The Fall And Rise Of Matt Hardy - A Feel Good Story

[abhilash81]

2005

The Hardy-Edge-Lita storyline was going on. I, being a 14 year old kid, didn't grasp quite well, what was happening behind the scenes. 2005 was the year I discovered the internet and soon, I learnt the bad stuff that happened to Matt.
Now, the image of the WWE that was ingrained in my mind (thanks to all the good things they did including the Tribute to the troops) at that time was that this was the absolute best company to work and it treats its employees (especially the ones who have worked their asses off for the company since years) like a parent treats their child.
Matt got cheated by Lita, for one of his best friend. Then the couple bashed him publicly for being UNPROFESSIONAL! Hey, you are the ones who cheated on a boyfriend and a loving wife and made their lives hell.
Imagine your gf does this to you with your best friend. Matt must have been absolutely devastated and thus made all this public (good thing that he did, as it caused an outrage among fans who till the end of her career, called her a **** and she deserved it).
But what was shocking to me was that "the best company to work for" fired Matt and turned a blind eye on the couple's antics! Talk about Being A STAR!

2017
Matt has completely reinvented himself, to such an extent that even though he is SO out of shape and isn't as agile as he used to be, he's getting the loudest pops of his career.
He and Jeff created this Delete gimmick, ran with it and became so popular that WWE brought them back at WrestleMania, which led to the BIGGEST pop of the night and I was genuinely surprised to see them. You see, WWE doesn't care about anything but the green stuff. In 2005, Edge-Lita were the hottest act and thus the company let them do whatever they could.
Now in 2017, the tables have turned and Matt ia as relevant as he had ever been, so the company sees money in him and calls him and his brother back.

A couple of days ago, Lita sent a tweet to both the Hardys, Wishing them the best of luck. Back in 2005, she would never have thought that she would be tweeting Matt with good thoughts someday in the future.
Matt on the other hand, is now married with a hotter and beautiful woman (I consider Lita hotter and more beautiful than Reby but loads of people think otherwise), and even has a cute baby with her.
I was so pissed off back in 2005 for what happened to Matt, but now it feels as if whatever happened, happened for good.
But still, being loyal to his gf didn't pay him very well, and he didn't deserve to get fired and go to a small promotion like TNA and struggle there (obviously before coming up with the legendary gimmick of Broken Matt).
But it all ended well for him and now he's one of the most popular superstars in the WWE. I'm happy for the Hardys and especially Matt.

 

[wrestler36]

yes, it is quite the comeback, but you're missing some MAJOR ups and downs in between. Matt at one point may have been the top star on Smackdown in the late 2000s. Not to mention ECW champion. But when he left WWE, he was getting arrested, fighting with his wife, flipping cars. I would argue that point was lower than when he was fired in 2005.

Overall though, it is great to see Matt where he is now. From a fan's perspective, it always seemed like Jeff was the more popular, more charasmatic, etc. Matt reinvented himself and arguably surpassed Jeff in popularity nowadays.

 

[abhilash81]

yes, it is quite the comeback, but you're missing some MAJOR ups and downs in between. Matt at one point may have been the top star on Smackdown in the late 2000s. Not to mention ECW champion. But when he left WWE, he was getting arrested, fighting with his wife, flipping cars. I would argue that point was lower than when he was fired in 2005.

Overall though, it is great to see Matt where he is now. From a fan's perspective, it always seemed like Jeff was the more popular, more charasmatic, etc. Matt reinvented himself and arguably surpassed Jeff in popularity nowadays.

Yes I almost stopped watching during that time. 2007-2009 was a really bad period and most of the times, they used to do Orton, HHH and Cena in several combination of matches to the point where it became unbearable to watch.
I came back in 2010, and have never left since.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The best part of the story is indeed that Matt now has the life he'd hoped for back in 2005... it just isn't with Lita/Amy as he'd planned it to be.

Kurt and Matt coming back at the same time is very welcome as it shows two guys who had different roads out of the WWE... Matt never really did much wrong at work but took it all very hard in his personal life when things went wrong, once that damage is done it's near impossible to get back... it completely broke Marty Jannetty... but eventually he overcame it and did it on his own, without WWE sponsored help or "selling himself short" in crappy gimmicks that reduced his value.

Kurt spurned WWE at the time in favor of his self destructive behaviours but both guys found new families, happiness off camera and their way back to WWE. They say things happen for a reason, and hopefully it was so they could get this big comeback each.

