4 Days, 4 Cities, 4 Shows

Ride along with Lita and the Hardyz as they go from the Carolinas through Virginia to Baltimore.

Lita, Matt and Jeff almost always travel together. Whenever possible, they drive. Although flying may get them to some destinations more quickly, they prefer the freedom of the road to the constraints and set schedule of air travel.

Since this particular trip would keep them relatively close to their home of Cameron, North Carolina, and include four stops along the way, driving was the preferred mode of transportation, and also the most practical. With the magazine crew and all it's equipment traveling with them, Lita and Matt rented a minivan. Jeff decided to drive his black 2000 Corvette.

In the early afternoon of June 9, the threesome set off from Cameron for a Saturday evening show at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, South Carolina. Four hours later, they entered the arena parking lot and were greeted by a scene that would be repeated many times over the next four days; hordes of adoring fans.

Despite being stopped nearly every-place they go, Lita, Matt and Jeff do their best to spend as much time with their fans as possible. Because they're so often under tremendous time constraints, they can't always give fans as much time as they'd like. This evening, they were running a little behind schedule, so after saying a few hellos, they hurried into the building to prepare for the evening's matches.

The show was to start at 7:30 p.m. Matt was scheduled to wrestle Albert in the third match on the card, while Jeff would be battling Jerry Lynn later in the show. Lita didn't have a match of her own, but she would be accompanying Matt to the ring.

About an hour before his match, Matt walked into the training room to have his ankle looked at. Injuries are part of being a World Wrestling Federation Superstar. Tonight-among his many bumps and bruises-Matt's ankle needed some extra treatment. Lita, meanwhile, took care of some last-minute ring attire issues.

As the match drew nearer, Lita and Matt began to focus on the job at hand. Mixing it up in the ring with Albert is never an easy task, and the duo wanted to make sure they were prepared for all contingencies. After discussing strategy for a few minutes, they were notified that it was showtime. Giving each other a reassuring look, they headed through the curtain and into the arena.

The crowd was hot that night and as Matt and Lita made their way to the ring, the thousands in the attendance stood and greeted then with a thunderous ovation. The cheers of their fans never cease to inspire the Hardyz and Lita. As the opening bell rang, it was easy to see that Matt was incredibly pumped for his confrontation with the much larger Albert.

The match turned out to be an extremely grueling affair. After 15 minutes of back and forth action-and a little help from Lita-Matt got Albert in the Twisht of Fate. A few seconds later, the referee was raising Matt's hand in victory. All in all, the match has gone pretty well: Matt had won; Lita it her signature Litacanrana; and the fans had given the two a standing ovation after the match. For Matt and Lita, their evening's work was complete. For Jeff, it was just beginning.

Fans know that Jeff Hardy takes a lot of risks in the ring and throws his body around with reckless abandon. What they may not know is the toll that this takes on his body. As Jeff was meandering backstage before his match, it was apparent that he was in pain. His thigh was killing him, his shoulder was aching and he was limping around like a 90-year-old man. To those who don't know him, it seemed highly unlikely that Jeff would compete that evening.

But if there's one thing you can say about the Hardyz, it's that they are tough. There was no way that Jeff wasn't going to wrestle.

As he prepared for his match against the pugnacious Jerry Lynn, a transformation was occurring. The limp disappeared and the pain that had been etched across his face hours earlier was replaced by a look of steely determination. The bounce in his step was back and no one could have guessed the pain he had been in earlier.

As the Hardyz' entrance music blared over the arena's sound system and Jeff walked to the ring, Matt and Lita watched from the back. Watching each other wrestle provides a sense of security for Matt, Jeff and Lita. To this day, they still get a bit nervous performing in front of thousands of people and just knowing that the others are watching provides them with a feeling of safety.

So with Matt and Lita watching from the back, Jerry Lynn and Jeff put on a great show. Jeff hit all his signature moves and defeated Lyn with a Swanton Bomb. Chants of "Hardyz! Hardyz!" echoed throughout the building and as Jeff limped backstage, hundreds of fans rushed toward toe curtain to get a closer look at the youngest member of the extreme trio.

