Hope your weekend is going well for everyone. Normally I shy away from providing commentary because I’m afraid of it coming off as one-sided, but with the happenings in the news this week, I had a thought process and I put it on the computer. I might do this here and there, depending on how this debut column goes. I’m not the best column writer there is and I don’t believe in writing pages worth of material. Sometimes little can go a long ways. I’m more interested in providing a place for people to express themselves because it will be interesting to see if people actually see where I am going with this. Enjoy the debut of The Marshall Report.
With nearly two weeks to go until WWE’s biggest show of the year, it’s only good to provide some commentary about the biggest news story to shake up the world of sports entertainment. Surprising, it isn’t about “Money†Mayweather.
“Hear this? *toilet flush* That’s the sound of Jeff Hardy’s Career.â€
We reported it on the Pulse. Matthew Michaels wrote a nice comment about it. The readers talked about it in the forums. Now it’s time to provide a spin about this. Call this a conspiracy theory, some nonsense coming from the mind of a 24 year old part-time college student, or some kind of literary work that should earn me the Nobel Peace Prize. I’m kidding about the latter, but let us take a look at this.
Drugs…Really?
Jeff Hardy was informed of his suspension before RAW went on the air this past Monday. Truth be told, he actually busted his ass to try to give Vince and company a reason to not forget about him after he eventually returns. However, when asked by the press, WWE Officials had no comment as to what Jeff Hardy was suspended for. Call a time out there, because if I am correct, aren’t they supposed to make that information public as well as listing the names of the Wellness Policy offenders? Let’s list the past violators of the Wellness Policy starting from the date they were made public, shall we?
The Naughty List
Chris Mordetsky (Chris Masters) – November 2, 2007 (Second Violation – Was later released)
Harry Smith (D.H. Smith) – November 2, 2007
Derrick Neikirk – January 16, 2008
Neil Bzibziak – January 16, 2008
Jeff Hardy – March 11, 2008
Chris Masters was later released from the after his second violation. D.H. Smith was just brought up to the main roster before his suspension was announced. The news going around his suspension was that WWE needed a name to announce since they intended on going public and he was the unlucky person. Neikirk and Bzibzak were in the developmental system which meant that few people knew about them. This news wasn’t pleasing the government one bit.
The Conspiracy
After reading an article on Prowrestling.NET and providing my response in the super-secret forum, I was intrigued about how Jeff Hardy was more or less a sacrificial lamb for the WWE heading into one of the company’s biggest Pay-Per-Views of the year, Wrestlemania. Vince knew for a fact that Congress was going to tell him and other WWE Officials that the Wellness Policy is nothing but a load of horse manure. That could very well explain why Vince adequately cancelled his invitation to the hearings since his one attorney could not make it. With that out of the way, Vince knew he would have to make a big splash.
Then comes March 11. Jeff Hardy wrestles his ass off against Chris Jericho and lost in a good effort, the Intercontinental Championship. When it was announced that Hardy was suspended for 60 days and would miss Wrestlemania, the proverbial toilet flush was heard around the world. Jeff Hardy would have his chances of being a main event player were up in smoke. Although there is a section in the Wellness Policy that would had allowed Hardy to continue to compete up to Wrestlemania and not get paid for it, Vince knew that by changing the script, he would have something to brag about should the government say that the policy isn’t up to par.
The Aftermath
Perhaps Jeff Hardy’s suspension is the last straw that broke the camel’s back. People are most likely taking notice that the Wellness Policy is for real. Hardy’s second suspension is going to cost him six figures, no doubt. Whether the suspension was actually for a problem Jeff Hardy undoubtedly has, or if it was a media ploy to keep the government satisfied, we will most likely never know. Here is hope that Jeff Hardy can bounce back from this setback and return a new person. Perhaps he will still have a World Title run sometime in the future.
That is all for the first edition of The Marshall Report. Thanks for reading and I will see you Monday for the RAW Report Card in Real-Time!
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