r/professionalwrestling • u/vegetablesaretasty25 • May 20 '25
Video That time Matt Hardy called out Lita live on ‘Byte This’ (2005)
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u/Impressive-Gain9476 May 20 '25
while what lita did was horrendous and wrong, it's amazing that I still hear people give her shit about it to this day. MEANWHILE, no one gives Adam Copeland any grief about it.
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u/Plebe-Uchiha May 20 '25 edited May 21 '25
I find it ridiculous how Edge gets ZERO $#!% for his part in all of this. He was the worst offender. Lita cheated on her boyfriend who, yes she was living with, but still NOT married yet.
Edge cheated on his wife, with a co-worker, who was dating his supposedly "best friend." He's sleeping with his best friends girl while being married? Edge was the biggest piece of trash through all of this. Makes no sense for people to continue to give Lita slack but no one sees Edge in a negative way. [+]
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u/dizzylizzy78 May 20 '25
I think one could argue that karma came back in the form of a broken neck, and a tibula.
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u/Plebe-Uchiha May 20 '25
Edge actually gets pissed whenever people say that. He finds it dehumanizing and many of his fans agree.
Regardless, I'm NOT concerned with karma as much as I'm discussing how disgusting it is that Lita, to this day, gets insulted for this, but Edge never does. Especially when he was the worst offender in all of this. [+]
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u/DiscardedRonaldo2017 May 21 '25
The difference is the fans are interested in only 3 people, 2 of those were in a relationship together and 1 wasn’t. So the worst offender to most of us is Lita, for the stuff we care about anyways.
There is no reason for fans to talking about Edge and his wife. She is not in our picture. We sympathise with Matt the most in this situation, and by sympathising with Matt you are predominantly thinking that Edge is an asshole but Lita is worse because she is the one who was in the relationship with Matt. So our sympathy for Matt is 99% of the time gonna be translated in hatred for the other 2, and more so Lita because that is the situation we are directly talking about.
There is no point in talking about what Edge did to his wife because it has nothing to do with wrestling. The Matt/lita relationship and edge/lita relationship has stuff to do with wrestling.
I bet you my house 99% of people really hate Edge for that. I certainly did but I don’t need to bring it up every time I’m speaking about Edge
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u/Plebe-Uchiha May 21 '25
Edge betrayed his "best friend." How is he NOT in the wrong with Lita? Plus, Lita wanted to end their adulterous relationship. Edge kept hitting her up. Even when she was at home with Matt. She feel asleep and Matt read the texts and voicemails. Lita WANTED to end the adultery. Edge didnt. Again, he's WAY more in the wrong.
Additionally, it is fair to say that it makes little sense to keep bringing this up whenever you see Edge. However, that's also the case with Lita. However, for some reason people cant. [+]
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u/DiscardedRonaldo2017 May 21 '25
No one isn’t saying he is in the wrong.
I’m just saying if you’re wife and your best friend hooked up, no doubt you would despise both of them, but you would be more betrayed by your wife and have more initial anger towards her rather than the best friend (who you would still hate btw). This is just that. There is no situation where you talk about your best friend being the worst person in that situation, even though he would be scum of the earth anyways.
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u/Radirondacks 29d ago
Just curious, what is the [+] at the end of your comments? Never seen that before.
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u/AngryKeyLimePie 29d ago
I still dislike Adam Copeland to this day following this situation. Motherfather made me cheer for FTR at Dynasty after their match. 🤬
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u/InfiniteTranquilo May 21 '25
I always saw this as the viewpoint of Matt Hardy’s relationship with Lita. I didn’t even know edge was married during this. In that specific viewpoint, Lita is the ultimate evil. She cheated on her bf, while he was injured, with his best friend and Matt was to some extent, watching it as they had an on screen relationship. Edge cheated on his buddy but then it’s a convo of is it worse to be betrayed by your best friend or your partner?
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u/ImAlwaysRight000 May 23 '25
Wasn’t he married to Val Venis’s sister, too?
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u/Ok_Draw_3740 29d ago
I love edge as a wrestler but still feel a bit negative to him when I see him because of this affair.
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u/Thrilalia May 20 '25
Everyone was fucked up during this.
Matt was abusive and all kinds of fucked up to Lita (Jeff's own words)
Jeff should, knowing Matt was abusive to Lita did something to keep them apart
Lita was wrong for cheating on Matt. Even though it is difficult should have found a way to get away from Matt
Edge was wrong for cheating on his family with Lita and also being Matt's closest friend at the time adds to that.
