Matt Hardy has revealed that he once pitched a dramatically different direction for one of WWE’s defining Attitude Era rivalries. In the aftermath of The Hardy Boyz’ landmark ladder match against Edge & Christian at No Mercy 1999, Hardy suggested that the four men could unite rather than continue their rivalry.
The proposed group would have brought Matt and Jeff Hardy together with Edge and Christian as a babyface faction built around mutual respect. Hardy’s idea was not simply to pair two popular teams for convenience. He believed their No Mercy performance had established all four wrestlers as representatives of a new generation in WWE, capable of standing against the era’s biggest heel groups, including D-Generation X.
Speaking on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy explained that the thought came to him directly after the teams’ ladder match, an encounter that helped reshape the expectations surrounding tag team wrestling in WWE.
“It was after our ladder match [No Mercy 1999], you know, I threw in the idea about making myself, Jeff, Edge, and Christian a faction together that we had this unique respect,” Hardy said.
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Hardy said he saw the four performers as a natural collective because of the risks they had taken and the style they had introduced to a wider WWE audience. The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian were already closely associated with athletic, high-impact matches that placed ladders at the center of the action. Their No Mercy clash for the services of Terri Runnels became a pivotal moment for both teams and for the future of WWE’s tag division.
In Hardy’s view, the proposed faction could have positioned the teams as the wrestlers of tomorrow while they were still defining themselves on television. It would have been a notably different presentation from the one WWE ultimately chose, especially given how frequently the four men would find themselves opposing one another in the years that followed.
A Major What-If From WWE’s Attitude Era
The timing of Hardy’s pitch is especially interesting because No Mercy 1999 did not just produce another memorable match. It created a foundation for an extended rivalry that later expanded to include The Dudley Boyz. The three-team dynamic eventually fueled the acclaimed Tables, Ladders and Chairs matches that became synonymous with the early 2000s WWE tag scene.
Had WWE put The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian together, it would have altered that path immediately. Rather than the contrast between the teams driving their programs, the act would have centered on their shared experience and evolving approach to tag team wrestling. Hardy envisioned them as babyfaces, which also would have made them a potential counterweight to a powerhouse stable such as D-Generation X.
At the time, DX was among WWE’s most prominent acts. A four-man group featuring two rapidly rising tag teams could have given WWE a fresh factional identity built less on established main-event credentials and more on youth, speed, innovation, and a common desire to change the standard for what a match could be.
Hardy indicated, however, that the idea never moved forward because WWE had other plans. The promotion kept The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian on opposing sides, preserving a rivalry that became one of the most celebrated tag team feuds of its era.
“Because of that ladder match and what we did, breaking so many barriers, doing all this new stuff, we are the version of what tomorrow’s wrestlers look like. But obviously, that didn’t happen. They had different plans,” Hardy said.
There is a strong argument that WWE’s eventual direction delivered exactly what the division needed. The teams’ continued competitive conflict gave fans recurring matchups with escalating stakes and increasingly ambitious stipulations. The Hardy Boyz’ risk-taking image contrasted effectively with Edge & Christian’s opportunistic and increasingly entertaining heel personas, while the addition of The Dudley Boyz brought a bruising physicality that changed the texture of the series.
Still, Hardy’s recollection offers a compelling alternate vision. Before Edge and Christian’s eventual split and before each of the four men carved out distinct singles identities, there was a window where they could have been presented as one united act. A faction of that kind may have changed not only their own trajectory, but also the structure of WWE’s tag team landscape during a crucial period.
The Rivalry WWE Chose Instead
WWE did not unite the teams, and the choice allowed The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian to make their names through opposition. Their rivalry became inseparable from the broader evolution of ladder matches in the company. The No Mercy 1999 bout set a benchmark, and the teams’ later work helped establish a level of spectacle that influenced WWE’s tag team wrestling for years.
Their legacy was strengthened because neither team was treated as a temporary accessory to the other. The Hardys had their own connection with the audience, driven by their fearless in-ring style and distinct personalities. Edge & Christian developed into a sharply defined act with a combination of athletic credibility and character work. Keeping them apart enabled each team to gain momentum in its own right.
That eventual separation also mattered on an individual level. Matt and Jeff Hardy, Edge, and Christian all went on to achieve significant singles success in WWE. The original faction concept might have been memorable, but its members’ individual paths became equally important chapters in the company’s history.
Hardy’s proposal nevertheless reflects how quickly the four men understood the impact of their work at No Mercy. They were not merely participants in a successful match; Hardy believed they had demonstrated a different template for WWE performers. His description of the group as “what tomorrow’s wrestlers look like” captures the confidence surrounding the teams after a contest that remains widely remembered more than two decades later.
Matt and Jeff Hardy Face a Different Threat in TNA
While the WWE pitch belongs to the past, Matt and Jeff Hardy remain active together as a tag team in TNA. Their current situation is a far cry from the mutual-respect alliance Matt once envisioned for himself, Jeff, Edge, and Christian.
The Hardys are now dealing with a hostile tandem in Joseph Sawyer and Samuel Shaw, the team known as Syx in TNA. Sawyer and Shaw are also familiar to WWE viewers from their time there as Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis, respectively. As Syx, they have been running roughshod over Matt and Jeff, putting the former five-time TNA World Tag Team Champions in their sights.
The two teams met for the first time at Bound for Glory this past Sunday. That encounter marked the opening chapter of an issue involving one of wrestling’s most recognizable brother duos and a newer, sinister team intent on making a statement against them.
For Matt Hardy, the present-day rivalry is another reminder of how long his career has been tied to tag team wrestling’s biggest stories. From the boundary-pushing ladder matches that helped establish The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian as defining acts of their generation to the current conflict with Syx in TNA, Hardy has continued to occupy a central place in the division’s evolution.
His unused WWE faction idea will remain a fascinating hypothetical. The notion of The Hardy Boyz and Edge & Christian standing together as a united babyface force never made it past the pitch stage. Yet the fact that WWE went in the opposite direction helped create a rivalry whose impact is still felt across professional wrestling.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.