Better late than never, I’m back with another People’s Column. I apologize for the delay, but 15 hour days do not leave a whole lot of time for writing about wrestling. Luckily, I was able to set some time aside for writing about it now. To read more, including thoughts on The Nexus either breaking up or John Cena joining them and on Miz and Daniel Bryan check out itswilltime.wordpress.com.
For the last month, people have been talking about Matt Hardy. He has been the source of controversy for year after year. Even right now, he continues to post videos that contradict the rumors about him (but also confirm them). How did someone who had such a bright future end up in the state he is in today.
Matt Hardy started out as a jobber for WWE in the 1990s. He was one of the best at selling for guys and gave it his all. Eventually he was called up to the actual WWE roster with his brother, Jeff. The two of them debuted looking like the Rockers, complete with tassels. Their high risk offense instantly set them apart in the WWE tag team division. They were paired with Michael Hayes and Gangrel and seemed to be going in a darker direction.
Hardy’s career would change with the Terri Invitational Tournament. This was a best of five series that Edge and Christian would have against The Hardy Boys. The final match of this series featured the first ever tag team ladder match. This match took the bar set by Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels and raised it to another level. These two teams would go on to further revolutionize this type of match along with The Dudley Boys.
The Hardy’s hung out in the tag team division for a long time until they were forced to be on different brands. Then Matt Hardy had an amazing breakout moment. As the lead heel of WWE’s Cruiserweight Division (which was pretty good at the time) Matt Hardy became Version 1. This character was a cocky heel who graced his fans with “Matt Facts” and had a very unique, streaming video like entrance. This character, although it was used for comedy at times, was brilliant. Hardy worked hard to make it work and his own slight arrogance played out well.
This was the period of time where Matt Hardy did the best mic work of his career, which would be his downfall. Fast forward to 2005, where a scorned Matt Hardy had a ready-made angle to elevate him to a main eventer. Edge has stolen his long-time girlfriend, Lita, in both real life and on screen. Fans all over the country were chanting “You screwed Matt” as Edge came to the ring. In this feud, Edge was the brash and cocky heel showing off his new girl, Lita. Matt Hardy was given an opportunity to cut a promo on Edge. Sadly, it bombed, and this angle with it. This would be known as the moment that Edge became Rated-R and a main eventer. It would also become the first moment that Matt Hardy dropped the ball on. Within a year, Matt Hardy did not move up or down the card, while Edge was a World Champion.
Fast forward again to 2009. Matt Hardy was given another great opportunity. His brother, Jeff, was the hottest star in wrestling and coming off of a WWE Championship reign that was ended by Matt. Now the brothers seemed set to have a legitimate feud and Matt had the opportunity to be one of the hottest heels in the business. Once again, Matt Hardy seemed unable to put together the promo that sold himself in that way.
Since then, Matt Hardy has been unable to get ahead. Every chance he has been given be WWE has bombed, and so much of it was his own fault. Hardy’s lack of promo ability has hurt him time and time again. I would assume that after the first time, he would take some acting classes and learn more about doing promos. Why should WWE place any faith in him when he cannot produce where he needs to.
Matt Hardy is okay in the ring, although his condition is becoming rapidly worse. On top of that, he has not been able to deliver when he should. That’s all for this week folks! Check back at itswilltime.wordpress.com for more on the John Cena joining Nexus situation and Miz and Daniel Bryan!
