As our latest Rumor Roundup reminds us, there’s always interest in pro wrestlers refusing the storylines and finishes they’re presented by writers, bookers or promoters. Otherwise we wouldn’t get so many reports and stories about it happening.
Matt Hardy just offered one up from the past. He was fact-checking his Wikipedia page with The Stunner and addressed a stretch of his first WWE run with brother Jeff in late 2001 and early 2002 where a Hardy Boyz/Team Xtreme split was teased. Along with Lita,
The Hardys were written off television for a month or so while continuing to work house shows. When they returned, the previous tension was ignored for months until their tag team was split in the summer of ‘02.
The elder Hardy brother says it wasn’t lack of post-split creative that led to their disappearance and subsequent change of plans, but something pitched to them as part of the split that Jeff didn’t want to do:
“There was a storyline for our characters, and they wanted us to split up. And there was a couple things that we were asked to do, and Jeff was uncomfortable and didn’t want to do it.
“So we were off TV for a while, as a [makes air quotes with his fingers] ‘punishment’, I guess. But we still did live events, and then they put us back together because we knew we weren’t ready to separate and split up as a team yet.”
As for what Jeff didn’t want to do? Matt wouldn’t say:
“Yes, but nothing I can say on here because I would like to stay married.”
The brothers were split more significantly when Jeff was released in early 2003 and went to TNA. Matt briefly left a couple years later, but was back before Jeff returned in August 2006. Their tag team reunited that fall.
Any thoughts on The Hardys “punishment” back in the day? How often do you think there’s consequences like this for talent shooting down creative, and does it lead to less wrestlers doing it?
Talk about it below.
