 1994. As High Voltage, he teamed with Venom to claim the New Frontier Wrestling Association (NFWA) Tag Team titles in March 1995. A month later, High Voltage defeated the Willow for the NFWA Championship.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

The Hardy Boyz (1998–2001)

Hardy worked as a jobber for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1994 up until he signed a full-time contract. His first WWF match was against Nikolai Volkoff on May 23, 1994, which he lost by submission He wrestled sporadically throughout 1994 in the WWF, losing matches against Crush, Razor Ramon, Owen Hart and The Undertaker. Hardy continued wrestling with the WWF sporadically, including matches against Hunter Hearst Helmsley and "The Ringmaster" Steve Austin. It was not until 1998, however, that the Hardy brothers were given full-time WWF contracts, and sent to train with former wrestler Dory Funk, Jr.. The Hardy Boyz used a cruiserweight, fast-paced high flying style in their matches, often leaping from great heights to do damage to their opponents (and themselves in the process). Although Jeff was better known for his extreme moves, Hardy was a prodigious high-flier himself. In 1999, while feuding with Edge and Christian, the duo briefly picked up Michael Hayes as a manager. On July 5, they won their first WWF Tag team Championship by defeating the Acolytes, but lost it back to them a month later. They soon dumped Hayes however, and joined the short lived stable The New Brood with Gangrel. After breaking away from Gangrel, Hardy and Jeff were briefly managed by Terri Runnels, after they won her services in the first ever tag team ladder match.

In 2000, the Hardy Boyz found a new manager in their real-life friend Lita. Together, the three became known as "Team Xtreme". Throughout 2000 they continued feuding with Edge and Christian, defeating them for the WWF Tag Team Titles on two occasions. Hardy won the WWE Hardcore Championship on April 24, 2000, on ''Raw is War'', by defeating Crash Holly, but lost it back to Holly three days later on ''SmackDown!''. At SummerSlam the Hardy Boyz competed in the first ever Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, for the Tag Team Titles against the Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian, but were unsuccessful.

Singles career (2001–2005)

In 2001, after Jeff's Intercontinental Championship run, Hardy was given a singles championship push. He won the European Championship on ''SmackDown!'' four days before Backlash. Hardy believes that he was pushed to win the title because of Jeff winning the Intercontinental Championship, and because of the effort he put into his previous storyline with Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin. He became the second-longest reigning European Champion in history and the longest-reigning American-born European Champion.

Throughout the year, the Hardy Boyz continued to win as a tag team, winning the WWF Tag Team Titles two more times, and the WCW Tag Team Championship during the Invasion. By the end of the year, the Hardy Boyz began a storyline where they were having trouble co-existing. This culminated in a match between the two, with Lita as the guest referee, at the Vengeance pay-per-view, which Jeff won.

At the beginning of 2002, it seemed Team Xtreme had patched things up. After the Brand Extension, however, Hardy was relegated to ''Heat'' while Jeff wrestled on the main show, ''Raw''. On the August 12 episode of ''Raw'', Hardy turned against Jeff during Jeff's match against Rob Van Dam, because Hardy was frustrated at not receiving a match against Van Dam for the number one contendership for the Intercontinental Championship. A short time later, Hardy joined the ''SmackDown!'' roster. On the October 3 episode of the show, Hardy took advantage of a run-in from Brock Lesnar to defeat The Undertaker.

Having now dubbed himself "Matt Hardy: Version 1", and with his MF'er (Mattitude Follower) Shannon Moore in his corner, 2003 began with Hardy frantically trying to lose weight to get under the weight limit to compete for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. After just barely making weight, Hardy defeated Billy Kidman at No Way Out to win the Cruiserweight title. At WrestleMania XIX, he successfully defended it against Rey Mysterio. The Mattitude faction then expanded to include Crash Holly as Moore's "Moore-on" (follower). He later disbanded the group and returned to ''Raw'' in order to be able to travel and work with his then girlfriend Lita, who just returned from an injury. On his first night back, he turned on Lita in storyline after teasing a proposal to her. Hardy spent little time on ''Raw'' and later turned into a fan favorite by engaging in a rivalry with Kane. Lita was also involved in the storyline, and Hardy took time off after a chokeslam from Kane off the stage during Lita and Kane's wedding. This time off was due to a knee injury.

