Hello all. Lambert is on vacation, so no debate this week. Also, it’s now glaringly obvious the inherent problems with doing a fortnightly column, especially on a Friday: all the good stuff has already been discussed  ad nauseum. In the two weeks since last I wrote, the WWE sacked an absurd number of people, HBK turned on Hogan, Piper returned, and of course, Matt Hardy returned, after swerving the net. To avoid being severely behind the times, I won’t even bother discussing the sackings, as I’m sure reading about yet another opinion is low on your list of priorities. As far as Matt Hardy goes, I’ll try to keep it short.
Matt Hardy returns, and the Internet Era (seemingly) begins
Well, unless you live in a shed, or if you wait specifically for my column to get your news (HA!), you know that Matt Hardy shockingly returned to Raw this week, promising to get revenge on Edge and Lita. Some IWCers have bitched, claiming hypocrisy (amongst other things). I direct you to Haley’s Comment; in short, I agree with everything he says regarding the Hardy story. With the recent trend of “worked shoots” on wwe.com, the Matt Hardy situation seems to have officially ushered in a new Internet Era.
Possibly realizing that their fans are becoming more and more web-savvy, WWE has changed its approach to its website, which was becoming increasingly stale. In the space of just a couple of weeks, they have had interviews with recently-sacked wrestlers, “shoot” interviews about real-life situations, and now “worked shoot” angles capitalising on these same real-life situations. JBL stiffed the Blue Meanie at the ECW PPV, which led to shoot interviews from Stevie Richards and the Meanie himself, which led to the bWo re-forming on Smackdown to start a feud with JBL, culminating (so far) with a vicious chairshot “receipt” from Richards to JBL.
For the latest worked shoot angle, Matt Hardy has played his part perfectly. He has been in constant contact with his fans via his website, counting down the days until his “Independence Day,” where he would be free from his no-compete clause. On that very day, he made his return to Raw, when we all thought he was done with them, at least for the time being. Now, Hardy also has independent dates booked, including a match with Ring of Honor, whom he has pimped on both Raw and Byte This. This just makes the situation seem even more “real” than it already does, and I’m loving it. I watch Raw religiously every week, and I have for years. I did the same with Smackdown as well, until I moved to my current apartment, where I can’t get UPN. Anyway, I watch every week, no matter what. It’s just what I do. However, I’m going to agree with…now hold onto your armrests…Scott Keith: I am actually excited to watch now! With everything that has gone down lately, it truly does feel like anything can happen, and that’s a feeling that has been sorely lacking for awhile now. It’s also the best thing WWE could have done in this competition-free era. For once, I am happy to not know what’s going to happen next!
The Adventure of Links
Ross Williams is back, and will always get a pimp from me.
Eric S and I may disagree about recent “hypocrisy,” but I have to support a fellow Democrat.
Hevia, on the other hand, gets a pimp in spite of his political affiliation. :-)
The Summer of Hyatte continues!
Gordi writes a fitting tribute to Shinya Hashimoto.
Gloomchen. Enough said.
Mathan and Tim have your DC goodness.
And, as I would be remiss if I didn’t pimp myself, this week I reviewed Return of Donna Troy and Villains United.
Let me know what you thought via e-mail or IM, and I’ll see you here in two weeks.
AIM = GoldenAce 007