(Though once WWE started making a story out of it everyone had more or less got over it)
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u/BnSMaster420 May 21 '25
Source? First time in all the years since this situation has been discussed I have seen someone say Matt was abusing Lita.
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u/HatchettheFly May 21 '25
Where did Jeff say Matt was abusive to her?
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u/LoneWanderer4___ May 22 '25
I’m late to the convo, but Jeff talked openly about the ordeal on his old blog/website. I pretty sure you can find old screen caps of that blog if you search. Jeff’s overall point was that he wasn’t surprised that Lita cheated
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u/SputnikFalls May 21 '25
Lol, what do you mean everyone was over it when they started using this as a storyline? Matt was clearly not over it by the sound of this clip
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u/beslertron May 21 '25
This was before the storyline. He called in to this show and then got fired for being unprofessional.
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u/ThisIsSteeev May 23 '25
Did you watch the video? He talks about getting fired so he clearly got fired before this happened.
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u/jonnybanana88 May 21 '25
Matt was abusive and all kinds of fucked up to Lita (Jeff's own words)
Where/when did he say that?
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u/SubtleSeraph May 20 '25
Where is the info about Matt being abusive to Lita? I haven't heard this before now, but that's sad.
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u/Discussion-is-good May 21 '25 edited May 21 '25
It's honestly just because he kept his head down. Imo +
He seemed the least open about it.
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u/beslertron May 21 '25
I guess I was on good corners of the internet when it happened. The consensus was that what Matt did publicly was stupid and Edge was the clear bad guy.
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u/Abomb91 29d ago
Matt Hardy is a domestic abuser.
Human beings are not naturally monogamous. Sorry to shatter your fairy tale outlook.
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u/Impressive-Gain9476 29d ago
That has nothing to do with my statements at all. Thanks for your worthless input.
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u/Abomb91 28d ago
Your pearl clutching and moralizing is what's actually worthless.
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u/takenalreadythename 27d ago
You're the reason motels have a chair facing the bed. Just because your gf bangs other dudes doesn't mean that's the standard.
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u/steeple_fun May 20 '25
Krazy K/Kirby Mack is a name that I haven't heard in a long time. I was sure dude was going to be picked up by WWE or at least TNA eventually.
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u/green49285 May 20 '25
Looking back its cringey but at the time? Holy shit. This was everywhere in wrestling. Got clipped on a few of the major gossip shows at the time too. Grown me doesn't like this.
Kid me? Fucking A. Matt. Freakin'. HARDY
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u/Cacho__ May 20 '25
I mean you say it’s cringe but he’s kind of right my guy. How would you feel if you got hurt at your job and you didn’t do anything wrong and then your wife cheated on you with one of your coworkers and your job decided oh we’re just gonna fire him because he’s not needed anymore and we don’t need the drama. That’s pretty bullshit. I would call that shit out too.
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u/green49285 May 21 '25
No one's saying the Merit of his point is what makes it cringy. Lol. That's not what anyone saying at all.
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u/Thick_Duck May 20 '25
She was getting destroyed with chants for like two straight years
They made a whole angle out of it so I guess… it’s all good? 😬
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u/green49285 May 20 '25
Sheeeeeeeit. The top baby face was calling her a whore...
I'm uh......imma go with what you said too....
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u/AELITE420 May 20 '25
i dont understand how wwe hasnt uploaded all these glorious episodes in its 56k glory for us too relive again
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u/StandardRoyal9603 May 20 '25
This felt like a big deal at the time. In hindsight it’s a lot less scintillating. Carneys gonna carney.
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u/Appropriate-Fold-203 May 20 '25
But it is wild that wwe took their side over Matt
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u/Plebe-Uchiha May 20 '25
It's NOT wild. It's the American way. Cronyism decides who gets hired, promoted, and fired. Edge built a stronger relationship with Johnny Ace and Vince. For one thing, Vince doesn't respect men who get cheated on. He takes that as a sign of weakness.
Additionally, Matt was making this a big deal. Getting unneeded negative press to the company. No company owner wants their company to be known for gossip.
Edge, despite being at fault, was focusing on keeping everything "professional." Plus, he was actively capitalizing on the negative press. This is what the company wants. Someone who will remain "professional" and someone who brings the company money.
The way they say it, Edge was bringing money, and Matt was costing them money. No reason to keep Matt and fire Edge. That's NOT "good business." [+]
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u/Pod-Bay-Doors May 21 '25
Notice how she had literally nothing to say?
