10 Times WWE Used Real Life Misery For Storyline Gains

6. Jeff Hardy’s Dog

Matt Hardy Jeff Hardy 2009
WWE.com

There is a parallel world out there where Jeff Hardy is the biggest babyface on the wrestling planet and has been so for over a decade. There was a time when Jeff was the hottest thing going, a curiously charismatic hero that was beloved by fans of all ages and genders, a merchandise-machine with the support to go all the way. In the late 2000s, Jeff Hardy was primed to be the man.

That was pro wrestling Jeff Hardy, but real-life Jeff Hardy couldn’t have been more different. Hardy was suspended in early 2008 for a second Wellness Policy violation, only for his house to burn down during his time out. To make matters worse, Jeff’s beloved dog Jack died in the fire. A heartbreaking story, all told.

WWE being WWE, the whole incident was eventually used for storyline purposes. Matt Hardy turned heel on his brother in early 2009 (when the whole world was ready for Christian to take that spot) and revealed that he started the fire, that he killed Jeff’s dog. It wasn’t true, of course it wasn’t, but WWE was more than happy to take this real-life tragedy and use it to fuel another disappointing sibling rivalry.

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Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.