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411’s WWE Table for 3 Report: TLC Icons (The Hardys, Edge and Christian)

May 22, 2018 | Posted by Robert Leighty Jr.
WWE table for 3 TLC screen grab

411’s Table for 3 Report: TLC Icons

-For the first time ever, we have 4 people sitting in for an episode of Table for 3 and for good reason as it is Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boys. These 4 along with the Dudley Boys reignited tag team wrestling during the late 90s and early 2000s and along the way reinvented the ladder match. Since I guess 6 people at the table would be a little much, these four work just fine as The Dudley got to say a lot during their Hall of Fame induction.

-They all make small talk about being reunited once again and Edge says all 4 of them in one place for dinner is something that hasn’t happened in years. Christian immediately brings the awesome as he tells Jeff that they have called an Uber for him. Tremendous! Matt says they will have to download the app for Jeff as he doesn’t even know to turn on his phone.

-Edge is leading things as he takes us back to the WWE debut of everyone as the three of them made their debut in what was his second PPV (a match against Owen). Before getting into that discussion, Matt goes into his Broken character as he gets excited over receiving green beans. That gets everyone laughing and they make jokes about Matt being raised by animals in North Carolina because he used to eat with his hands.

-They get back on track and show footage of Edge and Matt doing a dark match against each other in May of 1998. The next day Matt and Jeff were signed to their WWE deal.

-They discuss The Brood and how awesome the entrance and theme were. Edge talks about the flames and how hot they would get. One night it started melting his trench coat. Edge brings up that most forget that Gangrel was with The Hardy Boys during the TIT Ladder Match (No Mercy 99) that made all of them stars.

-Matt talks about how Michael Hayes was sad that they split the three of them up and he thinks it is because the office wanted to see what they could do without Michael in their corner.

-All 4 talk about that first tag team ladder match and how it made all of them in one night. Matt talks about how it didn’t matter who won or lost because of the reactions. He talks about how the business was changing and smart fans were loving work rate and it caught them all off guard when they got the standing ovation from the crowd the next night on RAW. They marked out over Austin telling them they stole the show that night as he was the biggest star in the company.

-Edge brings up putting together TLC matches with The Dudleys and Michael Hayes and they always knew there was going to be one crazy spot from Jeff they had to work in the match. They show TLC II where Jeff did “The Frogger” which is where he tried to walk across the tops on each ladder. Jeff says that it was real and he was heated when it didn’t work. Edge talks about how they hit everything they wanted and yet they didn’t hear the responses they wanted and soon were told that it was due to being in a domed stadium. That was the first time any of them worked that big of a building and when watching it back they realized the crowd was reacting.

-We jump back to TLC I where they didn’t get as much time as TLC II so it was just balls to the wall for 15 minutes. Edge talks about D-Von and Jeff hanging from the titles and how D-Von was terrified of heights. They all break up laughing as D-Von was telling to Jeff to stop kicking him and the panicked look on his face.

-Back to TLC II and the most amazing spot in the match where Edge spears Hardy from a ladder as he is hanging from the belts. Edge says it was definitely a different feeling and he was wondering if he was feeling like he was, then how was Jeff feeling.

-Now we move back to the Triangle Ladder Match at Mania 2000 as Matt takes a crazy bump off the table platform through a table that exploded. Jeff then nearly breaks his tailbone with his giant swanton off a ladder through Bubba and a table. That was nuts even if it hit 100 percent, but Jeff nearly missed and landed right on his ass. Matt landed on his ass as well off his bump as he had to tuck or he would have landed on the top rope with his feet. They all realized that platform was rather shaky and figured too late that things could go wrong so did they best they could to save it.

-Matt brings up Mania 33 last year when they made their return and how they screwed up the ending by giving him the wrong ladder. It was much smaller and he had to really reach to get the titles and all he could think about was how stupid it would look if he couldn’t get the second belt.

-Christian talks about how they each went on to a singles career and how for him he had a hard adjustment time. He had a period where he thought he may get fired because he wasn’t having fun and didn’t think he could do it. He realized he was putting too much pressure on himself.

-Edge talks about how he feels the fans never really wanted to see Matt vs Jeff and Edge vs Christian as they always wanted to see them together, or if they were apart they just wanted them to do their own thing. They all got over those initial growth processes and all ended up having great singles careers and didn’t fall into the trap of 1 tag guy making it while the other failed.

-Christian puts over the connection Jeff has with the fans that so few have and talks about Matt being a late bloomer and killing it with his Broken character that is changing the business. Matt talks about the initial split and going to SmackDown with the Matt Hardy V1.0 character. He was just looking to do something different as Team Extreme was really more Jeff’s thing. He was searching for something that was his own while Jeff was much more the adrenaline junky. Yes! They show a clip from the match with Wyatt (chair of wheels and mower of lawns)! They joke around some more and even toss in a Lash Leroux mention which is fantastic.

-Edge brings up Jeff winning the WWE Title and how he was happy that he was the one that Jeff pinned to win the match and title. He jokes about taking the Swanton full force and he was trying to breathe while also enjoying the moment of seeing Jeff celebrate.

-Christian says they could talk for hours, but they have kids to put to bed. Matt wants them to get a 12 hour window on the Network to talk and wants it to be a live stream. I would watch that! Jeff gets the last word as he says that in 2099 that first ladder match will still be good even though they will all be gone.

-This was fantastic and I could listen to them talk for hours on end about their careers and friendships. There is so much they didn’t even touch on (Matt/Edge/Lita) yet I didn’t feel cheated with what we did get. You can tell these guys are all at peace at this point in their lives and it’s great to see Edge and Matt especially, on such good terms. The stories here were great as they touched on the various big time ladder matches they had and even though we aren’t privy to their meaning, the inside jokes were great as well. More of this please!