The Hardy Boyz

Rise to popularity (1998–1999)

The Hardy Boyz started their run as a popular tag team with a win over Kaientai (Men's Teioh and Shoichi Funaki) on the September 27 episode of Sunday Night Heat. Soon after their Sunday Night Heat win, they built up a fan base following through their high-flying tag team tactics. They started to become serious contenders for the Tag Team Championship after they became managed by Michael Hayes, formerly a member of The Fabulous Freebirds. On the July 5, 1999 episode of Raw Is War, they defeated The Acolytes (Faarooq and Bradshaw) to win their first WWF Tag Team Championship, but they re-lost the title to The Acolytes a little less than a month later at Fully Loaded on July 25.