TJR WWE Network Table for 3 (or 4) Review with Edge, Christian, Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy

This episode of Table for 3 is called “TLC Icons” featuring Edge, Christian, Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy in a rare Table for 4 with a run time of 24:00 on WWE Network. It was taped during WrestleMania weekend and added to WWE Network on May 21. The four men were seated alone in an empty restaurant as usual on Table for 3.

I should point out first that I’m a big fan of all four guys. I listened to them on Edge & Christian’s podcast last month. It was about one hour, so if you watch this and want to hear more of them then I recommend listening to that too. Let’s get to it.

Edge and Christian were seated beside eachother while Matt and Jeff were seated on the other side of the table. Edge pointed out that this hasn’t happened with the four of them sitting down to eat for a long time. They did a toast to start, Christian said “Jeff, I called you an Uber” and they all laughed with Matt saying you have to teach him how to download the app while saying Jeff can’t even turn his phone on.

Analysis: Jeff was arrested Driving Under the Influence recently, so Christian’s comment was a bit of a shot at Jeff for that DUI. They managed to laugh about it, but Jeff really needs to make sure that never happens again. If somebody got hurt because of the DUI they wouldn’t be laughing.

Edge said that his second PPV match was against Owen Hart at Breakdown 1998 in Hamilton, Ontario (I was at that show in Hamilton, Ontario by the way) and that’s where the others debuted. Matt did his “wonderful” bit when he got his green beans. They laughed about how Matt used to eat everything with his hands instead of using a fork and knife. Matt said there are so many inside jokes between the four of them. Back to the story, Christian said they hit it off right away and they showed clips of all of them at the training camp. Christian said that was the start of the bond they will have for the rest of their lives.

They showed a clip of a Matt Hardy vs. Edge match from May 4, 1998 in a dark match. Edge did a bad running man dance and apparently, Bruce Prichard was in the back calling for Edge to keep doing it because he thought it was funny. Matt said the Hardys got signed by WWE the next night.

The discussion moved on to Edge and Christian joining Gangrel with The Brood. They all thought that it was one of the coolest entrances in WWE history. I agree. Christian pointed out that because of how cool it was, people thought it was around longer than it actually was. Christian said it didn’t even last a year and people still talk about it. Edge spoke about how he was always worried his jacket would get on fire during the entrance.

They spoke about the No Mercy 1999 Ladder Match and how Gangrel was actually with the Hardy Boyz for that match. Matt spoke about how they thought their group with Michael Hayes could have lasted longer. Matt credited Hayes for how much he helped them. Matt said the atmosphere in the building was great and the crowd was invested emotionally. They showed clips with the crowd cheering loudly. Matt said by the end, the fans loved it. Matt said the business was really changing and the smarter fans were appreciating workrate more (I strongly agree with that). A clip aired from the next night on Raw with Edge saying that 20,000 people gave them a standing ovation and then on Raw, they got a standing ovation as well. Matt talked about how after the match, he was backstage and Steve Austin said they had the match of the night and stole the show. Matt said that was huge for them.

Analysis: What they didn’t mention was that the Ladder Match was the end of the Terri Invitational Tournament aka TIT (yes, WWE is classy like that) and the winner got to have Terri Runnels as a manager. The Hardys won it, but that story didn’t go anywhere. That No Mercy 1999 Ladder Match was my WWE match of the year that year. No question about it.

Edge talked about how whenever they were putting matches together when it was the four of them or with the Dudleys and with Michael (Hayes) helping them, they knew Jeff always had something big planned. They mentioned the spot from WrestleMania 17’s TLC match where Jeff tried to walk across the ladders, but he fell before the last ladder. They laughed about how Jeff was mad about it. Christian said that Jeff fought for that spot in the match. Edge talked about how after the WM17 match, everything went the way they pictured it, but it didn’t sound like how he thought it would sound. Edge pointed out that it was the first time they had ever worked a huge dome like that and there’s a bit of a delay in the sound. Edge said he remembered thinking the fans would be louder, but then he realized it was tougher in a dome. Matt said your job as a performer is to entertain the fans and watching it back made them feel better in terms of the crowd reactions. Matt said the WM17 match was the best of the matches they had.

They moved on to talking about the first TLC match at SummerSlam 2000 in Raleigh, NC. Edge mentioned that at the WM17 match they had more time than at SummerSlam, so they went “balls to the walls for like 15 minutes.” Edge said what was great about those was that there were six of them, so four guys can sell and the other two can keep going. Edge said it was like a roller coaster that never stops. They laughed about how D-Von and Jeff did a spot where they were hanging from the belts and Christian posted that D-Von was terrified of heights. They laughed about how D-Von was freaking out as a clip aired of it with D-Von falling hard to the mat.

Matt talked about how they see clips all the time on Twitter where they see the big spots from those matches. They talked about the famous Edge Spear on Jeff off the ladder from WM17. Christian laughed that it was his idea and Matt said it was his. They showed the clip of the famous spot where Bubba grabbed the ladder from under Jeff, Edge climbed another ladder and hit Jeff with a massive Spear that sent both of them crashing about 15 feet to the ground. It’s one of the most legendary spots in WWE history. Edge pointed out that a lot of things could have gone wrong, but for whatever reason, the timing of it worked. Edge said he landed and he was seeing stars. Edge wondered what Jeff was feeling.

