Lita Recalls Almost Quitting WWE During Edge – Matt Hardy Storyline

This week on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette, WWE Hall of Famer Lita spoke out about the infamous love triangle showcased between herself, Matt Hardy and Edge. As character assassination and personal trauma crept in throughout this very personal and off-putting 18-month storyline, Lita mentioned how bombarded she still is today with the negative backlash on social media.

"It's still talked about. My relationships are commented on a regular basis, on my Instagram still or social media," Lita revealed. "Meanwhile, all of the men involved, you know, anything not controversial like with [CM] Punk or Edge or Matt, I guarantee they don't get asked about it. I know they don't get asked about it because they're dudes, and, you know, it's that double standard thing. I think at this point that's the problem; what I hold onto, feeling the double standard.

"But I'll tell you it was not easy. I mean, for sure, I almost quit a month [into] the whole love triangle. At that point, not only was it so hard, it was also out of shame. Like, I wasn't proud of how I conducted myself. Yes, if I had to do it all over again, I absolutely would have handled myself differently. But I didn't. So, I was like, make the bed, and you lie in it. And at that point, I was just like, I deserve all of these terrible things that everybody is saying to me. I deserve not wanting to wake up every morning. It was also difficult, as time passed, to let myself off the hook. The only way you can move forward with your life is, sure, you learn from your mistakes and keep going, but you have to forgive yourself."

With social media playing such an integral part in our daily lives, Lita believes if this past storyline were exhibited today, she might have some people on her side – backing her up. But she stated that very loosely.

"I don't know. So, it's interesting, 'cause with age comes wisdom. It's hard to hypostasize because that just wouldn't happen. I have a better skill set to communicate and navigate my day-to-day," Lita began. "But, that happened to me, and there was very limited social media at that point, so I can only imagine in that current day and age with social media. But then now, I think I would have some people, at least, taking my side, whereas I just felt like literally, everyone was against me. I felt very alone and isolated and just in a really bad place."

Despite being thrown to the wolves completely throughout this whole angle, Lita mentioned how she and Edge vowed to remain quiet. To this day, she still doesn't know if that was the best choice.

"So, Adam and I talked at the time. We were just like because we can't unequivocally deny 100 percent of what's being put out there – and I was not happy with how I conducted myself; I didn't want to act like I was justifying my actions or trying to make excuses – we both just chose to let it run its course. Matt was choosing to really take to the internet and get the fans behind him, so let him act that way, but we're choosing to stay quiet. I don't know if that was even the best way. Like, I don't know what would have been the best way. Given the fallout, how else would I have done that?" Lita stated.

Paquette gave Lita the option to close this portion of the interview by talking about the Live Sex Celebration – if she felt comfortable doing so. With that said, Lita did make one final comment on that unpleasant moment by saying that she did not think they needed to do that in front of fans and spectators watching worldwide.

"What happened was that it became headline stuff, and I look at Twitch as my clubhouse. Also, I never break any stories there. I talked about that I was not cool with doing that. Like, I've talked about that since '05, and it's just never made any headlines. But now, since we've evolved, fortunately as a climate and society, it was, like, shocking not that long ago. But, yeah, my story has never changed," Lita concluded.

You can listen to Lita's full interview here. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Oral Sessions w/Renée Paquette with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.