First off, as always, I’d like to say hello to everyone. And especially hello to everyone who tuned in to No Mercy. Hopefully, everyone enjoyed it. I was extremely pleased with the match itself, as well as was the entire WWF pleased with it. Which was definitely good for Jeff and I. It was really cool because it was mine and Jeff’s concept, one of the first original things in the WWF we had gotten to do. It culminated in the best of 5 series, and the ladder match turned out better than expected. It is definitely the highlight of all 4 of our careers. Even though I must say, with this ladder match, there was really a ton of pressure because with it being our idea and our brainchild, it was really up to us to make it special. Meaning if it was a flop, we couldn’t go back and say that the WWF and the creative team wanted us to do this, because it was our idea.
The pressure really set in the day of the PPV. Everybody from the WWF front office, to the show’s producers, to all the production crew, to all the other wrestlers, were coming up to us and saying, “guys, we expect this to be the greatest ladder match of all time and steal the PPV tonight.” There was just a lot of pressure on 4 guys who ages combined don’t equal a 100 years. We could, myself, Jeff, Edge, and Christian, noticeably detect how nervous one another were before going into this match. Usually, we’re real calm, cool, and collected, and it’s just another time we are working together. But this time we knew that all eyes were on us. And this was our chance to step up our game a level and steal the show. This was by far the most high profile match any of us had been in. After we got into the ring, and started the match, all the pressures, burdens, and butterflies slowly faded away. We all forgot about expectations. We just started doing what we all do extremely well……..wrestle.
The match started slow, with very little crowd interaction. This bothered me. I was thinking in my head, “what if we go through this whole thing and the crowd doesn’t come with us?” The first turning point in getting the crowd, I think, was when Christian and Jeff did the tug of war and Jeff went back into the corner and Christian dropkicked him off the ladder. The crowd was coming. From there on, we continued to build our spots and the crowd got better and better. Before long, we could feel the crowd was on the edge of their seats with what was going to happen next. I think during the course of the match, the crowd forgot who was supposed to be the faces and who were supposed to be the heels, and they just started to feel. I think the crowd felt how hard we were working, they felt how we were putting our bodies on the line, they felt how we were giving them our souls. They stopped booing and cheering. They just felt. The crowd was great in the way that they showed us respect towards the end of the match, especially when all 4 guys went down. We were all battling to get back to our feet and the crowd applauded. Once again, I think they applauded out of respect. I felt that night that we really inspired the crowd. They stopped looking at us as Matt and Jeff Hardy the wrestlers, and as Edge and Christian. They saw us as Matt and Jeff Hardy the people, and Adam Copeland and Jay Reso. And I think they were inspired to see these 4 young guys busting their asses to make the best of an opportunity that had they fortunately had been provided with. There was definitely a special feeling of emotion in the Gund Arena, in Cleveland, on October 17, 1999.
As Jeff and I ran back down the aisle after the match, we stepped through the curtain and were welcomed back in with a standing ovation from the WWF front office, including a very warm ovation from Vince McMahon. That was definitely something that won’t be forgotten. As we walked to the back, we were passing the monitor where all the wrestlers and crew were watching the event, and we were once again given a standing ovation (from all the boys). Jeff and I were met with hugs and questions, “are you okay?” and “man that was great!” What a special feeling that was. What a height that was. It was great that one time to feel like you were the most important and special thing on the show.
A few minutes later, we saw our battered and bruised opponents. But luckily, we had all survived with no major injuries. If it wasn’t a special bond between the 4 of us, that match definitely cemented that all of us will always have a very special relationship with one another. That was definitely the highlight of my professional career.
Once again, I would like to wish Darren Drozdov best wishes and a speedy recovery. His progress has been slow, but he is still coming along. May we all be with him and his family continually through this trying time. Until Darren beats this, we are all going to keep him in our thoughts and prayers.
I want to say personally that I will miss Jeff Jarrett. Jeff, being a veteran, was always super cool towards myself and my brother. I’ve heard many different rumors and speculations about why he left, and I would rather not comment on those. Because way too many people already have, and way too many people have already exaggerated the story, believe me. But nevertheless, I hate that he couldn’t reach an agreement to stay in the WWF. I think Jarrett is a real stand up guy and a good person. And he fit really well into the WWF family. So I wish Jeff all the luck in the future.
Jeff and I were fortunately given the weekend off, so we can recuperate from our ladder match. Needless to say, we are extremely sore, banged, and bruised. But now, after having 3 days off with no wrestling, I don’t know what to do with myself. It’s weird, but I’m almost looking forward to Monday so we can go back to TV. I think with the performance of the ladder match you’ll see a little more time devoted to Matt and Jeff Hardy as far as developing our characters, storyline, and mic time. We’re ready for this step, I feel.
And I want to reiterate to everyone out there, through hard work, dedication, belief, and perserverance, you can make anything happen. Jeff and I have never been given anything more than a small opportunity from time to time. And by god, we took it and ran with it. You can do the same.
Always believe, and be well.
