10 Best Jeff Hardy Matches Ever

Competition and the way we evaluate it is a strange thing. The Olympics are currently reaching their end, and over the last two weeks we've seen incredible performance after incredible performance, moments of glory sitting next to true moments of anguish and agonising failure. Whether someone is celebrating a medal or wiping up their own tears of misery, fans are with them every step of the way.

Professional wrestling is just like this. When Daniel Bryan wrenched back on Batista at the climax of WrestleMania XXX, millions of fans worldwide were wrenching with him. When CM Punk was blowing Vince McMahon a kiss before running through a crowd of his fellow Chicagoans, that was our kiss.

As Jeff Hardy was climbing the ladder on this night in 2002, JR wasn't just telling Hardy to climb it and make himself famous. He was telling an entire generation of fans that they could do it, that even if you're facing the freakin' Undertaker you can still win, you can still succeed.

Except sometimes you can't. Reality kicked in and Hardy found himself staring at the lights as Big Evil retained his championship, but this was as winning a losing performance as you get. It taught us that it is possible to win whilst losing, and that giving everything you have often matters more in defeat than in victory. Lessons are learned, goals are changed, eyes are opened.

That is why this match, a ladder match between Hardy and The Undertaker, matters so much. It is why it ranks so high, it is why it stands up even today. Jeff Hardy's career as a singles performer was made on this night.