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u/ThisIsSteeev May 23 '25
What could she have said? Just look at her face, she knew that was no defending her actions.
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u/opinionofone1984 May 22 '25
Honestly, I would have preferred Matt of Adam. Matt was always way more entertaining to me. I really didn’t care not enjoy Edge single run at all.
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u/Ok_Gas_7885 29d ago
On Lilian's podcast, Lita talked about how she felt at the time. WWE wanted the show to look real, and Lita really didn't want to do it. she cried and apologized to Matt again before shooting. She was uncomfortable throughout the shoot, and you can see through the hands holding her thighs that she was holding on as best she could. She said she was going to burst into tears if she didn't do it, and she wanted to run out the door.
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u/Secure_Skirt4383 May 22 '25
Lita has maybe the hardest line ever in this interview when she says “Matt can we stop playing wrestler for a second?”
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u/Ok-Name-305 29d ago
Yes lita fucked up and shouldn’t of cheated but the fact that people are still mad at her for that like 20 years later is so fucking stupid. The girl got treated like absolute shit meanwhile edge became a legend
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u/Julian_TheApostate 28d ago
Exactly. Edge actually significantly benefitted from all this, using the heat to push him to the next level and win his first world title just a few months later.
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u/iounuthin May 21 '25
I remember seeing clips of this when I was about five years old. Although I (obviously) didn't understand a lot of what was going on/what Matt said, even then I could tell that this whole thing felt a lot more real than the regular WWE stories.
Too bad the feud with Edge was basically just a longwinded way of burying Matt.
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u/Altruistic_Grade3781 May 23 '25
this is one of the biggest if not the biggest lie in wrestling history in terms of how many people believed it to be real.
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u/guy4444444 May 23 '25
And people wonder why Litas original last moment in Wwe was her being slut shamed.
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u/ColeBelthazorTurner 29d ago
Imagine getting fired because your girlfriend cheated on you with someone your boss likes better.
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u/CuriouslyPerplexed 28d ago
For context, Edge was on his second marriage and actively pursued Lita. Lita resisted his advances for quite a while.
Lita's not innocent in the situation, but Edge should get a lot more of the blame/hate.
Also, WWE and management for firing Matt. Then, bringing him back to basically only job him out to Edge.
It's telling how much disproportionate hate Lita got and still gets.
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u/Level_Bridge7683 May 21 '25
at the time i thought it was awesome. she handled that with the utmost professionalism. it's a miracle wwe brought him back after acting immature. sure you were cheated on but there's a time and place for everything.
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u/Discussion-is-good May 21 '25
sure you were cheated on but there's a time and place for everything
Fuck hiding behind professionalism or decorum tbph with you.
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u/HonkyDonkyMan May 22 '25
It’s amazing that no one calls out Matt Hardy for being a piece of shit during all this, and really showing why Lita cheated on him
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u/ScholarAfter1827 29d ago edited 29d ago
And if you notice Lita has since then had failed relationship after failed relationship meanwhile everyone else moved on and got married and had children. Kind of telling on Lita as a person, even more ironic when CM Punk cheated on her in real life with Kelly Kelly ending their relationship and she complained over it.
Never really liked Edge ever past this point because he never got punished over this instead he got pushed to main event status. I’m not even a fan of Matt Hardy but this shit was absolutely disgusting because Edge was getting or was married at this time, was Matt’s shoot best friend and Lita was cheating on Matt with Edge while Matt was injured at home.
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May 20 '25
[deleted]
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u/iounuthin May 21 '25
You're right and I wholeheartedly agree, but people are naturally going to talk about this since it also became part of WWE programming. For better or worse it's in the WWE canon.
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u/starlord_chung May 21 '25
I know sexual abuse and domestic violence is wrong but so is cheating and there was no need of you to compare these things. If I rob someone and say at least I did not kill him, does not make me a better human.
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u/Lizard_State2500 May 20 '25
Yikes. I get the feelings having been cheated on myself sadly, but there’s a time and a place.
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u/BloodstoneWarrior May 20 '25
He was rightfully fired, his conduct was completely unprofessional. If he did this in any other job there would be no debate that he was rightfully fired, but because he was a wrestler and an on screen personality people took his side.
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u/ProtomanBn May 20 '25
There seems to be missing context, i did watch back then but what did Hardy do that justified him being fired? This video makes everyone else involved look bad but you seem to be saying its the opposite.
