Hardy was born in Cameron, North Carolina, the son of Gilbert and Ruby Moore Hardy. He is the older brother of Jeff Hardy. Their mother died of brain cancer in 1986. Hardy played baseball as a child and throughout high school, but had stopped by his senior year.

On January 9, 2011, Hardy made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at the Genesis pay-per-view, as part of the stable Immortal. He was the surprise opponent for Rob Van Dam, and defeated him to prevent Van Dam from receiving a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, held by Hardy's brother Jeff. In the main event, Hardy attempted to interfere in Jeff's World Heavyweight Championship match with Mr. Anderson, but was stopped by Van Dam, which led to Jeff losing both the match and the championship. On the January 13 episode of Impact!, the Hardy Boyz reunited to defeat Anderson and Van Dam in a tag team match, following interference from Beer Money, Inc.. On February 13 at Against All Odds, Rob Van Dam defeated Hardy in a rematch.  On the following episode of Impact!, Hardy, along with the rest of Immortal and Ric Flair, betrayed Fortune. On March 13 at Victory Road Hardy was defeated by Flair's previous protege, A.J. Styles. On April 17 at Lockdown, Immortal, represented by Hardy, Abyss, Bully Ray and Ric Flair, were defeated by Fortune members James Storm, Kazarian and Robert Roode and Christopher Daniels, who replaced an injured A.J. Styles, in a Lethal Lockdown match. On the April 21 episode of Impact!, Hardy faced Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Hardy's first World Title match in TNA, but was defeated. The following month Hardy was granted a shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Beer Money, Inc. (James Storm and Robert Roode). While the champions looked to defend the title against the Hardy Boyz, Matt instead introduced the returning Chris Harris, Storm's old tag team partner, as his partner for the title match. The match took place at Sacrifice, where Storm and Roode retained their title.  On June 21, it was reported that TNA had suspended Hardy. On August 20, Hardy was released from TNA following a DUI arrest that occurred earlier that same day.

Using a quote from the above article, answer the following question: Who was he fighting?
He was the surprise opponent for Rob Van Dam, and defeated him to prevent Van Dam from receiving a match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship,