Matt Hardy credits Vince McMahon for being open and receptive to his ideas
Matt Hardy’s “Version 1” character from 2002 was the first major chance at a solo career for the former IMPACT Wrestling World Champion. A major part of that character was the entrance which featured a Windows Media Player style overlay with Matt Hardy’s “Matt Facts” featured in the corner with different legitimate facts about Matt Hardy add it every week.
Matt Hardy got his major break as part of the Brock Lesnar/Undertaker Feud from 2002 and during that Feud, Matt Hardy picked up two victories over Undertaker and Vince McMahon was very adamant that one of those victories occur by pinfall in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
Matt Hardy recalled the victory over The Undertaker on the latest episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast.
"Vince was very high on what I was doing there," Matt began. "I had a great relationship with them at that time. It almost reminds me of when myself and MVP had a run on SmackDown. The door was always open to us because we were like the highest thing on the show and he loved us. It was a little bit of the same deal on SmackDown. I love the fact and I was very grateful that Vince inserted me into the top feud on SmackDown, which was Brock and The Undertaker, it's almost like Brock and Paul Heyman were using me as an underling, taking advantage of me to where I didn't realize it. because I just realized that was a big deal. You know, Matt Hardy, Version One, Brock, Undertaker, the three big stars on SmackDown. Vince understood I was very aware of everything I was doing. I remember as we were doing that day, it was somewhere in Louisiana. I remember but we fought to the back and there was a deal where I kind of want a cage to get away from Undertaker Brock comes out he ends up F-5ing him and I feel like they were gonna do it on the floor, and they did it on the popcorn bags if you remember that. It was very weird, strange, you know? That's where I ended up pinning Undertaker after."
Matt Hardy recalled the exact moment Vince McMahon told the Undertaker in Lafayette, Louisiana, that he was going to lose by pinfall to Matt Hardy.
"But I remember we're talking about the match and it was me 'Taker, Brock, and Vince, and we're kind of walking through there and looking what we had to work with whatever," Matt continued. "I'll never forget Undertaker saying, 'Well, you know what if we did this, this thing comes up, and Brock fights me, and he does this and then we end up fighting out of the building [Brock drops] me out there somewhere.' [Vince] said that's fine. 'He said, he can drop you wherever, but at the end of this match, Matt Hardy has to get a pin on you.' He was very adamant about that. Undertaker didn't say he wasn't going to do it or whatever, but he threw an idea. But it was very cool to see VKM going hard for me. He said, 'I don't care how we do it, but at the end of this match, Matt Hardy has to be on top of us and get a pinfall on you.'"
Matt Hardy, when the Undertaker was announced as the head of the 2022 WWE Hall of Fame class, recalled how much it meant for him to be a part of this rivalry in 2002 and how grateful he was for the Undertaker's willingness to have him involved. Learn more here.
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