Some of the best storylines in professional wrestling are those that somewhat mirror actual events and people, and there have even been a few that brought real-life into the ring. Lita had been associated with the Hardy Boyz before they even hit WWE, and her relationship with Matt Hardy was very well known by the fans. When the affair with Edge happened, WWE ended up writing all of that drama right into storylines, and it led to some extremely memorable moments.
In the summer of 2005, Matt Hardy returned to WWE full-time after having disappeared for a little while when the affair between Edge and Lita became public knowledge. For a while, Lita was in a storyline relationship with Kane, but she turned on him to fully align herself with Edge.
This was all during the time that Lita’s real-life relationship with Matt Hardy was coming to an end, and her affair with Edge (Adam Copeland) was turning into a relationship. Fans had found out about all of this, and the company ended up bringing it into WWE events, and that is when the storyline was born.
Lilian Garcia recently had Lita as a guest on her podcast called Making Their Way To The Ring , and there were a number of topics to discuss. One of the more interesting things, though, happened to be their discussion of the love triangle and affair that was brought to WWE television.
Garcia spoke with Lita about her long relationship with Matt Hardy and how she knew it was coming to an end back in 2005. As transcribed by Wrestling Inc. , Lita knew that their careers in wrestling were not going to keep them together as a couple.
“We were slightly disconnected while I was at home recuperating because he was still 100% into his career and I was 100% out of it at the moment, because I had to be. And I remember thinking ‘Yeah we’re not gonna be together after our careers are over because that, that is our bond. The way we view life, our interests, they don’t really align you know?’”
Anyone who was watching WWE’s product at the time knew that Edge was at the height of his career as the Rated-R Superstar, and he was partnered with Lita on camera. This came about due to their real-life affair, which ended up being outed and causing some serious issues among superstars.
“I know both of us were kind of like, ‘Oh sh*t’ you know once we started to-to realize we were more than just two bros just hanging out. And so the hard thing that has always been with this time period is, you know, we realized we were going down a path that we shouldn’t and what I mean by that is mentally, mentally… We’d kissed finally and freaked out.
“Adam was on the road and I said ‘Hey, you know what? Let’s take this as an opportunity. We need to be in our own worlds and evaluate and don’t do anything because you know, like don’t do anything for me, I’m not gonna do anything for you. I need to figure out what is right for my world. You need to figure out what’s right for your world. If we meet up on the other side, cool. If not, I support and respect whatever your decisions are. He’s like ‘Okay that seems like the mature adult thing to do.’”
Now, WWE has looked at real-life events and hatred between other superstars in the past and realized that it would make for entertaining television. Here was a true-life love triangle that involved two huge names in Matt Hardy and Edge with one of the best women’s wrestlers of all time caught in the middle.
At the time all of this happened, Matt Hardy kind of went off and rightfully so, but it ended up costing him his job with WWE for a while. Lita said that when the company approached her and Edge about making the situation into an on-camera storyline, she knew that it was time to face what they had done.
“It became such a hot story and they said ‘They want to turn this into a story, but you guys have been professional, he [Matt] hasn’t, there is money involved in this storyline, but it’s your call.’ You know we felt terrible he lost his job over it so we’re like ‘Yeah, we made our bed we’ll lie in it.’”
The love triangle between Matt Hardy , Lita, and Edge was not the first time that WWE had walked the fine line of shock and tastefulness. It ended up working really well for Lita and Edge, but Matt Hardy was just kind of there from that point on. Of course, he went on to rejuvenate his career and has come full circle back to WWE, but hearing Lita speak of this storyline a decade after the fact makes you realize how wrestling is sometimes very real.
[Featured Image by WWE]