During a recent episode of his podcast, TNA Wrestling Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy shared the backstory of how he and his brother Jeff ended up making a surprise cameo appearance at WWE SummerSlam 2025 during the TLC match for the tag team titles.
According to Hardy, the week began with WWE inviting the Hardys to film “evergreen content” for A&E programming and social media. “We’re WWE Legacy acts, and they view us as such,” Hardy explained, noting that they were already scheduled for filming on Friday.
It was during a conversation with Shane “Hurricane” Helms that the idea for a cameo at SummerSlam emerged. “I said, ‘Yeah, man, I was thinking about that TLC match. It might be neat if Jeff and I were there in the crowd watching… just to be there paying respect to the teams carrying the TLC tradition forward,’” Hardy recalled. Helms pitched the concept to WWE higher-ups, and the appearance was cleared “maybe Sunday morning or late Saturday night,” possibly by Triple H himself.
Helms later expanded the moment by also bringing in the Dudley Boyz, making the visual even more meaningful for fans. “I thought it was really cool that the Hardys and the Dudleys were sitting out there,” Hardy said. “We saw a couple of the teams before and thought, ‘Oh, man… now the OGs are going to be watching us.’ But it was fun, man. I was really proud of everybody.”
The cameo doubled as a tribute to the 25-year anniversary of the first-ever TLC match, a bout that the Hardys helped make famous alongside the Dudleys and Edge & Christian.
