Matt Hardy Recalls WWE's Attempt To Split Up The Hardy Boyz In 2001

Despite spending most of their careers joined at the hip, there have been times where either WWE or TNA have attempted to break up Matt and Jeff Hardy, with mixed results. Most would agree, however, that WWE's short-lived attempt to break the duo up in 2001, with their Team Extreme stablemate Lita caught in the middle, was the worst of the attempts. In an interview with "The Stunner," Matt Hardy revealed that the split was short-lived because Jeff Hardy didn't like the direction WWE wanted to take the split, leading to WWE killing the angle off and putting the Hardy's in the dog house.

"There was a storyline for our characters, and they wanted us to split up," Hardy said. "And there was a couple things that we were asked to do, and Jeff was uncomfortable and didn't want to do it. So we were off TV for awhile, as a punishment I guess. But we still did live events. And then they put us back together because we knew we weren't ready to separate and split up as a team yet."

Hardy was then asked if he was aware of what creative ideas his brother was uncomfortable with, and confirmed that he was. However, Hardy wouldn't elaborate on it any further, though he strongly implied it had to do with Lita, his then girlfriend, involvement, by telling the interviewer that he would "like to stay married."

In the end, The Hardys would continue to wrestle as a team for several more months after the aborted angle, before splitting up after Matt betrayed Jeff on a summer 2002 episode of "Raw." He would promptly jump to "SmackDown," beginning his "Matt Hardy Version 1" character, while Jeff would stay on "Raw" before departing WWE in early 2003.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "The Stunner" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription