Jeff Hardy will be making his long-awaited return to the ring this week on Monday Night RAW. Three years after being released from WWE as the result of a suspected drug addiction, Hardy is sure to bring the high-wire act that made him a crowd favorite back to the confines of (and the general area above, around and beyond) the squared circle.

A lifelong wrestling fan, Hardy made his WWE debut in 1993 at just 16 years old. In 1998, he and older brother Matt were offered full-time WWE deals, and the two forged a partnership that garnered them almost instant top-billing. Appropriately dubbed The Hardy Boyz, the two brothers employed unparalleled high-risk maneuvers and in-ring creativity to become one of WWE’s top tag teams.

The Hardy Boyz went on to become five-time WWE Tag Team Champions and also captured the WCW Tag Team Championship, ensuring their legacy as one of the most successful tag teams in WWE history. As the Hardy Boyz continued to find success, Jeff’s reputation for recklessness grew. The Hardyz had a flair for the extreme, and Jeff pushed the limits of in-ring acrobatics with an astonishing willingness to sacrifice his body week after week. The team’s extreme style was made famous in Tables, Ladders and Chairs Matches against the Dudley Boyz and Edge and Christian.

In 2002, just after the WWE brand extension, Matt and Jeff were split up, pursuing singles success on SmackDown and RAW, respectively. That year, Jeff participated in arguably the greatest match of his singles career when he faced Undertaker in a Ladder Match for the WWE Championship. Though he was unable to capture the gold, Hardy’s relentlessness and courage in the ring captured the Deadman’s respect, and people everywhere began to acknowledge the talent that Hardy had spent his entire life perfecting.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long after this epic clash that things started to unravel. Hardy held several individual championships, including the European, Intercontinental, Light Heavyweight and Hardcore Championships, at various stages of his singles career. But as he began to make his climb up the ladder of WWE success, those close to Hardy began to notice an erratic change in his behavior. He started showing up late (or not at all) for WWE events, and his in-ring performance was slowly deteriorating. Reports of a drug dependency began to surface, and after refusing to enter rehab, Jeff Hardy was released by WWE on April 22, 2003.

As reported on WWE.com earlier this month, Hardy is now fully rehabilitated and fit to return, ready to make sure that his glory days in WWE have not passed him by. Whether he will be wrestling alone or eventually teaming back up with his brother is yet unknown. Regardless, Hardy insists that the best is yet to come.

“I’m ready to jump off bigger ladders and go through thicker tables,” he said. “I just gotta let it fly.”

Don’t miss Jeff Hardy’s high-flying return as he comes back to RAW one night after SummerSlam, live on USA at 9/8 CT.