No matter how hard Matt Hardy worked or how over he was, he never quite caught the collective eye of management the way his flasher, more marketable brother Jeff did. Matt was a tremendous wrestler who was fundamentally sound and, for the majority of his stint in the company, better than his sibling. Yet, when WWE decided to test the waters of singles competition in 2001 with the Hardys, they put Jeff at the forefront while Matt competed on the little-watched Sunday Night Heat, defending his European Championship. When the team was split for good in 2002, Matt gained more exposure on SmackDown but, despite soaring popularity and an over gimmick, he was still only allowed to advance to a certain point before being shuffled back down the card. While he was injured in 2004, his longtime girlfriend Lita was involved in an affair with Edge, making that period of time the most frustrating and heartbreaking of his career. Matt was fired for making comments about the Edge-Lita affair but fans demanded his rehiring. "Hardy" chants filled any arena Edge and Lita stepped into and a tease at his return elicited a huge ovation. When he finally did return, he received the biggest pops of his career and finally had the support of the fans and the momentum behind him to make a run at the top of the card. He was as popular as any other babyface on the card as he entered SummerSlam in August of 2005 and how did the creative team respond? They booked him to be knocked unconscious by Edge. He rebounded and defeated the Rated R Superstar at Unforgiven before losing a TLC match that sent him packing to SmackDown, where many believed he would thrive. Instead, he got into some political trouble following the Survivor Series pay-per-view and a run-in with Undertaker and was punished accordingly. He never again reached that level of popularity again. Even when he led the ECW brand as its heavyweight champion in 2008.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