It was time to reflect on the WrestleMania 2000 ladder match, which was a Tag Team Ladder Match and not a TLC. They spoke about the spot where Edge and Christian were on a table that was stretched across two ladders Matt between them. Christian was worried about if they couldn’t get the spot done the right way. The clip showed Matt getting shoved off and going through a table that was under them. Christian said it was something like a video game with Matt flipping like that. They also spoke about Jeff’s memorable Swanton Bomb off a giant ladder onto Bubba through a table, which saw Jeff land ass first on the concrete. Matt said he wanted to try to unhook the titles, but the table was so wobbly and Edge could tell he just had to shove Matt off. Edge said that one of them had to stand up to get the belts, so Edge stood up and Christian stayed on a knee. It all worked out.

Matt talked about how when the Hardys came back at WrestleMania 33, somebody put the wrong ladder under the titles because it was supposed to be a taller ladder there. Matt had to stand at the very top of the ladder to retrieve the titles, so the ladder was shaky. They laughed about how close Matt was to falling down.

They spoke about how important tag team wrestling was to all of them. Christian said that when they were in singles, he would try to overcompensate and try to do too much. A clip aired of Christian’s “Christian, Christian, At Last You’re On Your Own” entrance. Christian said he had a hard time adjusting and thinking he might get fired. He said he stopped putting pressure on himself and started having fun again, so things got better from there. Matt said you have to have a comfort in what you’re doing out there.

Edge said he didn’t think the people ever wanted to see Matt vs. Jeff or Edge vs. Christian and Matt agreed. The others did too. Edge said the fans liked those teams together, but if they were apart, let them do their thing. Edge said when the Beatles first split, there was almost a blowback against it at first, but they got through it. Edge said their careers were like that because they got through those initial growth processes to the point where they all did damn good on their own. Clips aired of all four guys winning major titles. Edge pointed out there aren’t a lot of tag team wrestlers that did very well on their own like Bret (Hart) and Shawn (Michaels), but if you think about themselves they all could do their own thing in their different ways.

Christian talked about Jeff’s connection with the fans. He said it’s not something you can teach and Jeff has a magnetism that is unexplainable and Christian thought Jeff would always be okay as a singles guy. Christian talked about how Matt did the Woken thing that people are going to remember the most for him as a singles wrestler.

Analysis: Good point about the fans loving Jeff and the connection he has had with them. Jeff’s daredevil nature is part of it and that connection has always been there.

Matt spoke about how he went to Smackdown and did Matt Hardy Version 1 (his entrance was shown). Matt said he wanted to do something different. Matt mentioned that Team Extreme and The Hardy Boyz is really Jeff and not him. Matt said once he got to do his own thing, it was beneficial for him. Matt said it was great because Jeff could keep doing the Hardy Boyz deal as a daredevil. There were clips of Matt doing the Woken gimmick.

Edge mentioned Armageddon on December 14, 2008 in Buffalo when Jeff Hardy won the WWE Title for the first time. Edge said he was glad he was in the match (also with Triple H) and that he was happy to be the one hit with the Swanton, but not so much after the Swanton. Jeff joked asking if he wanted a crouton. Matt talked about hitting Edge with a leg drop off a cage and Edge said he didn’t feel that one unlike the Swanton. A clip aired of Armageddon showing Jeff hitting the Swanton while Triple H was pinning Edge. When Jeff hit the Swanton, Triple H bumped to the floor and Jeff covered Edge to win the WWE Title to a huge ovation from the crowd. Edge said he was really happy that Jeff got to pin Edge for that title. Jeff thanked Edge for him. Jeff mentioned the moment he had where he won the WWE Title and stood on the castle that was part of the Armageddon set. A clip aired of Matt raising Jeff’s arm while Edge said it was so cool to see it.

Analysis: One month after that, Jeff lost the WWE Title back to Edge at the next PPV, Royal Rumble 2009, thanks to Matt Hardy attacking Jeff in that match. The rumors at the time were that Christian would be the one in that spot, but when it leaked on the internet, plans changed. It would have been cool if they addressed that. Obviously, they aren’t going to talk about stuff like that.

Analysis: The crowd reaction for Jeff’s win was incredible. Wow. I had forgotten about how loud it was. That was pretty special.

With less than a minute left, Christian said they could be there for a full day, but the reality is they all have kids they need to put to bed. Matt said that maybe they can do a 12 hour live stream and Edge said it could be like a telethon. Christian said it would be “gooder than hell,” which led to laughter from the group. That phrase must be some inside joke.

They did a toast as a group. Jeff said: “In 2099, that ladder match will still be cool. I mean we’ll be gone, but it’ll be cool.” They laughed and that was it.

Final Thoughts

That was a lot of fun between four guys that are very close friends. Like I said earlier, I’m a huge fan of these guys, I watched their whole careers closely and loved their tag team matches as well as all the growth they had as singles wrestlers. Three of them went on to win World Titles in WWE while Matt won nearly every title other than a World Title, so they all had tremendous success on their own.

It was noticeable that Jeff talked way less than the other three guys. I think that is just how Jeff is as more of a quiet guy while the other three are more vocal. Matt was always more of the idea guy in the Hardys team while Jeff was the one that stood out more with his high spots.

This is one of those shows where you really believe these guys could have been entertaining for an hour or two. Thankfully, there’s a podcast for that. I know that in 2005-06 things between Edge and Matt weren’t good due to Lita cheating on Matt with Edge, but that was a long time ago and they all moved on from that. It’s good to see that. All four guys are in their 40s now, they are all married with young kids and they still have that bond between them.

It was nice to hear them talk about the iconic ladder matches that they had, their thought process for some of the big spots and how fans still mention them to this day. What Jeff said at the end was true because that 1999 Ladder Match is still going to be cool 100 years later. Those matches are special and I recommend checking them out if you have never seen them or if you haven’t seen them in a while.

That’s all for now. Check out the Table for 3 archive here because we have reviewed nearly every episode. I’ll be back for more when the next episode gets posted.