In Jeff's case the jury is still out... it's clear he hasn't had as much input into this renaissance as Matt and he has way more to prove than the other two do after his antics... showing up too wasted to perform is something neither of the others did. His leaving in 2009 still leaves quite the bitter taste as he seemed somewhat ungrateful for the opportunity he'd been given but without his leaving...no Summer of Punk so I guess he can be forgiven.

Does Matt get the big one this time... I doubt it unless they move him to Smackdown tonight... which is possible to "Break Him" again... but I think he gets it before Jeff does...and probably before some of the newer talents, just as Christian did a while back... the best part is Vince probably now does see in him what he didn't before and if he keeps it together... Matt will probably be around backstage for a long time as that creative force they've needed.

 

[abhilash81]

The best part of the story is indeed that Matt now has the life he'd hoped for back in 2005... it just isn't with Lita/Amy as he'd planned it to be.

Kurt and Matt coming back at the same time is very welcome as it shows two guys who had different roads out of the WWE... Matt never really did much wrong but took it all very hard in his personal life... but he overcame it. Kurt spurned WWE at the time in favor of his self destructive behaviours but both guys found new families, happiness off camera and their way back to WWE.

In Jeff's case the jury is still out... it's clear he hasn't had as much input into this renaissance as Matt and he has way more to prove than the other two do after his antics... showing up too wasted to perform is something neither of the others did.

Does Matt get the big one this time... I doubt it unless they move him to Smackdown tonight... which is possible to "Break Him" again... but I think he gets it before Jeff does...and probably before some of the newer talents, just as Christian did a while back... the best part is Vince probably now does see in him what he didn't before and if he keeps it together... Matt will probably be around backstage for a long time as that creative force they've needed.

I'm just waiting for him to break again and behlgin a fued with Bray Wyatt. I'm sure the promos would be gold. The back and forth between those two would be priceless.

 

[The Perfect Max]

It is very warming to think of the Hardys' return as them coming full circle. Being back where it all began is stimulating all sorts of nostalgia at the moment, which is quite ironic since his stock has never been so high after his recent "broken" stuff.

I think he and Jeff coming back as the "Hardy Boyz" rather than the "Broken Hardys" has more of a feel-good factor to it. Despite how amazing the broken stuff was, the idea of the Hardys going out on their own and creating something so unique and special, only to come back having done so much to solidify both their careers, is definitely something that should be recognised. But, I do anticipate that this run will eventually run a little dry, and that soon enough WWE will be able to allow the use of the broken gimmick. Once the time comes to end this homecoming of sorts, I predict Matt will be right back on with his broken gimmick.

It's interesting that Bray Wyatt is heading to Raw, where we presume the Hardy Boyz will remain after this "superstar shakeup" (I just cannot get over how terrible that name is). When, and I do think it is a matter of when and not if, but when the Hardys get the chance to use the broken gimmick again, you immediately have storyline gold awaiting in the form of Bray vs. Matt. And I think it is at that point that the real feel-good moment will arrive, because then Matt will finally be allowed to expose arguably his greatest creation on the greatest stage in the world.

As for Lita, she is hot. Hotter than Reby. The hottest. Damn. Anyway, good for Matt Hardy. And Jeff too while we're on the topic. He screwed up major major in 2009 and didn't have the steadiest of runs in TNA since, but he looks to be on the right track and I seriously doubt WWE would take the risk again if they didn't believe he could keep it up. Good for them both.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I never imagined Twitter at all in 2005.

Good for Matt Hardy. Forget the Lita saga. This guy seemed to hit rock bottom with the drugs. I remember the night we all assumed he was going to kill himself based on some video he put up on YouTube. He had serious problems.

Amazing that he is so popular now and gainfully employed. Too many guys end up dead early who never seemed to have close to the problems he had. Maybe things being so public was good for him. Maybe it kept him from dying out of sight.

The guy has really learned how to not just come up with ideas but also how to make them work. V1 was clever but failed. His ROH heel work and Broken stuff is pretty out there but he's making it work for him and that deserves a lot of credit. He's come a long way.

 

[ShinChan]

Matt Hardy has just completely revitalized his career by his Brokem stuff. I don't think that he was anywhere near even to earn TNA World Heavyweight Championship if he wasn't Broken. He did get the title but we know why.

Matt Hardy was just a good tag team wrestler. Often overshadowed by Jeff Hardy and his crazy jumps. Broken Matt Hardy actually overshadows Jeff Hardy. Remember how Bubba Ray Dudley became a credible main eventer in TNA as Bully Ray? It's the same for Matt with even more potential.

I'm still waiting for the Broken stuff.