WWE: 5 Worst SummerSlam Matches Ever

4. Matt Hardy vs. Edge (2005)

This probably stands as the biggest wasted opportunity of a match in SummerSlam history. When Matt Hardy was fired earlier in 2005 it caused a stir in the WWE Universe the likes of which hadn€™t been seen since the Montreal Screw job in 1997. Lita cheated on Matt Hardy with one of his best friends Edge and because of the inability for them to coexist at the time someone had to go, and since Edge was a bigger star and Matt was always undervalued in the shadow of his brother Jeff, it was deemed that the innocent party in the affair was for the chop. Matt Hardy was released from his contract and the audience began chanting €˜You screwed Matt€™ at Edge and Lita, and €˜We want Matt€™ and the chants were deafening. After weeks and months Vince gave in to the pressure and brought Matt back to the WWE in what could have been a push that made the older Hardy one of the top guys in the company, but things didn€™t go that way. Matt first did a couple of run ins as if he was actually attacking Edge by turning up at shows as an audience member, but this was clearly a set up and weakened his eventual official return, which unfortunately was botched by Hardy himself. Hardy€™s return promo where he was introduced by Vince McMahon himself was little short of a disaster, as Hardy misguidedly seemed less intense and more sulky and not pleased to be back. He then did the old trick of getting the audience to start doing a chant, but did so with a chant that made no sense. Instead of something smart like prompting the crowd to start chanting €˜Hardy€™ he reminded the audience how they had chanted €˜You screwed Matt€™, which naturally they started chanting, only to soon stop as they realised it made no sense since it was Matt who was in the ring and he didn€™t screw himself. Other then this promo of course. He then said he hoped Edge died before he could get his hands on him in a match...what I think he was getting at, but said the wrong way around was that €˜Edge should hope he dies before Matt gets hold of him, or Matt will do something to him worse than death.€™ At least that would have made sense. Maybe Vince decided Edge had bigger star potential after this, and allowed their match at SummerSlam to reflect this fact as the match was one of the least competitive matches outside of squash matches with Ryback. Edge absolutely decimated Hardy and whilst there was the tiny factor trying to make it seem as if Hardy was hurt and not really able to defend himself properly, the reality was Matt Hardy just came off weak. Sure, their feud didn€™t quite end here and Hardy did get a victory in a classic cage match before being sent over to the SmackDown roster away from Edge and Lita, but the huge potential for Hardy to be made as a main event talent was crushed pretty much from this one match.