Release and independent circuit (2005)

Along with his friend Rhyno, Hardy was released by WWE on April 11, 2005. Edge and Lita received jeers from the crowds at WWE events, often resulting in chants, "You screwed Matt", and, "We want Matt". Paul Heyman, in a "shoot" promo, mocked Edge for his actions at One Night Stand. Lita, for the first time in over five years, became a heel (villainous character) as a result of the affair becoming public knowledge. Fans began a petition on the internet, wanting WWE to re-sign Hardy, and amassed over fifteen thousand signatures.

Hardy released two character promotional vignettes, that he was planning to use before he was offered a new contract by WWE. Hardy called himself The Angelic Diablo with the tagline "the scar will become a symbol" in reference to the way in which he had been treated by Lita and WWE. On the June 20 episode of ''Raw'', during the storyline wedding of Edge and Lita, Hardy's entrance music and video were played when the priest asked if anyone had a reason why Edge and Lita should not be wed. On the July 11 episode of ''Raw'', Hardy made his return, attacking Edge as he made his way to the ring. On the July 13 edition of WWE's webcast ''Byte This!'', which featured Lita as its guest, one of the callers was Hardy himself. The two engaged in a huge argument which led to Lita walking off the set.

Hardy appeared at a scheduled Ring of Honor (ROH) event on July 16 in Woodbridge, Connecticut where he defeated Christopher Daniels via submission. Hardy also cut a brief promo where he continued in full 'worked shoot' mode, attacking WWE and John Laurinaitis. Following his official return to WWE, Hardy was met with backlash following a match with Homicide from the fans at a subsequent ROH event, which Hardy won. The next day at his final ROH appearance, he lost to Roderick Strong.

Return to World Wrestling Entertainment

Return (2005–2006)

On July 11, 2005, Hardy posted on his website that he was finally "free", that wrestling fans had not seen the last of him, and that he had a surprise for the fans who had supported him. That night on ''Raw'', Hardy attacked Edge backstage and again later during Edge's match with Kane, leaving the commentators speechless. Before being escorted out of the building by security, Hardy stated that Edge and Lita would pay for their actions and told fans that they could see him at Ring of Honor while security officials and event staff were trying to restrain him. Hardy also called out Johnny Ace as security had him in handcuffs taking him out of the arena. This caused an uproar amongst fans, who were confused and wondered if the whole thing was a work or a shoot. Similar occurrences repeated during the following two weeks.

On the August 1 episode of ''Raw'', Vince McMahon officially announced Hardy's return to WWE, adding that Hardy would face Edge at SummerSlam. Hardy made his in-ring return, defeating Snitsky on the August 8 ''Raw''. Seconds after the victory, Hardy was attacked by Edge, and as he was being carried backstage, Matt counterattacked Edge in the locker room. On August 21 at SummerSlam, their match came to a premature end when Edge dropped Hardy onto the top of a ring post, causing him to bleed heavily. The referee ended the match on the grounds that Hardy could not continue, and Edge was declared the winner. After SummerSlam, the two continued fighting on ''Raw'', including a Street Fight that resulted in Hardy performing a Side Effect on Edge off the entrance stage and into electrical equipment below. At Unforgiven, Edge faced Hardy in a steel cage match. Hardy caught an interfering Lita with the Twist of Fate and won the match with a leg-drop off the top of the cage. Hardy and Edge faced each other at ''WWE Homecoming'' in a Loser Leaves ''Raw'' ladder match. Edge's briefcase holding the contract for his WWE World title shot was suspended above the ring. The winner of the match received the contract and the loser was forced to leave ''Raw''. After a contentious match, Edge tied Hardy's arms in the ropes, and Lita trapped Hardy in a crucifix hold, leaving Hardy only able to watch Edge win. When the match ended, Edge and Lita gloated over the victory, but Hardy took it in stride and left the arena. With his defeat at the hands of Edge, Hardy was moved to the SmackDown! brand where he re-debuted with a win over Simon Dean on October 21 in Reno, Nevada.

