12 WWE Face & Heel Turns That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
7. Matt Hardy’s Brother Hate Flops (2009)
Sibling rivalries range from the classics like Bret vs. Owen Hart to real clangers like Booker T vs. Stevie Ray over in the creative wasteland known as latter-day WCW. There's rarely any middle ground, and it's a pity to report that Jeff vs. Matt Hardy fell into the latter 'one to forget' camp. It backfired instantly because fans just didn't want to boo either brother.
Matt nonsensically turned on his bro at Royal Rumble 2009 amidst rumours that Christian was set to return from TNA and assume that role alongside Edge. Then, the Hardys feuded through WrestleMania XXV and Backlash, but the matches were only so-so and outlandish suggestions that Matt had set fire to Jeff’s house (and killed his dog) didn’t do them any favours.
Things were so humdrum that Matt had returned to a babyface role in August after saving Jeff from CM Punk and The Hart Dynasty. He explained away his erm...erratic behaviour by claiming he wasn’t actually behind the fire, and the brothers patched things up. The whole thing was a gigantic waste of time that cut into Jeff's ride to the top of the WWE cards.
Sure, trying to drag Matt along with him made sense, but crowds weren't ready to treat the pair differently. It was obvious from minute one that Matt would have to be on the midcard/upper midcard whilst Jeff soared through the air in headline banner bouts. There was no getting away from it.
No amount of surly promos soaked in jealousy could change that. The Hardy in-fighting had flopped and would go down as a failed experiment.