10 Real-Life Wrestling Feuds That Played Out In Public

Matt Hardy's public spat with Edge relied less on candid shoot interviews than it did WWE's own television product. Not only did they not attempt to hide the fact that two of their biggest stars weren't getting on, they actually used it for a storyline in front of the cameras.

Given that trust is all-important when a pair of wrestlers step into the ring together, that doesn't exactly sound like a good idea on paper. But, financially speaking, it made a lot of sense, especially after Matt had cut a shoot-style promo during his brief stint with ROH.

The lines between kayfabe and reality were then blurred even further when the Hardy Brother called into an episode of WWE web-series Byte This, sharing a toe-curlingly awkward conversation with ex-girlfriend Lita (who, having allegedly began an affair with Edge while still in a relationship with Matt, was at the centre of the whole drama).

While it's probably fair to say that real-life tensions had cooled somewhat by the time he stepped into the ring with the Rated-R Superstar, there's absolutely no doubting that the feeling underpinning it all was authentic.