Back on ''SmackDown!'', Hardy started an angle with MNM (Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury) and their manager Melina when Melina approached Hardy, seemingly wanting Hardy to join with her team. Hardy refused the offer, which led to him facing the tag team on several occasions with a variety of partners. One of his partners, Road Warrior Animal, brutally attacked him after they were defeated – sick of "pulling all the weight in tag teams". Animal, who was renamed The Road Warrior, and Hardy feuded for a while after this, with Hardy picking up several wins over the veteran, including a qualifying match for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 22, which was ultimately won by Rob Van Dam.

Hardy next competed in the ''SmackDown!'' King of the Ring tournament, losing to eventual winner Booker T in the opening round thanks to a low blow and distraction from Sharmell. Hardy also became the first man to defeat Mr. Kennedy. On July 25, after the ''SmackDown!'' taping, Hardy was taken out of action after doctors found the remnants of the staph infection that had plagued him the previous year. He was sidelined until August 25 while he healed. Hardy made a surprise appearance backstage at Unforgiven after Jeff's match against Johnny Nitro. Lita joined the two in the segment, making this the first time the three had been seen together on WWE television since February 2003. Hardy then began a rivalry against Gregory Helms which saw both winning over each other time and time again. Then at No Mercy, in both of their hometown, Cameron, North Carolina, Hardy beat Helms. The two met again one more time at Survivor Series, where Hardy's team won in a clean sweep.

The Hardys reunion (2006–2007)

On the November 21, 2006 episode of ''ECW on Sci Fi'', Hardy and Jeff competed in a match together for the first time in almost five years, defeating the Full Blooded Italians. At Survivor Series, the Hardy Boyz competed with CM Punk and D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) as part of Team DX versus Team Rated-RKO (which included Edge, Randy Orton, Johnny Nitro with Melina, Mike Knox, and Gregory Helms) in a traditional Survivor Series match. Team DX won with a shut out, last eliminating Orton. At December to Dismember, the Hardy Boyz issued an open challenge to any tag team who wanted to face them. MNM answered their challenge by reuniting at December to Dismember, but ultimately lost to the Hardy Boyz. At Armageddon, Hardy and Jeff competed against Paul London and Brian Kendrick, MNM, and Dave Taylor and William Regal in a Ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship but lost. Subsequently, he and Jeff feuded with Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro after the legitimate incident where they injured Mercury's face at Armageddon 2006. This led to a bitter long term rivalry, and at the 2007 Royal Rumble, Hardy and Jeff defeated MNM. Mercury and Hardy continued to feud until Mercury was released from WWE in March. Before Mercury's release, however, Hardy defeated him to earn a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23, which was ultimately won by Mr. Kennedy.

The next night on ''Raw'', the Hardys competed in a 10-team battle royal for the World Tag Team Championship. They won the titles for the sixth time after last eliminating Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. After briefly feuding with Cade and Murdoch, the Hardys retained their World Tag Team Championship in their first title defense at Backlash. Similar results occurred at Judgment Day. One month later at One Night Stand, they defeated The World's Greatest Tag Team to retain the titles in a Ladder match. The following night on ''Raw'', The Hardys lost their titles to Cade and Murdoch, after Murdoch pushed Jeff's foot off the bottom rope during Cade's pinfall, causing the three count to continue. They invoked their rematch clause against Cade and Murdoch at Vengeance: Night of Champions, but were unsuccessful.

Storyline with MVP (2007–2008)

On the July 6, 2007 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Hardy won a non-title match against WWE United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), which resulted in a feud between the two. Hardy was unable to defeat MVP at The Great American Bash for the WWE United States Championship. MVP then claimed that he was "better than Hardy at everything", which led to a series of contests between Hardy and MVP, such as a basketball game, an arm wrestling contest, and a chess match which MVP "sneezed" on and ruined when Hardy put him in check. MVP challenged Hardy to a boxing match at ''Saturday Night's Main Event'', however MVP was legitimately diagnosed with the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Since MVP was unable to compete, Hardy faced his replacement, former world champion boxer, Evander Holyfield. The match ended in a no contest after MVP entered the ring to verbally abuse Holyfield, who then knocked him out. MVP also challenged Hardy to a beer drinking contest at SummerSlam, but as revenge for what happened at SNME, Hardy allowed Stone Cold Steve Austin to replace him; Austin simply performed a stunner on MVP then kept drinking.