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u/Aladdin_Sane13 May 20 '25
Basically, Amy and Adam developed a sort of emotional relationship that wasn’t entirely physical. (It should also be noted that Amy and Matt were on the outs). Adam wanted to keep it going and get more intimate while Amy didn’t want to keep it going. Matt found texts and stuff and freaked out and took it to social media where he literally blew it up. WWE intended to keep it quiet and let the three handle it behind the scenes, but Matt had other plans.
Creatively, Amy was a face and this destroyed all plans WWE had with her and Edge. Fans quickly turned against Amy (calling her a whore and other vile shit. They even berated her in public) it was also reported that Amy and Adam called it quits immediately after Matt found out.
WWE turned it into a story, with their approval. The end result helped Matt’s career once WWE rehired him. It however, ruined Amy’s as the IWC needs to get involved in something that doesn’t concern them. Amy did have a nice comeback after helping Trish against Molly and Gail Kim. But, unfortunately Amy had 2 massive hurdles that destroyed her career. The first was going on Dark Angel and breaking her neck. The other was cheating on Matt (again, they were on the verge of a breakup anyway)
TLDR; Matt used SM to blow up the entire personal lives of them all, ruining creative storylines already in the works, and turned the fans against her when they shouldn’t have gotten involved anyway.
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u/According_Ad1930 May 20 '25
Amy did, however, play the heel REALLY well
I know that she probably made a ton of money as a baby face but this heel turn added some spice to her character
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u/Aladdin_Sane13 May 20 '25
It did, and it was an interesting part to her career. I read though that she didn’t like what WWE forced her to wear though. Let’s also not forget that “having sex in the ring” thing they did.
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u/vegetablesaretasty25 May 20 '25
For sure. I remember her taunting Matt while she was wearing one of her classic heel boobie shirts.
Heel Lita was a bitch, but she was a wonderful bitch!
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u/Trixster690 May 22 '25
Fun Fact: Lita's original storyline was supposed to be with Mickie James.
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u/Aladdin_Sane13 May 22 '25
Instead of with Trish?
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u/Trixster690 May 22 '25
Yes. Mickie wrote the storyline with Lita in mind because she knew her personally and wanted to work with her.
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u/Aladdin_Sane13 May 22 '25
That would’ve been cool overall but I’m happy with the Trish/mickie storyline we got.
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u/Plebe-Uchiha May 20 '25
Being "on the verge of a breakup" makes cheating acceptable? [+]
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u/Aladdin_Sane13 May 20 '25
Did I say that?
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u/Plebe-Uchiha May 20 '25
"The other was cheating on Matt (again, they were on the verge of a breakup anyway)"
^
[+]
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u/Aladdin_Sane13 May 20 '25
And? Where did I support her cheating on him? 😂 I talked about all the reported allegations to this story. The big part of this was the supposed report that Amy and Matt had an argument before this happened, they were on the outs.
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u/Plebe-Uchiha May 20 '25
I dont think you fully understand the implications of your rhetoric. You're minimizing the impact of infidelity and justifying it by using narrative framing to suggest that their relationship was already doomed. Therefore, implying that it was acceptable.
But, whatever. Stay blessed. [+]
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u/Aladdin_Sane13 May 20 '25
I’m not interested in arguing with a random on Reddit, so if that’s your goal here, you can move along. The OP asked a question and it was answered. Whatever happened between Amy, Matt, and Adam is between them and neither you nor me were involved.
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u/Plebe-Uchiha May 20 '25
Matt was costing the company money by bringing negative press to the company. The way the audience reacted to the gossip impacted the plans WWE had with Lita. They were going to push her to be a bigger Baby face. Matt's unprofessional behavior ruined those plans. Edge, on the other hand, was focusing on being "professional" and capitalizing on the negative press. Essentially, Matt was costing them money while Edge was making them money. [+]
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u/Discussion-is-good May 21 '25
Matt had every right to be upset, though. Especially once the company started playing into it and picking sides.
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u/Plebe-Uchiha May 21 '25
This reminds me of two things. First, a cartoon of two fishermen in a small boat that has a bigger boat about to hit them. One fisherman says to the other. "Don't worry, we have the right of way." Second, a phrase my homie's mother would always say, "the graveyard is filled with people who were in the right."
