Why were the Hardy Boyz at WWE SummerSlam 2025?

The hardy Boyz are WWE legends
The hardy Boyz are WWE legends [Image credit: WWE.com]

At SummerSlam Night 2, one of the evening’s most explosive matches saw the WWE Tag Team Championship successfully defended in a Six‑Pack TLC Match, featuring champions The Wyatt Sicks emerging victorious against #DIY, Street Profits, Motor City Machine Guns, Fraxiom, and Andrade & Rey Fenix.

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Right before the match, The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz were shown in the front row witnessing the brutality that was to come. It was Matt and Jeff Hardy, alongside the Dudleys and Edge & Christian, who popularized the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match 25 years ago at SummerSlam.

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This moment was not just a mark of respecting and honoring their legends (whether contracted with WWE or not), but also WWE's part in promoting one of the biggest matches in TNA history later this year.

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The Hardy Boyz, the reigning TNA World tag Team Champions, having recaptured the titles in a chaotic ladder match at TNA Slammiversary, are set to reignite their legendary rivalry with The Dudleyz (known as Team 3D in TNA), as Bubba Ray Dudley (Bully Ray) teams up with a returning D-Von Dudley (Brother DeVon) at Bound for Glory, set for October 12, 2025 in Lowell, Massachusetts.

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This will be D-Von's first match in almost a decade, with his last match having been in 2016. As confirmed by D-Von, Bound for Glory will be a one-off return and his farewell match. While D-Von has spent most of his time since as a WWE producer, Bubba Ray Dudley has competed in TNA and WWE rather frequently over the past few years. Bubba also served as a WWE ambassador and is a feature on WWE LFG, too.

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Matt & Jeff Hardy, following runs in AEW, have been with TNA for over a year, returning to the promotion in the summer of 2024. They have also made frequent NXT appearances since, including actively competing on the brand courtesy of WWE's partnership with NXT and, of course, their status as WWE icons.

The Hardy Boyz, Dudley Boyz, and Edge & Christian birthed TLC 25 years ago at SummerSlam

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At SummerSlam 2000, WWE introduced its first-ever TLC (Tables, Ladders, and Chairs) Match, building upon the chaotic brilliance of the tag team ladder match from WrestleMania 2000. That earlier bout had already raised the bar with The Dudley Boyz, The Hardy Boyz, and Edge & Christian pushing the boundaries of innovation and physicality using ladders as weapons and launchpads.

But the SummerSlam encounter was conceived to take things even further; each team brought their own specialty to the chaos: tables (Dudleys), ladders (Hardys), and chairs (Edge & Christian), resulting in an environment that was not just unpredictable but outright dangerous. The match redefined tag team wrestling for a generation, blending brutal storytelling with jaw-dropping athleticism.

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The first TLC match not only lived up to the WrestleMania ladder match but surpassed it, setting the tone for what was to come. The success and sheer spectacle of SummerSlam 2000 made it clear that WWE had struck gold with this format, and the bar was raised yet again when the same trio of teams clashed in TLC II at WrestleMania X-Seven the following year.

That match is widely regarded as one of the greatest in WrestleMania history, cementing TLC as a marquee stipulation and propelling all six men into legendary status. But it was at SummerSlam 2000 where TLC was born—an experiment in extremity that forever altered the landscape of tag team wrestling. Case in point: tonight's WWE Tag Team Championship TLC match.

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Edited by Jacob Terrell
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