Matt Hardy Reflects on Iconic WrestleMania 2000 Triple Threat Ladder Match

On a recent episode of "Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy," AEW star Matt Hardy shared his insights and memories about the legendary triple threat ladder match at WrestleMania 2000, which featured The Hardys, The Dudley Boyz, and Edge & Christian. Below are some key highlights from his discussion:

On the Expectations for the Match

Matt Hardy recalled the high stakes and concerns from the backstage team regarding the dangerous stunts planned for the match. He said, “I think the expectations from the office and the people in the back, they didn’t want more than three people to die. I mean, they were a little freaked out about what we’re going to do, right? Because they gave us — you know, they really did. They were very open about allowing us to do what we wanted to do."

Hardy elaborated on the complex setup of the match, mentioning the construction of a "super table" that needed to be stable enough for Edge and Christian to stand on top of two 10-feet ladders. “That thing was like built so it wouldn’t fall. Because like if you just put a table up there on its own, it’s so wobbly that it would fall immediately. And it still was pretty unstable,” he added.

On Michael Hayes' Advice Before the Match

Hardy shared a memorable piece of advice from Michael Hayes before the match, highlighting the significance of the occasion and the freedom given to them. “One thing that I’ll never forget, and this is something that stands out so crazy. Because now it is so hard to get television time properly on a show like Raw, or Smackdown or AEW Dynamite, Rampage, Collision, whatever it may be. NXT, Ring of Honor. And we went at WrestleMania, and I want to say we had like 24 minutes,” Hardy recounted.

He continued, “Bruce Prichard, who was running gorilla, who was timing the matches, who would give you the countdown... Before we went out, he said, ‘Hey, we know you guys have a ton of crazy things planned tonight. So we don’t want any of you to rush.’ This was all of our first WrestleMania, too... He said, ‘Take your time; time is not an issue. Take all the time you want, we’re okay on the show. It’s a little light; take all the time you want.’”

On Approaching the Bout

Discussing the collaborative nature of the match, Hardy emphasized the group effort involved in planning and executing the stunts. “The first ever triangle ladder match — in essence, the TLC blueprint — was very much a group effort. Everybody worked together, we all brainstormed... We wanted to go all out, right? We wanted to really make our WrestleMania moment, and we wanted our legacy to be great. So we’re gonna go out there, and we’re gonna do all we could to steal the show; that was our goal, obviously.”

Hardy also reflected on the learning experiences from the match, particularly in terms of match psychology and strategy. “We’re kind of learning on the fly, about like, where should you set up a ladder in the ring to make it look like you are trying to actually win the match, as opposed to just doing a move on someone... TLC Two was the best from a psychology standpoint and in my opinion, it just all made the most sense.”