Disclaimer: Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Adam Copeland, Shannon Moore, Shane Helms, Rey Mysterio, Jamie Knoble etc. do not belong to me. But thank you God (or Steph McMahon, but hey, same thing) that Matt moved to Smackdown…now he might actually do something once a month!
Author: Chimera
Part: 1/?
Summary: A backstory on Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore, set in 2004 and beyond. The future isn't too bright for two Superstars…apparently…
At only thirty years old, Matt Hardy had never imagined where he'd be. Never had anyone asked 'Where do you think you'll be when you're thirty?' It was always 'Where will you be in ten years?' or sometimes even 'Where will you be when you're forty?' Never thirty. But then of course, the answer was always 'Hopefully still in the WWF/WWE, and holding a title, whether a singles or with Jeff." Occasionally his answer was even 'Live for the moment. I'll worry about tomorrow tomorrow."
He had never even entertained the thought that he'd be out of the wrestling business.
But he was.
Everyone had thought that Jeff would be the first of the Hardy brothers to duck out. Maybe with a broken back from a bad ladder match, or brain damage from a shoddy Swanton, or even just general wear-and-tear.
Well, Matt had gotten all the bad luck in the family.
Early on in his 'career', not even in the WWF, he had hyper-extended both knees. At different times. That had killed about four months. It took a month each time to improve, then an extra couple of weeks to fully heal. A severely broken shoulder blade took three months before he could get back in the ring to take tiny bumps. Even in the WWF he hadn't been injury-free. Broken nose, broken orbital bone, broken cheekbone, broken arm, broken fingers…he couldn't even remember them all.
Then the last match happened.
It was a fairly major deal…who was he kidding, it was quite possibly the biggest match of his life. In a fluke match a few weeks before, he had gotten the Undisputed Title from the champion Edge. In the good old tag-team fashion, they had decided to settle it in a two-man TLC, deciding to make it for SummerSlam 2004. Pretty much forfeiting the title was not the way he wanted it to happen.
He had set up the smaller ladder in the ring, almost touching the ropes nearest the ramp. He remembered irrationally thinking 'This is almost the exact spot where Jeff set up his in the 1999 No Mercy match'. Edge was lying on the mat, straight underneath the title. He had made his way up, the fans alternately cheering and booing as the heel made his way to the last rung. Standing on the ladder, he took one more glance over his shoulder at where Edge was lying. Then, facing the Titantron, he flipped.
Edge moved.
The moonsault was perfect. The height was perfect. The landing was not.
His chin had connected with the mat, ricocheting his head backwards. He had hit with such force that his back arched with impact, and he had almost done a backwards roll over himself. By that time he had blacked out.
Apparently the force had rolled him over until he was on the apron of the ring. Edge, being the good guy that he was, kicked him out of the ring, before climbing the ladder…and when Matt watched the tape, he could see that hardly anyone was cheering. Most people were standing, staring off-screen at where his prone body must have been lying.
Rob Zombie hit the speakers, and a few bewildered cheers rose out of the crowd, similar to the disaster late 2002 when Nidia won the cruiserweight belt.
EMTs rushed the ring. A seriously cracked C6 neck bone was soon diagnosed, and it was announced the next day that he would be a long time, if ever, coming back to the ring again.
SummerSlam 2004 was Matt Hardy's last WWE match.
Shannon Moore was actively referred to as the 'flash' of the OMEGA group in the WWE. Not quite grasping cruiserweight style like Shane Helms, but not going for suicidal moves quite as much as Jeff Hardy, and also not a mat general like Matt Hardy…he was a mix of everything that forced people to watch him. Natural charisma, Matt had once put it, saying that he had enough of it to lift up a barren battle royale. Flashy enough to win the cruiserweight belt three times, twice losing it to Rey Mysterio and once vacating the title after a disaster match.
Jamie Knoble and he had gotten into a fierce competition in the summer of 2004. The Hurricane/Knoble feud was long over; Nidia not lasting long with Knoble before sneaking off and joining a newbie and equal sleaze. So, it was naturally fitting that they would settle their 'differences' at SummerSlam.
Their match was second, and Shannon was 'handed the torch' of winning after Jeff Hardy retained the Intercontinental Championship. Shannon patted the title around his waist reassuringly, bounding out to his music and thunderous cheers. Ironically enough, back in OMEGA and out of their little group, Matt was the only heel-a role he kept to that day.
Jamie was coming out to jeers and spats; he regularly insulted the crowd even worse than Kurt Angle, and unfortunately for him, he hadn't held a title since 2002. They circled each other, regular cruiserweight moves getting out of the way in fifteen minutes. Shannon always expected the highest of his opponents, and in turn that made a good match.
Twenty minutes after their entrances, Shannon was going for a relatively new move, the 'Give Me Moore' top rope tornado DDT. Jamie, however, despite their feud, had never experienced the move, and had no idea what to do.
A bad reversal sent Shannon over the ropes onto the floor, Jamie connecting with the canvas hard enough to knock him out. Charles Robinson's ten count let Shannon retain the title, and allowed the EMTs to check on both participants.
Shannon had no time to react, so his position of a twisted hunch made him land on his lower back. He had nudged out a tiny splinter of bone from his hip, and sent it dangerously close to a main artery. Any hard bumping before he got it removed could start internal hemorrhaging.
SummerSlam 2004 was Shannon Moore's last WWE match.
Supposedly.