Matt Hardy Explains How The Hardy Boyz Name Was Never Their Choice and How They Keep Using It Outside WWE

The Hardy Boyz have been one of wrestling’s most iconic tag teams for decades—but it turns out the name that helped make them famous wasn’t even their idea.

During a recent interview with Sam Roberts, Matt Hardy shared the real story behind how they ended up with the “Hardy Boyz” name—and how they’ve been able to keep using a version of it outside WWE without running into legal headaches.

Matt explained that the name was cooked up by promoters who wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the classic Hardy Boys mystery novels. To avoid copyright issues, they simply swapped out the “S” for a “Z”—and the rest is history.

“We never chose Hardy Boys specifically, and it’s funny they wanted to do that because I think the Hardy Boys mystery novels that were out before, people knew those. And they said, ‘Oh, your guys’ names are Hardy.’ And they’re like, ‘Okay, let’s make them be the Hardy Boys.’ Oh, you can’t put it with an S though because that’s copywritten. We have to put it with a Z.’ And that’s how we were stuck with the Hardy Boyz.”

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Once their time with WWE ended, many fans wondered how the brothers could still use the “Hardy” name in other promotions. Matt revealed it’s all about keeping it simple—and legal.

“We’ve never pushed our luck. We just do Hardys. Keep it very simple. It’s just Hardys with an S. H-A-R-D-Y-S. The Hardys.”

Even after all these years, the Hardy name continues to draw fans wherever they go—whether it’s spelled with a Z or an S.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.