Matt Hardy Recalls JBL Upsetting Evander Holyfield

It was a strange series of events that led to Matt Hardy fighting Evander Holyfield in a WWE boxing match back in 2007, and it almost didn't happen because of John Bradshaw Layfield, as Hardy revealed on "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy."

"I want to keep him as far away from my wife as I can, I think he's got, he's got babies with several different women,'" Hardy recalls Layfield saying when Holyfield was brought into the fold. "That feed was also going into Evander Holyfield's locker room, and the speaker was on, and they heard this, and the manager was his fiancé/wife. So then she got furious over this, and they went to Vince, and they almost pulled out."

At the time, Hardy was feuding with Montel Vontavious Porter, aka MVP, with the two engaging in different competitions such as basketball, push-ups, and an eating contest. They were next scheduled to face off in a boxing match, but plans changed when it was discovered that MVP couldn't compete due to a heart issue. Instead of canceling the fight, Evander Holyfield was chosen as MVP's replacement, and despite Layfield's comments, Holyfield wound up not pulling out of the match, which went on as planned on an episode of "Saturday Night's Main Event" and ended in a no contest. Hardy believes JBL apologized to Holyfield — "I think he had to. That's why they stuck around" — and recalled a conversation that he, McMahon, and JBL all had following the event.

"Vince said, 'F***, John, what the f*** is wrong with you. We almost lost Evander, dammit! We almost like lost Evander.'" Hardy said. "[JBL] said, 'Are you kidding me, Vince?' He said, 'We almost lost Matt!' Which even made Vince laugh."