Tonight is a night of WWE Smackdown that you DO NOT want to miss. It features the return of myself and my brother Jeff teaming together for what could possibly be the last time ever. Our dream as kids was to one day be the "World Tag Team Champions" in the WWE. We made that happen eight times over. Whatever you do, don't miss Smackdown tonight from 8-10 p.m. eastern-it will be a very special night.

On a very interesting side note, August 21st, 2009, marks the first time I've ever actually wrestled a match with an abdominal tear/hernia. When I was in 7th grade, during a standard sports physical, I was diagnosed with a inguinal hernia on my lower left side of my abdomen. The doctor that performed my surgery also informed me that a had an abdominal tear on my right side as well that would one day probably need to be corrected. The Doc said it wasn't bad enough to be fixed then, but any sports or physical contact would obviously make it worse. I discover wrestling. I fell in love with the idea of being a professional wrestling, particularly for the WWE. As I worked independent shows, my right side abdominal tear never bother me. I almost chalked it up to one of those things that I was just gonna be able to live with the rest of my life and it wouldn't be a problem. Once I joined the WWE and started on a full-time schedule, once every few months my intestines would slightly bulge or swell, and I would just push them back in. And then it would be months before this happened again. So I figured it wasn't that big of a deal, the last thing I wanted to do was take time off to get something fixed that really wasn't even bothering me. Fast forward almost ten years.

When my appendix ruptured, I remember being drugged and going into surgery asking if they could also repair my abdominal tear on my right side. They said no. They only do one surgery at a time. But they did tell me that slicing my abdominal area open to take out my appendix and clean me out would make my abdominal wall weaker-which would make my long time tear worse. 

I became the United States Champion in April of 2008. It was a big deal for me, but I could feel my abdominal tear slowing getting worse and bothering me more and more everyday. I wanted to have it fixed soon. Immediately after losing the United States Championship, I became the ECW Heavyweight Champion, which was a HUGE honor to me and for me. I remember wrestling Jack Swagger at a live event and feeling a painful tear of my abdomen. I had to have this fixed. The pain and discomfort of this injury was affecting my physical look, my in ring work, my training in the gym, almost every aspect of my career.. Everyday was a hard day for me at this point. Next thing you know, I'm embroiled in one of Smackdown's hottest issues that would ultimately lead to myself wrestling Jeff at Wrestlemania. There was no way in the world I was gonna miss that-another dream of ours as kids was to wrestle one another on the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania. And we did. I was then drafted to Raw and legitimately broke my hand at the Backlash PPV. I think due to overcompensating while working with my broken hand, I completely tore my abdominal wall on the right side in a match against Kofi Kingston and MVP. It felt like someone slashed my entire right side with a white hot butter knife. It was definitely one of the most painful things I've ever experienced. My intestines were protruding as big as a tennis ball, and they wouldn't push back in this time. Pretty gross and graphic to say the least. Graphic pic ahead..

I obviously couldn't put off the surgery any longer-God and fate had forced me to take the time off to get this issue corrected. And I did. On July 2nd, 2009, I finally had the surgery that was many years in the making. The doctor had explained to me that my intestines were all outta wack, and my foods or liquids weren't digesting properly. On top of that, the way my intestines were off track, it was almost like a water hose being "crimped"-not allowing the water to flow through it smooothly. That let to my entire abdominal area being swollen. It wasn't very intelligent of me to put the surgery off a couple of years, but I'm also too stubborn to take time away from what I love when things are going great. And just for the record, only 2 people knew about my condition, as I kept it hidden from WWE officials because I knew they would have pulled me from active duty immediately. Bottom line is this-kids don't try this at home or do what I always do, LOL.

I feel better than ever now. On Tuesday, August 11th, I got cleared by my Doc to train lightly. This last Tuesday, August 18th, I got the green light to start training heavy and to start wrestling again. I did everything I could during this time to make my comeback as quick as possible, while intelligently keeping in mind I had to be truly healthy. So tonight, on August 21st, 2009, I make my return to a WWE ring and couldn't be happy. I felt a tad of a step off my first night, and my body is nowhere near where I want it to be. Give me a month or 2 months now that I'm healthy. You'll see the best Matt Hardy you've ever seen. And that my friends.. IS A PROMISE! Make sure to catch Smackdown tonight.. It's definitely gonna be a historic one. And I thank everyone out there-whether you love me or you hate me-you motivate me to be better. Be well my friends,

 

Matt