After a segment involving MVP inadvertently choosing Hardy as his tag-team partner, Theodore Long promptly set up a match against Deuce 'n Domino for the WWE Tag Team Championship which the duo were able to win, therefore setting up Hardy's first reign as WWE Tag Team Champion. It was the first time Hardy held a tag team championship with someone other than his brother. Hardy and MVP retained the titles at Unforgiven in a rematch against former champions Deuce 'n Domino. Hardy was scheduled to face MVP at Cyber Sunday, but due to a head injury sustained on the previous episode of ''SmackDown!'', he was not medically cleared to compete.

On the November 16 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Hardy and MVP dropped the WWE Tag Team Championship to John Morrison and The Miz. Despite the fact that Hardy was hurt, MVP immediately invoked the rematch clause. After the rematch, in which Hardy was forced to tap out, MVP attacked Hardy, repeatedly targeting his knee. It was later confirmed by WWE.com that Hardy had suffered an injury at his former partner's hands and that he might not be able to compete at Survivor Series. Despite his absence at the pay-per-view, his team was able to win the match. On November 21, WWE's official website reported that Hardy underwent an emergency appendectomy in Tampa, Florida. A CAT scan revealed an inflamed appendix after Hardy was feeling extreme pain. Later surgery revealed that his appendix had already burst. According to Hardy himself, on December 8 doctors back in North Carolina found an abscess of infection that had not been caught, and he had it drained, spending an additional several days in the hospital. Hardy made an appearance at the December 31 episode of ''Raw'' supporting his brother Jeff. To further Jeff's storyline with Randy Orton, however, Hardy was attacked by Orton. Hardy made his return at a live event in Muncie, Indiana on March 1, 2008. On March 30, 2008, at WrestleMania XXIV, Hardy made his televised return to WWE programming in the Money in the Bank ladder match by cutting through the crowd, and attacking MVP to prevent him from winning the match. He made his official in-ring return the next night on ''Raw'', losing a singles match to WWE Champion Randy Orton. On the April 4 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Hardy faced MVP in a non-title match, which he won, re-igniting their storyline rivalry. On April 27, 2008, Hardy defeated MVP to win the United States Championship at Backlash.

After some sporadic feuds for the title, Hardy was drafted to the ECW brand on the June 23, 2008 episode of ''Raw'' during the 2008 WWE Draft, in the process making the United States Championship exclusive to ECW. After a successful title defense against Chavo Guerrero at Night of Champions, he dropped the United States Championship to Shelton Benjamin at the Great American Bash pay-per-view on July 20, 2008, which meant that the title returned to SmackDown.

ECW Champion and feud with Jeff (2008-2009)

On the July 22 episode of ''ECW'', Hardy became the number one contender to Mark Henry's ECW World Heavyweight Championship after defeating John Morrison, The Miz and Finlay in a fatal four-way match. He won the title match at SummerSlam by disqualification due to interference from Henry's manager, Tony Atlas, thus he failed to win the title. Due to the ending of the pay-per-view match, Hardy received a rematch for the title on the next episode of ''ECW'', but again failed to win the title when Henry pinned him after a distraction by Atlas.

At Unforgiven, Hardy won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship during the Championship scramble match, defeating then-champion Henry, The Miz, Finlay and Chavo Guerrero by pinning the Miz with three minutes left, thus making Hardy the first person in history to win a championship scramble in WWE, and marking his first world heavyweight championship win. He continued to feud with Henry until No Mercy, where Hardy successfully retained the title. After successful defenses against Henry, Chavo, Finlay, and Evan Bourne, Hardy lost the title to Jack Swagger on the January 13, 2009 episode of ''ECW'', which was taped on January 12. At the 2009 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, after losing an ECW Championship rematch to Swagger, Hardy turned into a villain when he hit his brother Jeff with a steel chair, allowing Edge to win the WWE Championship. On the January 27, 2009 episode of ''ECW'', it was announced by General Manager Theodore Long that Hardy had requested, and been granted, his release from ECW, and had re-signed with the SmackDown brand. As part of the buildup to this feud, Hardy implied that he was responsible for all of Jeff's accidents leading back to November, including an automobile accident and a pyrotechnics accident, in an attempt to stop Jeff holding the WWE Championship, and at WrestleMania XXV, Hardy defeated Jeff in an Extreme Rules match, and in a stretcher match on the following episode of ''SmackDown''.

