Adam 'Edge' Copeland Discusses Working With Matt Hardy In WWE During Personal Issues

The best storylines in wrestling are usually rooted in truth, so it's no surprise that Matt Hardy's real-life-inspired storyline with Lita and Edge was critically acclaimed. Playing off the drama surrounding Lita's relationships with both Hardy and Adam "Edge" Copeland, WWE capitalized on their real-life turmoil to build an on-screen feud that fans still talk about to this day. Just shy of 20 years later, Matt Hardy and Adam "Edge" Copeland are friends again, but Copeland was asked on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" about what it was like to work with Hardy on a professional level during this time when tensions were still so high.  

"Well... we're here, right? Okay. So how do we try and pull some positives out of a lousy situation?" Copeland recalled. "And a lousy situation that — I made the bed, right? And also, the company wants to run with this. Well, let's try to make a good story out of this, a good program out of this. Let's try and make money out of this. Because at that stage, what else are you going to do?" 

Lita dated Matt Hardy through early 2005 until she became involved with Copeland. Hardy aired his dirty laundry on the internet, which led WWE to fire him for unprofessional conduct. However, he was soon rehired when WWE realized how much fan support he was generating during Lita and Edge TV segments. The two then engaged in several high-profile matches, including a brutal steel cage match at WWE Unforgiven 2005. However, Copeland said that, behind the scenes, the hatchet was buried pretty quickly.

"Once we both realized, 'Oh, okay. Still the same guys. Still have the same chemistry, still have the same everything.' I feel like the fanbase took a lot longer to come around to the idea that we were okay than we did."