O Brother, Where Art Thou?
2 CommentsMatt Hardy has been released from TNA. (more…)
Matt Hardy has been released from TNA. (more…)
Happy New Year to one and all! I’d hope each and every single one of you have been ploughing merrily into the beer/wine/champagne/snakebite (?) by now and simply having a ball of a time. Here’s to a good 2011, both in wrestling and for everybody personally. On with the topics!
The saga of one Matt Hardy continues to be ongoing into the new year it seems, with this latest video tirade from the former WWE mid-card star. In his most recent video, Matt (who was wearing a “PG SUX!” t-shirt) asked his loyal fans how he should get his hair cut. Adding to this, the man decreed that he would make 2011 his year and would definitely “change pro wrestling forever”.
Having been a big Hardy Boys fan over the years, I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything Matt has been associated with. His much-lauded tag-team with brother Jeff was responsible for many fantastic matches in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s and I loved his initial solo run as “Matt Hardy: Version 1”. It’s therefore pretty sad to see where he’s ended up, even if the guy himself appears to be pretty happy with life. Sure, this writer is all for engaging your fan-base. However, didn’t Matt say almost exactly the same things last year?
It’s seen as fact now that Matt will join his sibling in the merry land of TNA when his no-compete clause with WWE expires. Will he become just another WWE release who is pushed to the moon by the fine folks at Orlando? Or will he show his true potential as a star and further his career in the iMPACT! Zone? Only time will tell. One thing’s for sure, taking cheap clothing-related shots at your former employers is hardly professional or befitting of a man who was such a company man up until recently.
It seems the youth initiative in WWE is set to proceed, with Welsh grappler Mason Ryan the next in line to receive a shot at stardom. Company officials are apparently extremely high on Ryan, who stands 6 ft 6 in and weighs in at around 280 lbs. What won’t be hurting his career is his striking resemblance to huge WWE name Dave Batista, who had recently left the company in the Summer.
Word is that the promotion are looking to almost immediately push Mason to the moon and have him slot comfortably into a high position on the card. Ryan (real name; Barri Griffiths) has an impressive physique and an intimidating presence, something us fans know will stand him in good stead.
Having seen the man perform in person, he does come across scarily similar to Batista, albeit a very raw and untested Batista. There was also a lot there to remind me of a younger Brock Lesnar too. This might be one to keep your eye on for the new year. Perhaps a move to the struggling Smackdown brand is in the Welshman’s near future, where they are in dire need of some top-line help.
Having been one of the young wrestlers TNA hoped would become a major player, Shawn Hernandez is ready to return to the company early in the new year. The big man has been plying his trade in Mexico for the past while, on extended leave from the Orlando-based group. Featuring on cards promoted by Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), it now seems as though he’s ready to have another crack at success in North America.
In my humble opinion, I was really disappointed by Hernandez feud with fellow man-mountain, Matt Morgan last year in TNA and would love for him to be given another chance in a profiled program. It just seemed to be a case of the pair not gelling with one another inside the ring, failing to capture the fans imaginations and leading to some stifled and rather uninteresting matches. Hopefully, we can chalk this one up to experience and both men will find their rhythm with other opponents in the future.
Hernandez was clearly the stand-out from the well received “LAX” team with Homicide and would have been a clear favourite to become a main event-level performer in 2010. This never seemed to happen for the big guy, and while we can argue about why not – he obviously deserves another shot.
I’d love to hear YOUR opinion on the topics discussed here. Quite frankly, they’re as important as mine. Sometimes even more so! The banter and chatter amongst fans is truly what makes pro wrestling such an amazing form of entertainment. Almost everybody has something to say. I love that. You can leave a comment below or send a quickfire email my way – jamiekennedy@live.com I’ll be sure to respond to anything and everything. Quite frankly, I just love talking to people about the wild and wacky world of wrasslin’! TAKE IT HOME!
At the Royal Rumble, Matt Hardy cracked his brother Jeff over the head with a steel chair, giving Edge the WWE Championship. On ECW this past Tuesday, we found out that Matt is no longer with the brand and is now officially a member of the SmackDown roster. What will the elder Hardy have to say about his actions? We’ll find out tonight on SmackDown!
Full review after the jump! (more…)
By now, we all know that Matt Hardy turned on his brother Jeff this past Sunday at the Royal Rumble, blasting him with a chair and costing him the WWE Championship. From that point, several fans of the Hardys came out of the woodwork to condemn Matt’s actions on his MySpace, many of whom seem to believe that because Matt turned on Jeff, it automatically means that Matt was behind everything that’s happened to Jeff since Survivor Series in November. I’m here to tell you why it wasn’t Matt Hardy behind the attacks.
First, there was the attack the night before Survivor Series. Jeff is out of action, he can’t compete in the WWE Championship match, and Edge swoops in to win the title. The following Friday on SmackDown, Jeff competed in a “Beat the Clock Challenge.” Jeff’s match was first, where he set the pace. Matt was the opponent of Vladimir Kozlov in the challenge, and he did everything in his power to prevent Kozlov from beating Jeff’s time. This shows Matt as being supportive of his brother, rather than trying to harm him. Ultimately, Jeff tied with Triple H in the challenge and went on to a Triple Threat match at Armageddon.
Triple H had the WWE Championship won at Armageddon when Vladimir Kozlov interfered and prevented him from getting the pinfall on Edge. Matt came out and attacked Kozlov. Matt’s attack on Kozlov would make no sense if he were working with Edge, because Edge was the one Kozlov saved. Jeff went on to win the match and the WWE Championship.
In the weeks that followed, the Hardys worked together, competing in tag team matches and supporting each other as a part of the “Hardy Party,” which saw both men as World Champions. A few weeks later, mysterious things started to happen to Jeff.
First, there was the hit-and-run accident. If you watch the “police video,” the policeman asked Jeff if he know the person who hit him. Jeff said that he’d never seen him before in his life. I’m pretty sure that Jeff would have recognized his own brother, even if he didn’t know the vehicle.
Over the course of the next week, Matt loses the ECW Championship to Jack Swagger, and Jeff returns to SmackDown, only to be blown up when the pyrotechnics were tampered with. This is the only thing that’s happened to Jeff that the storyline will allow me to believe could have been done by Matt. Matt was in the building, Matt was upset because he lost his title, and perhaps he was jealous because Jeff still had his. Not to mention that Matt was the last person to come out and check on his little brother as he was being rolled away on a stretcher.
The attack at the Royal Rumble shouldn’t have been that surprising, and maybe things look suspicious, but if you look at the facts presented here, it’s clearly not Matt who did all those crazy things to Jeff…
On a historic Inauguration Day, ECW on SciFi eminates from the Allstate Arena in Chicago, IL. Tonight, it’s a fatal four way match featuring The Miz, John Morrison, Finlay, and Mark Henry. Also, will we hear anything new about Tommy Dreamer’s potential retirement? All this, and ECW Champion Jack Swagger, tonight on SciFi!
Review after the jump! (more…)