On the April 13 episode of ''Raw'', Hardy was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the WWE draft. Two weeks later, in a rematch from WrestleMania, Hardy lost to Jeff in an "I Quit" match at Backlash, in which he broke his hand. Hardy continued to wrestle with his hand in a cast, incorporating it into his persona and claiming that he was wrestling under protest. At the June 22 taping of ''WWE Superstars'', Hardy suffered an injury, when his intestines "exploded" through his abdominal wall, during a Triple Threat match against MVP and Kofi Kingston. Hardy had suffered a tear in his abdominal muscle two years previously, but had not needed surgery until it worsened, and became a danger to his health.

Return to SmackDown and departure (2009–2010)

He was then traded to the SmackDown brand on June 29, and underwent surgery for the torn abdominal muscle on July 2. He made his return on the August 7 episode of ''SmackDown'' as the special guest referee in the World Heavyweight Championship match between his brother, Jeff, and CM Punk, and helped Jeff retain the championship by counting the pinfall. The following week Hardy saved his brother when CM Punk and The Hart Dynasty attacked both Jeff and John Morrison, turning into a fan favorite again. On the August 21 episode of ''SmackDown'', after apologizing for his past actions towards Jeff, he had his first match back after his injury when he teamed with Jeff and John Morrison to defeat The Hart Dynasty and CM Punk.

In early 2010, Hardy began an onscreen relationship with Maria; the relationship was short-lived, however, as Maria was released from her WWE contract. On the February 16, 2010 episode of ''ECW'', it was announced that Hardy would be mentoring Justin Gabriel on ''WWE NXT''. On the March 5 episode of ''SmackDown'', Hardy qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI by defeating Drew McIntyre, but was unsuccessful at WrestleMania, as the match was won by Jack Swagger. Hardy was kayfabe suspended by Vince McMahon because he attacked Drew McIntyre after McIntyre lost to Kofi Kingston at Over the Limit. He was able to get his revenge on McIntyre during the Viewer's Choice episode of ''Raw'' when chosen as the opponent for McIntyre, with Theodore Long stating that Hardy was suspended from ''SmackDown'' but not from ''Raw''. On the following edition of Smackdown however, McIntyre announced per orders of Vince McMahon, that Hardy had been suspended from all WWE programming. At Fatal 4-Way however, Hardy prevented McIntyre from regaining the Intercontinental Championship, thus continuing their feud. On the following edition of ''SmackDown'' he was reinstated by General Manager Theodore Long and had a match with McIntyre which Hardy won. After the match, it was announced that McIntyre's visa had legitimately expired and was sent back to Scotland, thus ending their feud.

On September 12, WWE confirmed they had sent Hardy home from a European tour. Following this Hardy began posting videos on his YouTube channel expressing his disinterest in the WWE product and insisting that he wanted to be released from the company. On October 15, 2010, WWE announced that Hardy had been released from his contract. Hardy later stated that his release had been in effect two weeks before WWE made the announcement.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2011)

On January 9, 2011, Hardy made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at the Genesis pay-per-view, as part of the heel stable Immortal. He was the surprise opponent for Rob Van Dam, and defeated him to prevent Van Dam from receiving a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, held by Hardy's brother Jeff. In the main event, Hardy attempted to interfere in Jeff's World Heavyweight Championship match with Mr. Anderson, but was stopped by Van Dam, which led to Jeff losing both the match and the championship. On the January 13 episode of ''TNA Impact!'' the Hardy Boyz reunited to defeat Anderson and Van Dam in a tag team match, following interference from Beer Money, Inc.. Two weeks later, Hardy suffered his first loss in TNA when he was defeated by Mr. Anderson. On February 13 at Against All Odds, Rob Van Dam defeated Hardy in a rematch.

