In 2007, Matt Hardy and MVP began one of the most underrated and unique feuds of both men’s careers. Both MVP and Matt Hardy would achieve bigger accomplishments in WWE but this feud which ran for over 9 months when all was said and done was an undeniable highlight.

MVP vs Matt Hardy

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The Origins Of MVP And Matt Hardy's Feud

MVP won the United States Championship at Judgement Day '07 and also won his first title defense in a match against Matt Hardy at the Great American Bash '07. After his victory, MVP started to claim he was better than Matt Hardy at everything, which prompted a series of contests between the two men. These contests would run through not just episodes of Smackdown, but PPVs as well. They competed in chess matches, push-up contests, pizza-eating contests, and football throwing contests, among others. In most of the contests, it was apparent Matt Hardy was winning each time, but MVP was cheating and would be declared the victor.

MVP Matt Hardy pizza eating contest

Why were they doing these contests instead of just doing matches?

During the start of the feud, MVP was legitimately diagnosed with the heart condition, Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, taking him out of action for a while. Undeterred, WWE made this a part of the storyline, with MVP blaming the condition for the reason he lost an arm-wrestling match.

MVP Matt Hardy Arm Wrestling

Before MVP was diagnosed with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, he was scheduled to face Matt Hardy in a Boxing Match at Saturday Nights Main Event. Having to bow out, MVP instead got boxing legend Evander Holyfield to replace him. Yes, bizarrely enough, on Saturday Nights Main Event '07, Evander Holyfield faced Matt Hardy in a boxing match. Hardy was obviously out of his depth in a boxing match and Holyfield won, and afterward, Holyfield would punch out MVP for good measure.

Another memorable contest was a Beer Drinking competition at Summerslam '07, moderated by none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin. It was a hilarious segment in which Hardy was declared the winner after Austin Stunned MVP.

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Matt Hardy And MVP Became Tag Team Champions

Pushing the feud even further, MVP bragged that even as US Champion, he could win the WWE Tag Team Championships with anybody on the roster. Teddy Long, the Smackdown GM, took him up on the offer, granting him a tag title shot alongside the next person who would walk into his office. Which, of course, turned out to be Matt Hardy. The next week MVP proved himself right, winning the WWE Tag Team Championships alongside his sworn enemy. Making himself a double champion as well as the only person in WWE with 3 halves: Half-Man/Half-Amazing/One Half of the WWE Tag Team Champion.

Hardy and MVP would go on to have more contests to decide who would be the “Captain” of the team but after a while, the enemies started getting along better.

Their reign as Tag Team Champions came to an end 4 months later when Matt Hardy demanded a US Title shot, but MVP declined, instead of announcing they would defend the Tag Team Titles together against The Miz and John Morrison. They lost the match and a furious MVP immediately invoked their rematch clause which they also lost. Incensed at their two defeats, MVP violently attacked Matt Hardy, targeting his injured knee, which in storyline had been injured while Hardy was doing most of the leg work in defending the Tag Team Titles. Not long after this, Hardy was taken out with a real injury, suffering a legitimate ruptured appendix.

Now on the road to Wrestlemania, MVP had qualified for the Money In The Bank Ladder match at Wrestlemania 24. During the match, just as it looked like MVP was going to win, Matt Hardy made his surprise return from injury, attacking MVP and costing him Money in the Bank.

The following month at Backlash, Matt Hardy finally overcame his rival, winning the United States Championship and ending MVP’s record-breaking 343-day reign as US Champion. Now that his rivalry with MVP was over, Matt Hardy used the momentum from the feud to leapfrog into bigger and better things, capturing the ECW World Heavyweight Championship less than a year later, while MVP would enter a downward spiral which would start an over 8-month losing streak.

Matt Hardy

But that is a story for another day.

With all the twists and turns in the story as well as several injuries, Matt Hardy and MVP kept fans on their toes for the whole nine-month feud which never once got stale, making it one of the most interesting and underrated feuds to ever happen in WWE.