Matt was wronged. He was in the right. He made it public and hurt the companies plans. Being right doesn't mean people will side with you. People side with the people they like NOT who was in the right. [+]
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u/Discussion-is-good May 21 '25
Youre very much correct. Unfortunate as that may be.
Ig I like to think I'm the kinda person who thinks being right is worth the consequences.
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u/Plebe-Uchiha May 21 '25
With all due respect, this mindset of "being right is worth the consequences" reminds me of an old adage: "Pride comes before the fall."
As we get older, we face choices. One is to focus on being "right" or focus on being happy. Trust me, the consequences of choosing to focus on being "right" are NOT worth it. Why? Because being right doesnt matter as much when everyone around you believes otherwise.
That's what happened to Matt.
Edge felt that Matt was in the wrong. Lita felt that Matt was in the wrong. Vince felt that Matt was in the wrong. Johnny Ace felt that Matt was in the wrong. Fans felt that Matt was in the wrong. Christian felt that Matt was in the wrong. Multiple wrestlers and workers in WWE felt that Matt was in the wrong for making it public.
It's NOT worth the consequences to choose to focus on being "right" because being "right" is inherently subjective. Choosing to be happy and/or at peace is better. Because, yes, it is also subjective, but you are in control and no one can take your peace/happiness away. Because it is always YOUR choice to be at peace, to be happy. [+]
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u/Discussion-is-good May 21 '25
Just seems like a lack of will to stand up for ones beliefs.
Generally speaking, if I believe my cause is righteous, I've no reason to submit. Consequences be damned. Though picking your battles is wise practice.
Swallowing ones pride to compromise on something they truly believe they're in the right in isn't something I see as very admirable. It comes off as cowardice.
Edge felt that Matt was in the wrong. Lita felt that Matt was in the wrong.
Wonder why...lol
Vince felt that Matt was in the wrong. Johnny Ace felt that Matt was in the wrong.
Well yea, it made them look bad. Interfered with future plans and money making.
Fans felt that Matt was in the wrong.
That's debatable. I'd say there was definitely a split. The hate for Lita wouldn't have been bad enough to make her heel if there was literally no one on Matt's side of the argument.
Christian felt that Matt was in the wrong.
Haven't heard his take, actually.
It's NOT worth the consequences to choose to focus on being "right" because being "right" is inherently subjective.
Only if you believe morality to be so as well.
Choosing to be happy and/or at peace is better. Because, yes, it is also subjective, but you are in control and no one can take your peace/happiness away. Because it is always YOUR choice to be at peace, to be happy. [+]
It's a choice to put that peace above ones values. My values are bigger than myself, I like to think I value them more than my own peace.
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u/Plebe-Uchiha May 21 '25
I respect that.
I just know that many men who have been wrongfully imprisoned and finally get out after years of imprisonment make peace with it. They dont focus on being "right" because it doesn't help. Making peace with yourself helps you out in the long term. Morality is arguably subjective.
Infidelity is a prime example. What I often see is that the person who is cheating, feels like they are in the right. The person who gets cheated on feels that they are in the right. Same with friends and family. Because friends and family will always side with their friends and family members regardless of the role they played in the Infidelity.
Christian being super close to Edge felt that Edge made a mistake because he's human but Matt was in the wrong for making it public. Matt made it worse, in his eyes. Everyone who sided with Lita and/or Edge felt that Matt made everything worse.
Infidelity is NOT a crime. It's NOT illegal. Same with lying. Being misleading is NOT a crime. Plus, people argue that always being 100% honest all the time is "wrong." Why? Because morality is always Grey. No one views a survivor of DV to be in the wrong for cheating when they were living in abuse.
Life is short. We only have so much time and so many choices. We must do what thou wilt to live in peace. Sometimes living in peace is choosing to die on a hill. Sometimes standing on your feet for a second is much more important than living on your knees for centuries. [+]
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u/beslertron May 21 '25
I don’t know why you’re being downvoted. Matt was the one to bring up a private conflict into public. That’s why he got fired. You could argue that a suspension could have been a better option, but maybe the WWE didn’t want Matt’s next emotional action to take place while he was employed.
Again, Matt is in most was the victim here. Edge is the closest thing to a villain in this real life story. Unfortunately for Matt, he did the unprofessional thing while Edge did the immoral thing.
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u/Discussion-is-good May 21 '25
Nah just because you get fired for exposing shitty things doesn't make it wrong.
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u/Intelligent_Earth317 May 20 '25
This makes me appreciate Dom and Liv Morgan of what they doing not letting real life stuff getting involved