On the following edition of ''Impact!'', Hardy, along with the rest of Immortal and Ric Flair, betrayed Fortune. On March 13 at Victory Road Hardy was defeated by Flair's previous protégé, A.J. Styles. On April 17 at Lockdown, Immortal, represented by Hardy, Abyss, Bully Ray and Ric Flair, was defeated by Fortune members James Storm, Kazarian and Robert Roode and Christopher Daniels, who replaced an injured A.J. Styles, in a Lethal Lockdown match. On the April 21 episode of ''Impact!'', Hardy faced Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Hardy's first World Title match in TNA, but was defeated. The following month Hardy was granted a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship against James Storm and Robert Roode, Beer Money, Inc. While the champions looked to defend the title against the Hardy Boyz, Matt instead introduced the returning Chris Harris, Storm's old tag team partner, as his partner for the title match. The match took place at Sacrifice, where Storm and Roode retained their title. On June 20 Hardy announced that he was taking a few weeks off from TNA. The following day, it was reported that the promotion had suspended Hardy for his repeated lateness. On August 20, Hardy was released from TNA following a DWI arrest that occurred earlier that same day.

Other media

In 1999, Hardy, along with his brother Jeff, appeared as an uncredited wrestler on ''That '70s Show'' episode "That Wrestling Show". Hardy and Jeff also appeared on Tough Enough in early 2001, talking to and wrestling the contestants. He appeared in the February 25, 2002 episode of ''Fear Factor'' competing against five other World Wrestling Federation wrestlers. He became the eventual winner, and won $50,000 for the American Cancer Society. Hardy also appeared on the October 13, 2009 episode of ''Scare Tactics'', as a mental patient who threatens to attack the prank's victim.

In 2001, Hardy, Jeff and Lita appeared in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's 2001 Sports Hall of Fame issue. In 2003, Hardy and Jeff, with the help of Michael Krugman, wrote and published their autobiography ''The Hardy Boyz: Exist 2 Inspire''. As part of WWE, Hardy appeared in their DVD, ''The Hardy Boyz: Leap of Faith'' in 2001. On April 29, 2008, WWE released ''"Twist of Fate: The Matt and Jeff Hardy Story"''. The DVD featured footage of the brothers in OMEGA and WWE. Hardy also appears on ''The Hardy Show'', an internet web show which features the Hardys, Shannon Moore and many of their friends.

Personal life

Son to Gilbert and Ruby Moore Hardy, he is the older brother of Jeff Hardy. Their mother died of brain cancer in 1986. Hardy played baseball as a child and throughout high school, but had stopped by his senior year. He also played football, either as a linebacker or a defensive end. Hardy was a good student at Union Pines High School in North Carolina, and was a nominee for the "Morehead Award", a scholarship to any university in North Carolina. Hardy attended University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he majored in engineering; however, after a year he dropped out due to his father being ill. He then attended Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst to gain his associate's degree.

Hardy is good friends with Marty Garner, Shannon Moore and Gregory Helms. Hardy was in a six year relationship with former WWE Diva Amy Dumas, known by the ring name "Lita". They first met in January 1999, at a NWA Mid-Atlantic show, but did not begin dating until a few months later. They used to share a home in North Carolina. The couple broke up when she had an affair with one of Hardy's close friends, fellow wrestler Adam "Edge" Copeland in February 2005. Hardy has stated in interviews that he and Dumas have since patched things up, and he still considers her a close friend. He also dated former WWE Diva Ashley Massaro. In February 2011, Hardy stated he was dating Reby Sky.

Hardy was arrested on August 20, 2011 for driving while intoxicated after crashing into a tree, and was released by TNA shortly later. Hardy was later also charged with reckless driving, with a hearing scheduled to take place October 11. Four days later, Hardy was rushed to an emergency room, after falling down in his house.

