Matt and Jeff Hardy are two of the most popular wrestlers of all time, making a name for themselves in WWE, and cementing their place as perhaps the best tag team of all time. They have each had successful singles runs at different points throughout their career, but one portion of their respective singles stints that wasn’t entirely successful was during their 2009 feud against one another. On paper, a Matt vs Jeff Hardy match looks interesting, especially due to it being brother vs brother, and with them both being tremendous performers. However, their rivalry didn’t work, and it was down to a variety of reasons.
Matt Cost Jeff The WWE Championship To Start Their Feud
At the start of 2009, Jeff Hardy was the WWE Champion, finally climbing the ranks to achieve the biggest prize possible after becoming one of the most popular singles stars in the company. Matt wasn’t having as lucrative of a time, even with United States Title reigns and a run as ECW Champion. He had struggled to truly find a substantial way up the card and rested mainly in the midcard over the course of his run. However, WWE attempted to change that, starting at the 2009 Royal Rumble.
In a no disqualification rematch against Edge, reigning WWE Champion Jeff Hardy looked on his way to winning the match. Out came Matt, who appeared to be aiding his brother after a Vickie Guerrero interference. However, he would strike his brother over the head with a steel chair, allowing Edge to gain the victory. Matt stared at his fallen brother, emotionless and cold, setting up a feud that would stretch over several months. Brother vs brother and family feuds have been very hit and miss in WWE because for every Bret vs Owen Hart there is a Brie vs Nikki Bella.
Uncomfortable Storytelling Was Brought Into The Matt & Jeff Rivalry
Matt explained his motivations, with it all rooting from jealousy. This made sense, considering the success Jeff had received, and with Matt being the big brother, it was logical for him to feel disdain. This would have likely been enough to keep the feud going, but WWE added some horrific details to this rivalry. Matt was first revealed to be the man behind several on-screen incidents, including Jeff being attacked in a stairwell before his WWE Title match at Survivor Series the previous year, and a pyrotechnics malfunction that saw him receive burns.
Not just that, but Matt was also potentially revealed to be the man behind some even more nefarious and downright tragic accidents too. Like many times over the course of his WWE tenure, Jeff’s real life was brought into the storyline, with Matt implying that he was to blame for Jeff’s car being driven off the road, and a house fire that caused the passing of Jeff’s dog. These were all uncomfortable points that got brought up and added needless tragedy to the feud. Sure, the animosity was intensified, but it was also sickening.
Perhaps all of that would have worked in the feud had the matches lived up to that level of personal attack and bad blood. However, whilst their Extreme Rules match at WrestleMania had some fun moments, it didn’t feel like a battle between two people who hated each other. Jeff beat Matt around the ring with some weapons, put him through a table, and jumped off a ladder but was eventually beaten due to a chair-assisted Twist of Fate. Matt’s win at WrestleMania was a huge shock, especially considering that he was such a despicable villain in the feud.
Their Bad Blood Was Forgotten About Just A Few Months Later
Jeff would eventually emerge victorious in the long run, defeating him at the Backlash PPV in an “I Quit” match, which was also fun, but once again lacked the violence that was necessary for a feud like this. There were several factors that made this program sting overall, and one of those was it being painfully obvious that this feud was made to keep Jeff out of the World Title scene during WrestleMania season, which was a huge shame considering how popular he was.
When Jeff was through with Matt, he returned straight back to the title picture, entering feuds with Edge and CM Punk. That chapter with Matt seemed to be closed, but during the Punk feud, Matt was brought into it, and even turned face, nonsensically re-aligning with his brother despite wishing him dead just a few months before. This was the pinnacle of lazy storytelling, and it made both men look like idiots for fighting over multiple PPVs and months on end, only to push it all under the rug and let bygones be bygones. The feud overall wasn’t awful, but it was very disappointing.