From WWE.com:
I will definitely never forget 2005. At the beginning of the year, I was busting my ass rehabbing from a totally reconstructed left knee – but I also had a chance to step away from the madness of the schedule and lifestyle I had lived for seven years with WWE. I realized how great of a life I had; I was living my dream wrestling for WWE. I had an incredible relationship with an amazing girl named Amy Dumas, and I was surrounded by friends who were good people and cared about me. I couldn’t wait to return to a WWE ring and take my career to the next level. I couldn’t wait to marry Amy and have children and plan for our long-term future. I couldn’t wait to return to the road and be around friends like Shane Helms, Shannon Moore, Chris Jericho, Christian, Edge, and Joey Mercury.
But none of that happened.
On February 22, 2005, I learned that Amy and Edge (Adam Copeland) were involved in an intense affair behind my back. My life turned upside down, and then I was released from WWE – something I had worked my entire life for. I truly felt like I had lost everything. Most people would have quit right then or crawled into a corner and died. Not me. Matt Hardy will not die.
People started rallying behind me because I didn’t go quiet when the situation went down. I fought the power. Chants of “We Want Matt” and “You Screwed Matt” echoed whenever Edge or Lita performed. I got tens of thousands of e-mails from people who had been in a situation similar to mine. I felt it was my obligation to be strong and represent for all of those who had been betrayed by their mate, best friend, and/or company.
Then, there was an opportunity for me to return to WWE. I listened to my fans, thought about my long-term future, and thought about what people wanted to see from Matt Hardy. My MFers had caused enough of a stink with their chanting, protesting, and rallying that I owed it to them and myself to return to WWE. They wanted me to go back and get revenge on Edge and Lita – make them pay for their sins against me.
On July 11, I did exactly that. When I showed up at the Meadowlands in E. Rutherford, N.J., and attacked that scumbag Adam Copeland, I knew in my heart that I had made the right decision. I also knew it was going to be a tough and bumpy road, but in the end I would prevail. I was going up against Edge, who had become one of the top guys in WWE, and I would be returning to work for a company that had already once fired me. Things were going to be tough.
Eventually, Vince McMahon officially rehired me, and I shook his hand and appreciated the second chance. I was happy to have been given my dream back, especially considering the circumstances in which it was taken away. I can’t describe how emotionally and mentally hard it was going into SummerSlam facing someone I absolutely despised in a wrestling match – especially knowing that Amy Dumas would be in his corner on the outside. As you all know, the SummerSlam match was stopped due to my excessive bleeding and concern for my well-being.
I never quit, and I would live to fight another day. Week in and week out, I have been physically, mentally and emotionally pushed to my limits in this ordeal with Adam Copeland. The street fight we had in Tampa, Fla., was brutal, and the Side Effect that I gave Edge off the stage seriously damaged both of us. I couldn’t walk for two days after that.
Every time I was beat up and in no condition to wrestle, I was forced into matches that would further “damage” me. The supposed “wrestling experts” claim that WWE is attempting to sabotage me – to kill off the heart and soul of Matt Hardy.
News flash: It isn’t going to happen.
No one can break my spirit. Not Adam Copeland, not Amy Dumas, not WWE
not the “wrestling experts” that don’t get it, not the negative fans; it won’t happen. If my spirit wasn’t broken this summer after everything that went down, it won’t be broken.
I cannot thank the loyal people who have stood by me in this ordeal enough, and you know who you are. This Sunday at Unforgiven, it is Matt Hardy’s time to reward all the people who have believed in me since Day One by putting in the performance of a lifetime. It is also time for me to prove all the non-believers wrong. I want to be an example and inspiration of how you can overcome anything if you work hard enough and truly believe.
I’ve already regained my professional life back, and it feels better than ever. In Oklahoma City – when I take care of Edge once and for all – I put the exclamation point on being back in WWE and better than ever. I have also always believed that I would come out of this terrible scenario with a better personal life, and that’s slowly but surely happening.
Thank you all so much for supporting and believing in me, I always do my best to never let anyone down. This Sunday, everyone will see why “I Will Not Die” is not just a catch phrase, it’s a way of life for me.
–Matt Hardy
Well it appears as though Hardy is back in work mode. I’m sure if he didn’t have his job right now he’d have an entire different view of things.
