In 2005, WWE embarked on one of their most real feuds ever, pitting Matt Hardy against Edge.
While Hardy was out with an injury, Matt’s real-life girlfriend Lita had started a relationship with Edge, a real-life good friend of Hardy.
When Hardy made the affair public, WWE subsequently fired him, citing ‘unprofessional behavior’ on his behalf.
Summerslam
Weeks later, and after over 15,000 signatures on a petition, WWE rehired Hardy, and made his real-life issues with Edge and Lita into a feud.
At Summerslam 2005, the pair were scheduled to face off, with some unique advice from Vince McMahon.
On the latest episode of his ‘Extreme Life’ podcast, Matt recalled the unique way the then-WWE Chairman tried to motivate him (via Fightful.)
“This might sound crazy, but when two animals — the primal instincts kick in and survival kicks in, and it’s their basic primal instincts, and we all have them, even as human beings,” McMahon said, according to Hardy.
“If you see someone weaker than you, you see someone that’s crippled or in a wheelchair, deep down your primal instinct, you want to destroy them, you want to eat them, you want to eat them alive! […] You want to take the person who’s weaker than you, that is below you in the food chain, and you want to f***ing EAT THEM! Do you understand?! That’s what I want to see out of this match.”
“You see someone that’s crippled or in a wheelchair, deep down your primal instinct, you want to destroy them.”
Vince McMahon motivating Matt Hardy before Summerslam 2005.
Rather than the scrappy brawl McMahon was hoping for, the match went under five minutes long and ended via referee stoppage.
When Hardy was busted open on the ring post, he was unable to defend himself and the referee called for the bell, giving Edge the win.
After Summerslam
Despite the underwhelming Summerslam bout, Matt and Edge would continue feuding, with Hardy getting his win back in a Steel Cage match at Unforgiven.
At WWE Homecoming in October, marking Raw’s return to the USA Network, Edge defeated Matt in a Loser Leaves Town Ladder match for Edge’s Money in the Bank contract, and Hardy was moved to SmackDown.
