Edge discloses how he and Matt Hardy overcame their real-life animosity
One of WWE's most infamous backstage stories revolves around Edge, Lita and Matt Hardy. Hardy received the biggest betrayal of his life when his good friend Edge and his girlfriend Lita had an affair while Hardy was home due to an injury.
Though Matt Hardy did lash out after he got to know about Edge and Lita, he was able to manage his anger and use it to his advantage. The two former friends turned their real-life heat into an on-screen storyline.
How Edge and Matt Hardy overcame their real-life heat
Even though Matt Hardy was at the height of his popularity when he returned to feud with Edge, WWE used him to get Edge and Lita over while he was relegated to the mid-card after the feud.
Talking to Peter Rosenberg, Edge talked about their backstage animosity and how they managed to use it to their advantage.
"You gotta be pros, and also, back to my point of finding positives when it doesn’t seem like there are any on the surface, you gotta dig underneath the surface, this was one of those. And you go, OK, we’re here, now what do we do? Well, let’s try to make some money together, and let’s try to further both of our careers out of this, and hopefully out of this, we can not only be stronger performers, but stronger people too, and that usually doesn’t happen within the context of a wrestling storyline. So it’s a little bit more because of that."
Edge further said that it was one of the first feuds where the audience did not know how much is real and how much is kayfabe. Edge also believes that the program helped, both him and Matt Hardy to establish themselves as singles competitors. He also revealed how the incident helped Lita in her career:
And I think that’s also, maybe the first instance of people going, oh wait, there is reality in this too, and that’s why it’s remembered. And I think in terms of us kind of splitting off from E&C and the Hardys respectively, I think that one was what set everything in motion going forward, and for Lita as well, because that flipped her entire character on its head and she was able to adapt and take it and run with it when if you had said two years earlier, probably the most popular female in the industry could end up being the most despised, that’s not possible.
(H/T Credit: 411Mania)