Matt Hardy Remembers Legendary 1999 No Mercy Ladder Match

Matt Hardy shared some fond memories of one of the most iconic matches of his career that took place back when he was still something of a rookie in WWE.

Although No Mercy 1999 was headlined by a No Holds Barred match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H, many longtime fans believe that the ladder match between The Hardys and Edge & Christian not only stole the show, but was considered a Match of the Year Contender.

That match was also the first in a series of high-profile weapons-based tag matches that would come to define the period from late 1999 to the end of 2001.

Shortly after this match took place, the Dudleyz entered the fray and those three teams would go on to have some iconic triangle matches for WWE’s tag titles, including the Triangle Ladder Match at WrestleMania 2000 and TLC I and II.

Considering that this particular ladder match at No Mercy is what started it all, Matt Hardy spoke with Sports Illustrated and discussed what was going through his mind before it happened and what the fallout was once it was over.

“Before that match, none of us knew what was about to happen. All we knew was that we were gifted with an opportunity and we wanted to make the most of it. Jeff and I had wrestled several ladder matches before the WWE on the indies, when I wrestled as Surge against Jeff, who was under a mask as Willow the Wisp. We had a pretty good grasp on ladder matches, and we thought Edge and Christian would excel there, too.

All we knew was that this was a chance to become something bigger than we were. All these years later, I can still hear the applause. It went on all match. The next night on Raw, we got another standing ovation.

The way audiences reacted to us, it kept getting stronger and stronger. We realized we made magic, but we never knew it would be that big. I can’t wait to watch it back and share some parts of the match that haven’t been shared.”

Matt Hardy has had his attention split in many directions as of late. Most recently, he found himself involved in an online spat with Jim Cornette and Brian Last, which has caused some interesting back-and-forth between the two industry veterans.