In 2010, when Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff initiated their plan to pry away control of IMPACT Wrestling from Dixie Carter, they created one of the most stacked factions of all time to back them up. Check out this star-studded lineup, all of whom were part of Immortal in one iteration or another: Jeff Hardy, Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Ric Flair, AJ Styles, Bobby Roode, James Storm, Kazarian, Gunner, Matt Morgan, Bully Ray, Kurt Angle, Hernandez, Mr. Anderson, Doug Williams, Scott Steiner – the list goes on and on. It truly is a challenge to find a faction in professional wrestling with more household names than Immortal – but that wouldn’t stop them from adding more.
At Bound for Glory 2010, Jeff Hardy made a deal with the devil by siding with Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff and the rest of Immortal. It become apparent that Jeff was part of the plan all along. In the main event of IMPACT Wrestling’s biggest pay-per-view of the year, Jeff was part of a three-way match against Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson to crown a new World Champion, after the belt had been vacated just a couple months prior. Jeff Hardy shocked the world as he attacked his opponents, who at the time were not part of Immortal, with one of Hogan’s crutches. This allowed him to score the pinfall and win the IMPACT Wrestling World Championship. That night, Jeff Hardy not only betrayed the fans, but his peers as well. One his best friends at the time, Rob Van Dam came out with the same shocked look on his face as everyone else in the arena. Jeff didn’t think twice before clobbering him over the head with his newly won title belt. This was a more powerful and intimidating version of Jeff Hardy than we had ever seen before. Hogan and Bischoff knew there was more where that came from.
After witnessing Jeff’s change of heart, Rob Van Dam became a constant thorn in the side of Immortal. He battled them at every turn, trying to thwart their progress of obtaining control over IMPACT Wrestling. More than anything, however, he wanted revenge on Jeff Hardy. In January 2011, Hogan and Bischoff wanted to play mind games with the “Whole F’N Show”. With complete control over IMPACT Wrestling, they informed him he had a match at the upcoming Genesis pay-per-view event but his opponent would remain a mystery. Earlier in the night, Van Dam pleaded with Bischoff – if he was going to compete, he wanted it to be against Jeff Hardy! Shockingly, Bischoff gave in to Van Dam’s demands. Bischoff responded “You want Hardy, you got Hardy!”
Van Dam stood in the middle of the ring, anxiously awaiting his opportunity to get revenge one of his former best friends, Jeff Hardy. The music hit but it wasn’t Jeff’s familiar tune. Bischoff wasn’t lying when he told Van Dam his opponent would be Hardy – it was Matt Hardy! Jeff’s brother, Matt came to the ring and it become clear that Hogan and Bischoff were able to recruit him into the ranks of Immortal! Van Dam was as shocked as anyone – not only because Matt Hardy was in IMPACT Wrestling, but he had also fallen victim to Immortal’s brainwashing. After a hard-fought contest, Immortal’s reign of dominance continued as Matt defeated Van Dam with a vicious Twist of Hate. However, the match wasn’t without controversy as Van Dam’s leg was under the bottom rope when the referee counted the three, unjustly awarding the match to Matt Hardy.
The age of Immortal was only just beginning and now, they had a totally reinvented Matt Hardy on their side. He was as ominous and vicious as ever, he was – Cold-Blooded Matt Hardy.
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