Jeff Hardy Reveals The Kliq’s Nickname For Him

– During a recent interview with The Ariel Helwani Show, Matt and Jeff Hardy, The Hardys, discussed their careers and their early years wrestling as enhancement talents in WWE. Jeff Hardy once wrestled as Keith Davis against Razor Ramon at 16 years old during a 1994 episode of Monday Night Raw. The Kliq later nicknamed Jeff “Vanilla Ice.” Below are some highlights (via Fightful):

Jeff Hardy on wrestling Scott Hall at 16 years old: “I was terrified. [Italian] Stallion said, ‘Hey brother, put your birthday back a few more years. You need to be 18.’ I was so nervous. I think I had to go out there first. Matt was on the live Monday Night Raw. I was so nervous. I didn’t really know what was going on.That ring was so hard. I was 16. What an awful experience, but not really. After it was over….the next night I wrestled X-Pac (1-2-3 Kid) and that kind of refilled my soul to want to remain in the pro wrestling world. After that match with Ramon, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m cut out for this.’”

Jeff Hardy on why he felt that way: “It was just rough. He was real rough. Out there, I was going, ‘Oh my God.’ That ring was so hard.”

Matt Hardy on why Jeff wrestled as “Keith Davis” for the match: “There’s also a backstory. Jeff was called Keith Davis in that match. He was wrestling one Stallion’s guys named Keith Davis. He was one of those guys that was a weekend warrior, wasn’t in great shape. He just did Stallion stuff on the weekends. 10-15 minutes before the match was going to happen, and he came said, ‘I can’t do that. I can’t take that Razor’s Edge. I got a bad neck. It’s going to hurt my neck. I can’t take it. I can’t do it.’ Stallion was like, ‘We’ll get somebody else. Get this brother right here. He can take any bump. He’s like a rubber man.’ Scott Hall is talking to him and he’s aggravated. ‘Yeah, I’ll do this. Just listen to me.’ He went out there and kind of took out his frustration on Jeff. There was a point where he drove him into the post and his knee hit the post, and he felt real bad for that. They came back and remember how apologetic he was?”

Jeff Hardy on The Kliq nicknaming him “Vanilla Ice”: “It’s where I got my nickname, ‘Hey, this guy. You look like Vanilla Ice.’ I had me a little nickname with the Kliq. I was good to go.”

Matt Hardy on how they were viewed by The Kliq: “Kevin Nash said, [to the tune of Ice Ice Baby] Bump, bump, bump, bu-bu-bump-bump. They had so much power at the time. Later on, as time went on, they would always go, ‘Stick them with the Hardy guys. They’ll make them look good. They would push for us and be advocates for us to work against other guys.”