By the time Jeff's match ended, it was close to 10:00 p.m. Neither he, Matt nor Lita had eaten in a while. If they wanted to grab some food before all the restaurants in town closed, they would not be able to spend much time hanging out with their fellow Superstars. Thomas Simpson, an old friend of theirs from their independent days, had come to watch them wrestle and they had made plans to meet him for dinner t a local steak house.

There's nothing quite like meeting with old friends and it was clear that Matt, Jeff and Tom relished the opportunity to reminisce about their early years in the business. During dinner, we tried our best to get Tom to give us some dirt on the Hardyz, but all we could manage to get out of the brothers' onetime business partner was that Matt was a bit "frugal."

Time flew by during dinner. When Matt checked his watch, it was already midnight, and tomorrow's Roanoke, Virginia, show still lay 300 miles to the north. Matt, Jeff and Lita decided that if they were going to get anywhere near their destination before turning in, they would have to get going. They said their good-byes, popped a Pearl Jam CD into the car stereo and headed up Interstate 85 toward Roanoke.

During the drive, it became apparent how focused Matt and Lita are on their careers. They talked about their dreams, aspirations and dedication to the business that they have both come to love.

At 1:30 a.m., Matt's cell phone rang. It was Michael Hayes, just checking on how they were doing. As their mentor, Hayes has played a very important role in the Hardyz' career, and Matt and Jeff hold him in the highest regard. Matt gave Hayes a rundown on the latest happenings, and the two discussed business for the better part of an hour.

By 3:00 a.m., fatigue had begun to set in. Jeff, driving ahead in his Corvette, had begun to tire from the road, while Matt, driving the minivan, was growing weary as well.

When the trio reached Reidsville, North Carolina-having already covered 210 miles of their journey-they decided to pull over and check in to a hotel. They had expressed interest in doing some jet-skiing on the way to Roanoke later in the day, and if they were going to have enough energy to do so, they would have to sleep now.

For the Hardyz and Lita, staying up late and sleeping-in are relative terms these days. Life on the road has turned the trio into semi-nocturnal beings, and staying up until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning and waking up around noon has become the norm. They had wanted to wake up early and get on the road by 11:00 a.m., but that wasn't to be.

Shortly after noon, Matt, Jeff and Lita rolled out of the hotel parking lot and headed to the lake country of south-western Virginia. After a quick stop at a Subway sandwich shop and a few missed turns, they arrived at Smith Mountain Lake, a picturesque resort southeast of Roanoke.

It was very hot that Sunday, and all three were anxious to get in the water. Matt and Lita took the jet-ski out first, flying around the lake with the grace and daring that everyone's come to expect from the par. Not to be outdone, Jeff rode next and introduced the locals to the art of extreme jet-skiing-breaking almost every safety rule in the book. They skied for a little more than an hour and would have liked to have stayed longer, but it was getting late, and it was time to continue to Roanoke.

Arriving about an hour before show time, they were again greeted y a large contingent of fans. Matt and Lita were scheduled early on the card, so they rushed inside to prepare for their matches. Since Jeff wasn't scheduled to wrestle until later, he hung out for a while, signing autographs and chatting with folks who had gathered outside the arena in hopes of meeting the trio.

All three competitors won their matches that night. Lita defeated Ivory, Matt beat X-Pac, and Jeff managed to shrug off yet another challenge from the tireless Jerry Lynn.

As in Greenville, they had made plans to meet with an old friend for dinner after the show. Marty Garner, a former baseball and football coach of Matt and Jeff's had stopped by to say hello, and the four decided to rendezvous at the local T.G.I. Friday's a few minutes from the arena. Once again, the conversation lasted well into the night, and it was midnight before they headed for Richmond where Raw Is War was to be held the following evening.

