20 WWE Wrestlers Who Hated Each Other In Real Life

The Edge/Lita/Matt Hardy love triangle is by some distance the most personal real-life controversy to ever play-out on WWE television.

Edge and Hardy became close friends in the early 2000s thanks to their extensive work together in WWE’s tag team scene. Along with their respective partners Christian and Jeff Hardy, they’d often travel to shows together and, by all accounts, shared an excellent rapport on the road.

Matt was sidelined by a serious knee injury in mid-2004 and Edge and Lita (Hardy’s girlfriend on and off screen) started travelling to shows together, eventually forming a bond much closer than friendship. With Hardy on the shelf, his friend and girlfriend were hooking-up behind his back, and it came to light when Hardy scrolled through Lita’s phone to find a series of revelatory text messages from Edge.

Hardy hit the internet and posted a series of aggressive rants aimed at the two. A few days later, WWE officials decided that Edge, who they saw as a future singles star, was too valuable to fire and had significantly more superstar potential than Matt, so they cut Hardy loose.

Fans, of course, were furious. Arenas filled with chants of “you screwed Matt” every time Edge and/or Lita appeared on-screen. The reactions were so negative that Lita was forced into a heel turn, and WWE decided to cash-in on the heat by pairing the duo together. Edge’s heel heat went through the roof, and when Hardy came through the crowd to attack Edge on a July 2005 edition of Raw, the crowd went ballistic.

The ensuing feud made Edge one of the most loathed villains in the business, and proved to be the perfect jump-off for a long, successful main event career. Say what you will about the ethics, but WWE showed real cunning to capitalise on the situation, and Edge thrived in his new role.

He retired as an 11-time World Champion, but he and Lita split-up shortly after the angle’s conclusion.