On August 30, Hardy posted a video on his YouTube channel, which has since been taken down by the site, implying that he was about to commit suicide: ''"Goodbye, World... My time here is Almost complete... I only have a few hours & minutes... I loved you all... Regardless of how you felt about me... I'll miss you all... September 23, 1974 - August 31, 2011."'' The video sparked 25 to 30 phone calls to 911 to check on Hardy's well being. Police checked on Hardy and confirmed that he was not planning to commit suicide, with the video apparently being a hoax by Hardy. The stunt drew much criticism; his sister-in-law Beth Britt claimed that "the f---ing joke is over. Stop trying to work the internet." and WWE commentator Jim Ross commented that the "Matt Hardy fiasco [was] totally embarrassing and inexplicable", asking for Hardy to "seek answers". Hardy later claimed on Twitter that the "YouTube Video was not in any way a suicide note.. No words such as death, suicide, kill, heaven or hell were included", and defended his actions as he "needed one last attention grabber to let the World know that Matt Hardy has re-found his true self."

In wrestling

Finishing moves

''Ice Pick'' (TNA; 2011) / ''Scar'' (Independent circuit; 2005, used rarely in WWE) (Double underhook with bodyscissors)

''Twist of Fate'' / ''Twist of Hate'' (TNA), sometimes from the top rope or the top of a ladder

Signature moves

Corner clothesline followed by a running bulldog

Corner powerbomb

Diving elbow drop, sometimes to the back of a kneeling opponent's head

Diving leg drop

Forearm smash

Moonsault

Northern Lights suplex

''Ricochet'' (Belly to back suplex lift transitioned into an elbow drop to the opponent's midsection) – 2003

Russian legsweep

''Side Effect'' (Wrist–lock sitout side slam)

''Splash Mountain'' (Sitout crucifix powerbomb)

Managers

Michael Hayes

Terri Runnels

Gangrel

Lita

Ric Flair

Nicknames

"Version 1 (V1)"

"The Angelic Diablo"

"The Sensei of Mattitude"

"The Man Who Will Not Die"

"(Arguably) Everyone's Favorite Wrestler"

"Cold Blood"

Entrance themes

"Loaded" by Zack Tempest

*"Live for the Moment" by Monster Magnet (WWE)

"Rogue and Cold Blooded" by Dale Oliver (TNA)

"Immortal Theme" by Dale Oliver

Championships and accomplishments

National Championship Wrestling

NCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

New Dimension Wrestling

NDW Tag Team Championship (1 time)¹ – with Jeff Hardy

New England Wrestling Alliance

NEWA Championship (1 time)

New Frontier Wrestling Association

NFWA Championship (1 time)

NFWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Venom

NWA 2000

NWA 2000 Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy

Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts

OMEGA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

OMEGA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI Feud of the Year (2005)vs. Edge and Lita

PWI Match of the Year (2000) with Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian at WrestleMania 2000

PWI Match of the Year (2001)with Jeff Hardy vs. The Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian at WrestleMania X-Seven

PWI Tag Team of the Year (2000) with Jeff Hardy

PWI ranked him #17 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2003

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment

ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

WCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jeff Hardy

WWF European Championship (1 time)

WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)

WWF/World Tag Team Championship (6 times) – with Jeff Hardy

WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)

Terri Invitational Tournament – with Jeff Hardy

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Best Gimmick (2002)

Worst Feud of the Year (2004) with Lita vs. Kane

¹The titles have been vacant since 1999 due to the Hardy Boys signing contracts with the WWF and have been declared inactive until they defend the titles again.

Notes

References

External links

TNA Wrestling profile

The Hardy Show

Slam! Sports bio and story archive

Online World of Wrestling profile

Category:1974 births Category:American bloggers Category:American professional wrestlers Category:Living people Category:People from Raleigh, North Carolina Category:Reality show winners

ar:مات هاردي bar:Matt Hardy bg:Мат Харди ca:Matt Hardy da:Matt Hardy de:Matt Hardy el:Ματ Χάρντι es:Matt Hardy fr:Matt Hardy ko:매트 하디 hi:मैट हार्डी it:Matt Hardy he:מאט הארדי lt:Matt Hardy nl:Matt Hardy ja:マット・ハーディー no:Matt Hardy pl:Matt Hardy pt:Matt Hardy ro:Matt Hardy ru:Харди, Мэтт simple:Matt Hardy fi:Matt Hardy th:แมทท์ ฮาร์ดี tr:Matt Hardy vi:Matt Hardy zh:麥特·哈迪