Matt Hardy recently revealed that WWE once considered turning one of Jeff Hardy’s real-life tragedies into a storyline. This idea came straight from Vince McMahon.
Speaking on the Battleground Podcast, Matt and Jeff looked back on their famous 2009 feud, one of the most personal rivalries in WWE history. During the conversation, they discussed several memorable moments from the storyline, including the infamous pyro attack on Jeff and the decision to reference Jeff’s real-life house fire.
Jeff Hardy’s real-Life tragedy became Vince McMahon’s next creative pitch
Matt explained how WWE came up with the idea of making him the mystery attacker. At the time, Jeff was WWE Champion, while Matt held the ECW Championship.
According to Matt, WWE felt both brothers were popular enough to carry a major feud.
“Vince saw that I could continue to be elevated by turning heel,” Matt said.
The original idea was that Matt would become jealous of Jeff’s popularity and success, leading to a rivalry between the two brothers. WWE slowly built the story around a mystery attacker targeting Jeff before eventually revealing Matt as the person behind it all.
Things became more serious when Jeff’s real-life home was destroyed in a fire. Matt revealed that Vince McMahon suggested using the incident in the storyline and blaming it on Matt’s character.
“I remember we got to the point where Jeff’s house had legitimately burnt down and then Vince said, ‘You know what? His house had burned down. Let’s let’s pin that on you. I think that’ll get good heat,'” Matt recalled.
Although Matt understood McMahon’s vision, he felt that blaming him for burning down Jeff’s house might have gone too far.
“I was like, ‘Ah, I don’t know, Vince. That might be a little too much. Like I don’t… I think they get that you’re jealous. You want to sabotage him. You want to have a better career than him, but like burning his house down might be a lot.’ But Vince was adamant and he wanted to do that,” Matt said.
Ultimately, WWE decided to move forward with the angle. Matt explained that wrestling often mixes real-life events with fictional storylines to make stories feel more believable.
“We rolled with the punches, man. And it was what it was, and we’re just incorporating real life in a story. That happens in pro wrestling all the time. And you have to be able to do that because that is what pro wrestling is now. You know, in a nutshell. It incorporates things to try and blur the lines of what is fiction and what is reality,” Matt added.
The feud eventually led to a one-on-one Extreme Rules Match at WrestleMania 25.
Read More: Vince McMahon Got Emotional During Former WWE Executive’s Exit Meeting
