Legend says Vince McMahon demanded he beat The Undertaker in shock WWE win

The Undertaker was one of Vince McMahon's top attractions during his 30-year WWE run between 1990 and 2020. In a recent podcast episode, Matt Hardy recalled how McMahon once instructed him to record a major upset win over The Deadman.

On October 3, 2002, Hardy surprisingly defeated The Undertaker in a Falls Count Anywhere match on SmackDown. The finish saw Brock Lesnar interfere before hitting the 2022 WWE Hall of Famer with an F-5 backstage. Seconds later, Hardy pinned his opponent to secure a pinfall victory.

Speaking on his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, the current TNA star disclosed details about McMahon's involvement in the match outcome.

"Even the time where I had the Falls Count Anywhere match with 'Taker, there was one point where 'Taker said, 'Well, what if we did this? Maybe the finish could be this.' [Vince McMahon said] 'I don't care what we end up doing as the finish, but Matt Hardy has to win this because I wanna keep moving him up. He has to win this match. He has to pin The Undertaker when it's all said and done,'" Hardy said. [30:49 – 31:06]

The storyline led to a Hell in a Cell match at No Mercy 2002, where Brock Lesnar retained the WWE Championship against The Undertaker.

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Matt Hardy was grateful for Vince McMahon's support

At the time, Matt Hardy performed as the Version 1.0 character after his popular tag team partnership with his brother Jeff ended.

Looking back, Hardy is pleased he had Vince McMahon's backing at a crucial stage of his career as a singles competitor:

"Vince was very adamant about that [defeating The Undertaker], and that was a great thing. I'd never really felt like that around Vince. I was his guy right there and he really fought hard for me." [31:08 – 31:18]

The Hardy Boyz recently appeared on NXT as part of WWE's cross-promotional agreement with TNA. According to Matt Hardy, one NXT talent "looks like a star" and has a bright future in wrestling.

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Please credit The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.