"Most powerful man in the industry" - AEW star recalls stern warning from Vince McMahon before match against WWE legend
Former WWE Superstar and current AEW star Matt Hardy has shed light on one of Vince McMahon's epic monologs.
Hardy and the Rated-R Superstar were involved in one of WWE's most famous feuds in 2005 when the former found out that his girlfriend Lita was having an affair with the latter.
The former Brood member faced Hardy in a bout that year at SummerSlam and emerged victorious after the referee's stoppage.
In a recent episode of The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy podcast, the AEW star highlighted that Vince McMahon had called them to his office to lay out some rules before the match.
Hardy professed that McMahon was aware of the tension going on between the two wrestlers and wanted the match to go the way he wanted.
The former ECW champion further went on to elaborate that the veteran strictly warned them about hurting on another intentionally.
"He says 'You know this event, the SummerSlam is my event, that I created, right?'. We were like yeah, he says 'You know I have rented this place for tonight, right? So basically this is my arena'. We said yes. ' You know that wrestling ring out there, that's my wrestling ring, do you understand that?' yes we do and he said ' I am going to tell you guys both right now, if either of you go out there and try to take liberties with each other, if you guys try to intentionally hurt one another, I am the most powerful man in the industry, I promise you, neither one of you are going to ever work a day in this industry again, do you understand?' Yeah we understand," said Matt Hardy. [From 1:07:30 onwards]
However, Hardy said McMahon wanted the match to look like an MMA fight.
"I want to portray this as a MMA fight, a UFC fight[...] It's gonna be a brawl, it's gonna be short and effective," Hardy quoted what Vince said. [From 1:08:10 onwards]
AEW star Matt Hardy has had three spells with WWE
The 47-year-old was one of the main superstars in the tag team division during WWE's Attutude Era when the company saw an unparalleled amount of success.
He started his career with the Stamford-based promotion in 1994 and and his first departure came in 2005.
However, he was brought back the same year. His second stint lasted around 5 years as he made his move to TNA in 2011 after feuding with his brother Jeff Hardy on Vince's brand.
8/21/2005
Edge defeated Matt Hardy by TKO at #SummerSlam from the MCI Center in #WWEDC.
#Edge #RatedRSuperstar #UltimateOpportunist #NeverGonnaStop #YouThinkYouKnowMe #MattHardy #MattHardyBrand #Version1 #StrongerThanDeath #NeverSayDie #Delete #Lita #WWE #WWELegends #WWEHistory https://t.co/jHwrqcIjWn
Hardy's final spell in WWE got underway in 2017 and was his shortest one as it lasted only three years. After parting ways in 2020. The former United States champion made his AEW debut on the March 18, 2020 episode of Dynamite.
If you use any quotes from this article, please give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.
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