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EXCLUSIVE WEBCHAT

from the Online SUN

Matt Hardy & Lita talk

By the Lilsboys

THEY'RE WWF's hottest couple and now Matt Hardy and the lovely Lita answer YOUR questions:

The ladder match at No Mercy in 1999 is remembered as the match where you and Jeff hit the big time. You’ve since had lots more dangerous matches like the TLC clashes. What is it like going into a match like this? How much planning do these dangerous spots take? Jeffy Andrews

Matt - Yeah, with the spots that we set up at the TLC matches, we try and take the most calculated risks that we can. It’s really hard coming off what we did at No Mercy to take another step up. It seems like we managed that each time.

We went to a triangle ladder match with three teams involved. Then at the first ever TLC match we included legitimately, tables and chairs as well as ladders. We sit back, take our time and try and make these matches as entertaining as possible but also make sure the risks are as calculated as possible.

Is it true that the WWF asked you to tone down your act? Hal O’Geen

Matt – Not necessarily tone down our act but what is called ‘picking your spots’. Me and Jeff will hopefully be around for years to come and if we go out, night in night out and really beat ourselves up in the ring then that sort of defeats the object. We will do the big spots at the PPVs but not every week.

Are you like the Team Extreme gimmick in real life? Rob Carson & Neriah

Lita – Because we don’t have a lot of mic time, we don’t really have developed characters. So we go out there and portray this image and do our thing. They gave us some creative time and this is what we came up with up, it is an exaggerated version of us.

Matt – I think it is to a degree. All three of us have a vision and collectively we are all adventurous, very exciting and charismatic. Whenever we go out we take risks and we like to hear the "oohs and ahhs" of the crowd.

Your wrestling matches are brilliant, but how come you never get any time on the microphone? Edge & Christian really hit the big time after Wrestlemania 2000 when they were given the mic. Would you like more mic time? Leon Korfureje

Lita – We hope that we get more mic time. We keep getting TV exposure and fans attach themselves to us but we still have this whole dimension that we haven’t even scratched the surface of. It is exciting to think of the possibilities. We would love more mic time.

You and Jeff are a very popular tag team but it is Jeff who seems to get most of the plaudits as the high-flying daredevil with the Swanton bomb etc. I heard however, that is you who decides most of the spots in your matches and you make up most of the moves? Is this true? Robert Michael Nathan, the Hardyz No.1 fan

Matt – To a degree. Yeah, just like Freddy Krueger would say on Nightmare on Elm Street, he’s got the body I’ve got the brains. Jeff comes up with a lot of really creative ideas, but I probably have the strength at putting things together. When it comes to taking chances Jeff is not afraid and that scares me sometimes!

The Hardy Boyz famously learned to wrestle on a trampoline in your back yard. Is this a good way into the business? Naomi and Martha Bourne

Matt - Jeff and I started by going out and cutting down four trees in the forest and building a little wrestling ring. We practised bodyslams and other moves on each other. We don’t condone backyard wrestling as it is now, kids hurt themselves trying to emulate the things that they see us doing in TLC matches. At the same I won’t be a hypocrite saying that I never did that because Jeff and I did play around initially.

Then I met a guy who was running a little circuit at local fairs in North Carolina, he put us in front of a crowd for the first time. From there we met a wrestler called the Italian Stallion who trained us to a degree, teaching us the terminology and the way the business worked. We started initially on our own, just Jeff and I.

You used to wrestle a lot on the WWF’s minor shows such as Shotgun, what was that like? Nikki Patel

Matt - Shotgun on Saturday night, it was fine and I was happy. When we first went to work for the WWF back in 1994, every six months or so we would get destroyed by one of the superstars. We did security or whatever they wanted us to do. We did that for three years or so. Then they gave us a contract and we went to WWF camps and finally they put us on TV. We did the shotgun circuit for quite a while. We got a steady pay check every week and made a living, it was good.

Do you think that the tag team titles have been devalued now that there are two sets and they change hands on a weekly basis? Lee "Shamrock" Strong

Matt - I think the tag team titles have been devalued. The more titles you have floating around the less they mean. When the titles change hands a lot they are not as prestigious. Once again it is just a little bit of a sticking point in the storyline as you have two federations under one banner. When the WWF and WCW split the titles in one promotion won’t change hands as much.

What was it like working a program with Austin, Triple H and Stephanie. Did you enjoy working with them or do you think they held you back? Jimmy Keough

Matt – We enjoyed the program. I don’t think they held us back; Stone Cold and Triple H are the top two in the business. They had enough confidence in us to wrestle us. We beat them in a six person intergender match up and then the next night Jeff beat Triple H for the Intercontinental title. He lost it straight after but I can’t say it was bad for any of us. Just getting the chance to work with those guys, just getting the experience of getting in the ring with them was good. Being able to compete on the same level as those household names really helped us.

Lita – When I won the title from Stephanie it was a big step for me. Working with the boss’ daughter was scary. Being so new I don’t think I really realised. This past time I was more aware. Knowing you are going to work with the top guys still takes a little bit to sink in.

Lita, yourself, Molly Holly and Ivory are obviously trained wrestlers. What is it like when you have to wrestle people like Stacy & Torrie Wilson who aren’t trained and are really just there as eye candy? Steven Bishop-Daultrey

Lita - Of course it is so much easier to work with someone who has had proper training and understands how to work a fight. To Stacy and Torrie’s credit, once they get paired off with either myself, Molly or Ivory we will be able to lead them through and tell more of a story. We’ll make do with what they have. Stacy and Torrie were initially just hired as eye candy but the office told them to get in the ring and make matches. The crowd want to see the girls wrestle and we are all going to be active in the future.

