8 Returns WWE Dropped The Ball On

7. Matt Hardy

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WWE.com

When Matt Hardy went down with a knee injury in August 2004, the future Broken One had no idea of what a tumultuous year lay ahead of him.

Of course, Lita and Edge famously began an on-the-road affair while Matt was at home healing up. And even worse, when Hardy found out about this and went public with the betrayal, WWE fired the still-injured V1 for airing his dirty laundry.

Fan pressure would see Matt rehired in July 2005 – three months after his termination – and the no-brainer decision was made to build on the real-life animosity. As such, an intense and personal rivalry between Hardy and Edge played out.

Both men would exchange wins, but the feud would be brought to an end when Edge won a Loser Leaves Raw contest that resulted in Matt being moved to SmackDown in October ’05. Instead of using the momentum and giant fan interest behind Hardy to place him in the SmackDown main event scene though, WWE decided to have him fall back into the tag ranks and feud with then-Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms.

The next few years were entertaining, engaging ones for Matt, but it still always felt like a massive case of “what if…?” for Matt Hardy after his return to WWE was so well received by the WWE fan base.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.