10 Most Elaborate Works In Wrestling History

7. The WWE Return Of Matt Hardy

MJF Promo AEW Dynamite
WWE Network

Numerous wrestling rivalries have flourished when based on some real animosity between the involved parties. Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels is one such example that comes to mind, but the 2005 feud between Edge and Matt Hardy is another prime example of turning real-life beef into pro wrestling gold.

Of course, said beef stemmed from the fact Lita had struck up a relationship with Edge whilst she was still dating Matt and whilst the Canadian was married to his second wife. When Hardy discovered this affair after seeing text messages to his girlfriend's phone, the sh*t hit the fan as the story became public and Edge's wife found out.

Venting on social media about all of this, Matt was fired by WWE in April '05 for "unprofessional behaviour", and the public knowledge of this affair caused Edge and Lita to become the hottest heel act in WWE as fans made it clear they were behind Hardy here.

Realising that money could be made, WWE brought Matt back into the fold two months' later, with an extremely awkward Byte This! appearance from Hardy and his subsequent use of Edge's real name leading to fans questioning whether this was a work or a shoot when the Hardy Boy began attacking his long-time rival on Raw programming.

The return of Matt Hardy was obviously a work designed to play off a real situation, and WWE had this plan in motion as soon as they heard how passionately fans were chanting for Matt after his firing.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.