[IWC] 1Wrestling and PWInsider Clash on TNA Report, Ryder Spoils RAW?

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In an interesting bit of Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) news, 1Wrestling.com’s Bob Ryder, who also works in an off-screen capacity for TNA, posted the following “Potential RAW Spoiler” just before 7pm EDT today:

Are the recent rants posted by Matt Hardy all a smokescreen for a return to WWE?

A hot rumor spreading today is that Hardy may appear on RAW as early as tonight.

If so, the return to WWE would come after Hardy has increased his online attacks on Edge and Lita, and comes just as his 90 day no-compete ends.

That should come as an interesting post, particularly following all of Matt’s “cryptic comments” on his Web site leading up to today’s end of his WWE no-compete clause, the teases on TNA iMPACT! by Jeff Jarrett that Matt would be coming in, the ROH and other indie bookings Matt has committed to, and of course Ryder’s ties to TNA and the potential he knows more than he’s letting on. That being said, Ryder’s response to Matt Hardy ACTUALLY SHOWING UP ON TONIGHT’S RAW is an interesting one:

The potential spoiler we wrote about before RAW turned out to be true.

Matt Hardy made his return to WWE tonight on RAW during a backstage segment. As Edge and Lita were walking backstage, Hardy attacked Edge from behind before running out the back door.

During the match that followed, the crowd chanted “We want Matt”. At the end of the match, Hardy hit the ring to attack Edge to a huge ovation. The two were pulled apart and Hardy got the microphone and told Edge and Lita he would make their life miserable and said “WWE can kiss my ass”. At one point Hardy said “I’ll see everybody at Ring of Honor”. Hardy was swarmed by security and cuffed.

The angle resembles the old “loose cannon” storyline that Brian Pillman did. Hardy played his role to perfection and the crowd was solidly behind him. Hardy screamed again “WWE can kiss my ass” as he was led backstage.

Probably the most realistic thing WWE has done in years.

In other IWC news, at 5:20 pm EDT today, PWInsider.com’s Buck Woodward posted an Elite Audio Hotline that, among other things, discussed a rumor from PWInsider reporter Mike Johnson that claimed Raven and 3 Live Kru wouldn’t be on this weekend’s TNA No Surrender PPV. This audio hotline can be found here.

At 6:35, 1Wrestling.com’s Bob Ryder, who also works backstage at TNA, posted a response which called Johnson out for being inaccurate and said, among other things:

There have been some pretty reckless reports online in recent months about TNA, but this one is at the top of the list.

The hotline has not been removed from the pwinsider website, but a brief correction and apology was posted.

The correction/apology noted by Ryder was, according to an InsidePulse.com reader who is also a PWInsider Elite subscriber:

NOTE: Shortly after this hotline was posted, a source within TNA contacted PWInsider.com to clarify the Raven and 3 Live Kru item discussed in the hotline. The situation is that Raven and 3 Live Kru are being kept off a Gladiator Championship Wrestling event because it is being taped for Pay-per-view, which is in violation of their agreements with TNA. We apologize for the error.

PWInsider’s core staff of Dave Scherer, Buck Woodward and Mike Johnson are former members of 1Wrestling.com, having split from the site over a year ago. They have rarely butted heads publicly since the split, but we’ll have more on this should it escalate.

Matthew Michaels is editor emeritus of Pulse Wrestling, and has been since the site launched.