Matt Hardy shares what former WWE CEO Vince McMahon told him and Edge before their 2005 SummerSlam match.
If a storyline has something personal, it becomes more effective on the screen. Well, the 2005 feud involving Edge, Matt Hardy, and Lita was one of the most personal feuds of the Attitude Era. It was a legit love triangle and the first match between the two took place at the 2005 SummerSlam. Given the history, it was very much possible the two would fight each other for real if not checked.
Recently, Matt Hardy recalled his famous storyline on the latest episode of his podcast. He spoke about how Mr. McMahon called him and Edge backstage and threatened them not to take any liberties with each other inside the squared circle.
Matt Hardy recalls him and Edge meeting with Vince McMahon before the match
While speaking on the show, Matt went down memory lane and shared the whole meeting before his 2005 SummerSlam match against Edge.
First thing first, Vince made it clear that he owned the company, the ring, and in fact the arena they were going to wrestle. So, if any of them tried to hurt each other for real, he would make sure they would never wrestle again.
“Vince McMahon in his mind, he was worried there’s going to be tension between myself and Edge. So he called us into his office. We’re sitting and the first thing Vince says, he says,
‘Adam, Matt, you know, the WWE is my company, right?’
He says, ‘You know that this event, SummerSlam, is my event that I created, right? We both go, ‘Yes.’
He says, ‘You know that I have rented this venue for the night, right? So this is basically my arena. Do you understand that?’ We go, ‘Yes.’
He said, you know, that wrestling ring out there? That is my wrestling ring. Do you understand that?’
He said, ‘I’m going to tell you about this right now. If either one of you go out there tonight and try and take liberties with each other, if you try and intentionally hurt one another, I am the most powerful man in this industry. I promise you neither one of you will ever work a day in this industry again. Do you understand?’
We go, ‘Yeah, sure. ‘We understand,’”
Mr. McMahon then got into the psychology behind the match between Edge and Matt Hardy.
Vince explained how he had read that it is the basic primal instinct of living beings to feed on the weaker ones. He used the example of two animals and how they want to destroy each other once they taste each other’s blood. Vince McMahon wanted the match to be more like a fight and wanted them to fight like animals in the ring. Recalling what he was told, Matt stated:
“When you look at a primal human being and the psychology behind it, that is our instincts. You want to take the person who’s weaker than you, that is below you in the food chain, and you want to f**king EAT THEM! Do you understand? That’s what I want to see out of this match.”
Anyway, the match was short and brutal as planned and Edge was the one to have the first laugh in that legendary feud.
The real-life heat that led to the 2005 SummerSlam match between the two
During the late 90s, Hardy Boyz and the team of Edge and Christian were WWE’s two best tag teams. The four veterans were also good buddies outside the WWE ring. In 2000, Lita joined the Hardy Boyz to form the Team Xtreme and later, started dating Matt Hardy. However, during 2003-2004, Matt got injured and had to take a break. In the meantime, Edge and Lita came close and started dating each other.
This whole thing got more serious when Matt Hardy publicly exposed Edge and Lita and was then released from WWE. But, fans took supported Matt Hardy and eventually, has to be back. Finally, the two faced each other at the 2005 SummerSlam.
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