Lita, do you like working with men and would you like to do more intergender matches? Rebecca Ransome-Lewis

Lita - It is so much easier to have a great match as it is second nature to the guys. I love mixing it in with the guys in intergender matches, but in terms of wrestling a male in a one on one program, I know that is unrealistic. I look forward more to the intergender matches and we have more women now who are trained wrestlers which is great.

Do you think they will bring back the WWF Women’s Title? Billy Heath

Lita - I think they will, I don’t whether it will be in one month or six months. I think that this time when it is brought back it has the greatest chance of surviving, I know we say that every time! We have more good female wrestlers than ever before.

There are always complaints about UK only Pay-per-view’s. The major gripe is that because they aren’t seen in the US (except in WWF New York) stars might not give it there all and titles don’t change hands. Does this affect your performance or do you still go out there as if it was a regular PPV event? The LilsBoys

Matt – It doesn’t affect our performance. I go out there and give it my all. The travelling can be a strain but I always give it 110% wherever I go. I would love to come over to the UK and do 3-4 days of house shows and cap it off with a PPV. Europe is a growing market for the WWF and it does so well over here. The European title changed hands the last time we were here, but the bigger market the UK and Europe becomes, the more titles will change hands. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were several title changes in the future.

Lita – It is hard because of the travel. We actually have it easier coming over here early as we get the chance to get over the jet lag. But because we are not over here that much they are always so excited. Even if you go out there and you are not feeling too good the crowd really makes you crank it up.

What do you think of the wrestling scene now that all the top wrestlers are in the one company. Will the WCW and WWF ever go their separate ways? Lynne Davis

Matt – I think in some way, shape or form they will end up being two separate organisations. There will be the WWF and another wrestling federation. That was the original goal when the WWF bought WCW. I think this goal will happen but maybe not as it was originally planned.

Do you think that the guys who have come from WCW are as well trained as the WWF guys like yourselves? Malcolm Redozza

Matt - In the WWF, we have a unique formula and a lot of guys catch onto this easily. There were a lot of guys who came in from WCW who were very talented – Chris Kanyon, Lance Storm – they are super wrestlers. It’s just getting used to the WWF attitude, that is really the only change. A lot of them, like Booker T are already there. Hurricane Helms is one of my best friends, he is extremely talented.

Matt, you have won the European and Hardcore belts as a singles wrestler. Do you prefer singles or tag wrestling? Lozza Aaronberg

Matt - Actually I’m the longest reigning American European champion ever. I love doing tag team stuff and intergender stuff because you have a lot more possibilities. With four people, or six with the girls, you have a lot more different combinations to give the crowd exciting stuff that they haven’t seen. The singles stuff is fun as well and to make the big money and be the big star this is what you have to do, I’m sure that’s what I’ll do somewhere down the road.

Who are your wrestling heroes? Larry Short

Matt – I was a big Macho Man Randy Savage fan. Whenever he won the WWF title, that is when I really knew in my heart that I wanted to be a wrestler. Shawn Michaels was great, the way he worked in the ring. I was also a fan of Michael PS Hayes who later became the Hardy Boyz manager.

Lita, was it difficult making the transition from ECW to the WWF? Stuart Deveraux

Lita – It wasn’t really a transition but more of a progression. I went from a limited time in independent federations to a limited time in ECW. I was never into a routine; I was still taking baby steps to get into the WWF. I was never set on the ECW way of doing things, I always modelled my stuff on the WWF way of doing things.

Do you get to suggest your own storylines or is someone else always telling you what to do? Alan Jelf

Lita – The WWF always encourage you to put your ideas in. There are just a handful of people in the creative team and they spend a lot of time on the main storylines. There is a locker room full of people who all come up with ideas. Take the Hurricane for example, he was sitting on planes and in cars thinking of ways to develop his character. We know our characters better than anyone so they encourage us to come up with ideas, but obviously the creative team get the final say.

You were working a program with Eddie Guerrero when he was suspended midway through the angle. What would have happened had this continued and will you work with him when he returns? Dipesh Ohdedra

Matt – We may possibly work a program with Eddie which would be nice considering we left it kind of open. It would be nice to close it, it was interesting the way it was developing.

Lita – We saw Eddie on Tuesday and he was back in the ring in Cincinnati just getting the ring rust off. But it’s not definite when he’ll be back as Val Venis, Godfather, Haku and all the guys you don’t see on TV are down there. Who knows when he’ll be back in the WWF because the locker room is so huge. Hopefully the main storyline will progress and we will have two successful companies and they can all come back.

Where did Lita get here tattoo done and what does it mean? Alex Norton

Lita – When I was 19, I went to Amsterdam and a friend had got a tattoo there earlier. I liked that artist's work and brought the tattoo back as a souvenir from Europe. It doesn’t mean anything in particular, I just asked the guy to use his creativity.

Who are you favourite superstars to work with? Mark Jones

Lita – Most recently I’ve been doing house shows with Ivory. These matches haven’t been on TV but they’ve been much better than the TV matches.

Matt – That is a hard question as we’ve had a lot of great opponents. I enjoyed wrestling Stone Cold and Triple H. My favourite opponents of all are Edge and Christian. We’ve done it for them and they’ve done it for us; we’ve built careers off of each other. Also Stephanie, it is a lot of fun wrestling her.

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