In 2000, a fiery redhead named Lita joined World Wrestling Entertainment and wasted little time making a name for herself. The valet of light heavyweight competitor Essa Rios, she would dive off the top rope and mimic his breathtaking offense. She got over quickly, thanks to the perfect mixture of sex appeal and athleticism. As Rios lost momentum, however, it was apparent that keeping Lita with the Mexican star would do her a great disservice. The decision was made to split her away from Rios and pair her with two friends from her past, Matt and Jeff Hardy. The pairing worked. Known as Team Extreme, the Hardy Boyz and Lita became as popular as some of the household names at the top of the card. Matt and Jeff were essentially teen idols at that point, the WWE's answer to a boy band, only much more extreme than any Backstreet Boy could ever hope to be. Lita was the sexy, athletic girl that every boy and young man found themselves attracted to. Their wars with Test, Albert and Trish Stratus made for some tremendous television and resulted in one of the most underrated matches of 2000, a six-person tag match at Fully Loaded in July. From there, the Hardys would turn their attention to the WWE Tag Team Championships while Lita focused on winning the Women's Championship. She did and the Hardys followed by capturing their desired titles and the threesome became one of the biggest acts on WWE TV. The trio split up in 2002 when Lita suffered a severe neck injury and Matt turned on his brother, departing Raw and heading to SmackDown to try his luck at singles competition. The group's feud with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman in the spring of that year would be their last set of appearances together.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
