One of the most intense feuds of the late 2000s was the brother vs brother feud of Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy. When Matt Hardy turned on Jeff Hardy in 2009, battle lines were drawn and any chance of sympathy was put on hold.
The two brothers fought in increasingly bloody and brutal battles throughout 2009. Careers were shortened and family relations were smashed into pieces. The rivalry eventually led to both me leaving the WWE and put an end to Jeff Hardy‘s run as WWE Champion.
Matt Hardy Turned On Jeff Hardy At Royal Rumble 2009
During his match with Edge at the 2009 Royal Rumble, Jeff Hardy was attacked by his brother. Matt Hardy turned on Jeff Hardy after years of being close allies inside the ring by hitting him with a chair in the skull and costing him the WWE Championship.
Edge was in shock when his former rival handed him the World title on a silver platter in one of the most shocking betrayals in WWE history. This kicked of a feud that many remember, but not always for the right reasons.
Matt Hardy had long been in the shadow of his brother Jeff and took all his frustrations out on him with a steel chair to the skull. Matt was always the least successful of the two, with Jeff being viewed as the star over his time in the company.
This was the way to seek his revenge and to show the world that Matt Hardy could be just as good as Jeff. It lead to two brutal matches in the WWE that showcased a brand new side of both men inside and outside the ring.
The Brothers Feuded At Wrestlemania 25
Matt Hardy turned on Jeff Hardy at the 2009 Royal Rumble to set up a match at Wrestlemania 25 between the two brothers. The rivalry took a turn for the worse when it was revealed all the horrible things Matt Hardy did to Jeff Hardy on the build up to the Wrestlemania bout.
After his attack on Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy declared the end of the Hardy Boyz tag team and revealed he no longer considered him as a brother. Matt then moved from Raw to Smackdown to start a feud with Jeff, leading to their match at the biggest show of the year.
Matt Hardy revealed that he had done some terrible things to Jeff Hardy over the months leading up the moment at the Royal Rumble. Matt Hardy killed Jeff Hardy’s dog in a house fire, caused him to have a car accident and planned a pyro accident that caused severe burns to his brother.
This made Matt Hardy the biggest heel in wrestling. Him turning on Jeff Hardy gave him nuclear heat but his was not happy with himself or the angle during this time. When the duo appeared on the Wrestling With Freddie Podcast, Matt Hardy revealed his reservations with the angle and how he thought it was too much and too real for Jeff Hardy.
“That was an event that was so tragic and so sad. Literally, his house burned down. All the old tights and all his old gear were lost in the fire. His dog died. It was a really traumatic event for him. Just for them to put that in our storyline was almost like it was in bad taste. I’ll never forget them burning a dog collar and then I held the dog collar,” he continued.
“I remember saying, ‘I don’t know. I mean, I’ll do it. If this is what you guys want me to do, I’ll do it. But like, this could be too much.’ I could just feel the air coming out of the crowd. It’s not that they were mad at me because I’m playing the bad guy in the story. They were mad at me because this is in poor taste. So that’s how it felt.”
Jeff Hardy wrestled Matt Hardy at Wrestlemania 25 in an Extreme Rules, allowing the use of weapons. The two men put on a violent, story-filled match that showcased their rivalry and lifelong sibling relationship. Matt Hardy turned on Jeff Hardy month prior and now both men released three months worth of anger in one brutal match.
Matt Hardy won the match with a Twist of Fate onto a chair. This was Jeff Hardy’s only singles Wrestlemania match and some people felt the match disappointed after the incredible heated build.
Jeff Hardy Would Move On And Leave The Company Soon After
After the match at Wrestlemania 25, Jeff Hardy continued to feud with Matt Hardy for another month. Avenging his loss at Wrestlemania 25, they wrestled again at Backlash 2009 in an I Quit match.
The goal of the match was to beat your opponent so badly they utter the words “I Quit” for the world to hear. This was the dream for Matt Hardy after turning on Jeff Hardy, giving him the chance to embarrass his brother in front of the world.
However, Jeff Hardy won the match and moved on from his rivalry with Matt Hardy. He went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship against Edge at Extreme Rules 2009 in a ladder match, although he would soon be cost the championship once again like at the 2009 Royal Rumble.
CM Punk ran in after the match and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the World Heavyweight Championship from Jeff Hardy. The pair traded the title and even main evented Summerslam 2009 in a TLC match that Jeff Hardy would lose. He then lost again in a cage match on Smackdown which ended with him leaving the company after three years in the WWE.
It turns out that Jeff Hardy had to leave the company so he could heal his injuries. He was suffering with neck injuries, herniated disks in his back and was suffering with restless leg syndrome. He also struggled with alcohol and drug issues over the years, which could have been exacerbated by wrestling injured any longer in the WWE.
Matt Hardy turning on Jeff Hardy was the beginning of the end for his main event run in the WWE and would do little for Matt Hardy as well. He would do very little until being released by WWE in 2010 and soon reunited with his brother in TNA in 2011.