Matt Hardy has opened up about how one iconic WWE match played a key role in shaping the Hardy Boyz’ signature style.
Speaking on his podcast, The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy explained that the ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Scott Hall at WrestleMania X left a lasting impression on both himself and Jeff Hardy.
“That match had a hold on us,” Hardy said. “It made us want to experiment with ladders… We’d never seen anything like it.”
Matt recalled how, in their early days as backyard wrestlers, Jeff Hardy would regularly buy ladders through his landscaping job, only for them to be destroyed during matches before being replaced, much to their father’s confusion.
“We thought the concept was so cool,” Hardy said. “There’s a belt hanging, you have to climb up the ladder to get it, the way they used the ladder as a weapon… and then Shawn took a couple bumps.”
Matt Hardy Praised WrestleMania X Ladder Match For Its Storytelling & Psychology
While ladder matches have since become known for high-risk moments, Matt Hardy emphasised that the original bout at WrestleMania X stood out for its storytelling and psychology.
“They did a lot of really cool, innovative stuff… and it’s something that we saw, and it resonated with us, and we were like, ‘Whoa, I want to do something like that!’”
While Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon at WrestleMania X is remembered as the first Ladder Match in WWE, it actually wasn’t the first Ladder Match in WWE, as Bret Hart and Michaels competed in a Ladder Match for a Prime Time Wrestling TV Taping on July 21, 1992, two years before WrestleMania X, for the Intercontinental Title.