Since Lita had lived in Richmond an was familiar with the area, she took the wheel of the minivan. Jeff kept pace in his car for the 200-mile journey to Virginia's capital. They appeared tired; the jet-skiing and their matches had taken a lot out of them, but they had arranged to be at Kings Dominion amusement park ) just north of Richmond) at 10:00 the following morning. They could have stayed in Roanoke for the night, but that would have meant getting up at 6:00 and driving four hours to the park. Instead, they decided to bite the bullet and drive to Richmond right away. At a little past 3:00 a.m., they checked into a hotel just north of the city.

Matt, Jeff and Lita were looking forward to their visit to Kings Dominion. They had done an appearance there before and had a great time riding the roller coasters and other rides. The staff at the park are always happy to have WWF Superstars visit, and this day, they went out of their way to ensure that the trio had a great time.

The main attraction this ear is the new zero-gravity, free-falling HyperSonic XLC. And the trio was more than a little anzious to experience what it feels like to go from 0 to 80 in two seconds. From the post-ride smiles on their faces, it was clear that the ride didn't disappoint them. For the next several hours, Lita and the Hardyz rode rides, signed autographs, and took some time to cool off in the water park. If they could have, they would have stayed all day, but by late afternoon it was time to head to the Richmond Coliseum for Raw Is War.

That night, the Hardyz, with Lita at their side, were scheduled to battle X-Factor. During the down time before the broad-cast, Lita visited with her old friend Christine Larson from her Richmond days. Jeff took time to shave his beard and spend a few quiet moments playing is guitar, while Matt discussed business with fellow Superstars. The match itself turned out well as the Hardyz defeated X-Factor in one of the most entertaining bouts of the evening.

Dinner would turn into the late-night affair once again. WCW star and fellow North Carolinian Gregory Helms joined the tree at a local Denny's after the show. The four cold have stayed and talked all night, but Baltimore was beckoning, and shortly after midnight, they hit the road. This time, however, Jeff jumped into the minivan and Matt and Lita drove the Corvette.

The drive in the minivan with Jeff was revealing. For all that the brothers have in common, they have very different personalities and interests. With Matt-and Lita for that matter-the conversation revolved around the business and their careers. With Jeff, however, the topics were varied, covering everything from music, art and ghosts stories to the paranormal and theater. Whatever the subject, he appeared to have an interest, in it. Even as it approached 3:00 a.m., Jeff wasn't tired of discussing what the word had to offer.

By 3:00 a.m., though, they had arrived in Baltimore and found a hotel. With a photo shoot planned later that morning in the fashionable Fell's Point section of Baltimore, the threesome would only manage a few hours of sleep yet again.

The temperature that Tuesday was above 90 degrees Ferenheit by the time Matt, Jeff and Lita drove to Fell's Point for their 11:00 a.m. shoot. Being photographed in intense heat is not the most comfortable thing in the world, but the group made the best of the situation.

The photo shoot went a little long, and more than a few curious on-lookers watched as they turned the normally staid neighborhood into Fashion Central.

Around 4:30 p.m., Matt, Jeff and Lita finally arrived at the Baltimore Arena for SmackDown! Jeff was notified that he would be facing Taka Michinoku in a match that would air on Sunday Night Heat, while Matt Hardy learned that he would be wrestling K-Kwik. Lita didn't have a match of her own, but would accompany Matt to th4 ring for his match.

Their pre-match preparation differed little from the previous night. Matt spent most of his time interacting with other Superstars while Jeff meandered on his own. Lita hung out with the other Divas. In the ring, both Matt and Jeff took care of business, scoring impressive victories over their foes.

All in all, it had been a pretty good trip. They had won a combined eight matches and lost none. They were able to sped time with good friends and manage to do some jet-skiing as well as visit the Kings Dominion theme park. To be sure, they were tired, but their 1300-mile odyssey had come to an end.

Well, almost. There was still that five-hour, all-night drive back to Cameron.