Matt Hardy Looks Back At Game-Changing Ladder Match At WWE No Mercy 1999

While The Hardys, Edge, and Christian have seemingly had an endless amount of great matches against each other, the one that kickstarted it all was a ladder match between them at WWE No Mercy 1999. Fought not for the WWE Tag Team Championship but for the managerial services of Terri Runnels, the match was so acclaimed that both teams received ovations at the PPV and the night after on "WWE Raw," and the match was considered a launching point for both teams.

In an interview with "Sports Illustrated," Matt Hardy gave his thoughts on the match, which he plans to rewatch during a live episode of "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" taking place in Boston this week, prior to "AEW Dynamite: Blood and Guts" on Wednesday night.

"Before that match, none of us knew what was about to happen," says Hardy. "All we knew was that we were gifted with an opportunity and we wanted to make the most of it. Jeff and I had wrestled several ladder matches before the WWE on the indies, when I wrestled as Surge against Jeff, who was under a mask as Willow the Wisp. We had a pretty good grasp on ladder matches, and we thought Edge and Christian would excel there, too.

"All we knew was that this was a chance to become something bigger than we were. All these years later, I can still hear the applause. It went on all match. The next night on 'Raw,' we got another standing ovation. The way audiences reacted to us, it kept getting stronger and stronger. We realized we made magic, but we never knew it would be that big. I can't wait to watch it back and share some parts of the match that haven't been shared."