During a live episode of "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy," Matt Hardy recounted a story about the hazing he and his brother Jeff experienced during the early days of their WWE careers.
During a live edition of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Matt Hardy shared a story of him and his brother Jeff being hazed during the early part of their WWE careersâŚ
âYeah, especially in those days, it was kind of the Wild West days, and thankfully, for wrestlers that followed us, that has changed some. âWell, hell.â JBL was absolutely the master of hazing, and he would make sure the people belonged there. There was, once we started on the road, it was our second or third loop, maybe. We would do ten days, we would go, they would do a live TV, they would do a taped TV the next day, and then you would work through the whole week. You do ten days on, four days off. Itâs our third week on the road, and weâre actually flying from the TV to San Antonio, Texas, where our live event is that evening. One of our flights in the connection had totally been canceled, and it just wasnât happening. They knew we were going to be at the show late, and the opening match of the show was The Hardyz vs. Too Cool. I think they still Too Much at that time. We had worked with them for a few weeks. We were pretty cool. We knew what we were doing. We had told Jack Lanza, rest in peace. Jack Lanza was a producer of the show, and weâd let him know.â
âWe get to the venue that day, and these guys obviously all know about it. I remember we walked in the building, me and Jeff, weâre nervous as you can possibly be. We said, âWeâre so sorry guys, our flight was canceled, weâre so sorry. We got here as fast as we could.â I remember JBL said, âWell hell, The Hardyz have been on the road for three weeks. Two weeks and a little change, and now they think theyâre main-event big-time television stars. They think theyâre the champs, that theyâre more important than The Undertaker, then the Stone Colds, than all the other top stars here because they just show up whenever the hell they want to.â We said we let Jack Lanza know, we just got here as fast as we could. Weâre gonna try and change real quick because weâve got to be out there and wrestle in eight minutes.â
â[JBL] said, âAlright, well, since youâre such a big-timer, I know you donât want to shake my hand because Iâm just a piece of trash, the locker roomâs right over there. Thatâs the locker room you need.â I was like, âOh, thank you,â and we scurry, we run over there with our bags. Weâre nervous as shit, right. Weâre new and just starting and rookies, and the last thing we wanted to do was piss off these guys. We take our bags, and we roll into the room, and whenever the door opens and we take our bags inside, The Undertaker is in the room by himself, back in the corner, naked, wrapping his knees. We go, âOh my god, weâre so sorry.â JBL said, âOh no, you deserve to be in the dressing room with the main events since youâre a big star, you only stay here at the beginning.â âTaker said, âYeah, go ahead. Have a seat.â We said, âOh no, weâll leave.â âNo, no, we insist.â A couple other guys, they made a wall where we couldnât walk out of this room. We go, âOkay.â Now âTaker is just looking at us, naked, just staring us down. Weâre changing, getting dressed. âOkay, sorry, weâre gonna leave now, weâre going to the ring.â We go to the ring, we do our match, all good. We come to the back, and we go in that room. âTakerâs bag is still there where he dressed. He isnât there, but our bags, where they were, they werenât there. They were nowhere to be found.â
âI remember we came out, I said, âExcuse me guys,â maybe it was Bob Holly, âDid you happen to see anyone leave with our bags? They got our clothes and all out money and everything is in those bags.â He said, âWell, no, I donât know where your bags are. If you came and you dressed in the wrestling locker room and you got here on time, we would have looked after them. Well, youâre in here like a big star, somebody probably walked in and stole them. Maybe youâll get here earlier next time.â Then I said, âExcuse me, Mr. Bradshaw, do you happen to know where your bags are?â I said, âDid someone take them? I guess thatâs what happens when you dress in your own private locker room because youâre that big of a deal.â We just start searching throughout the arena. We probably searched for an hour, an hour and fifteen minutes. The shoe is starting to wind down, and Road Dogg grabs me, pulls me aside. He says, âHey, your bags are in the dumpster right outside, but they got zipped up real good. But they got zipped up real good, so your stuff didnât get messed up. But donât you tell anyone that I told you because I donât want none of the heat that you have.â We did, we finally found our bags, but that was a very commonplace thing back in those days, in the Attitude Era. The hazing was unreal.âÂ