Guys, I miss The Hardys
 

This probably isn't threadworthy but I've been watching a lot of Youtube videos of Jeff & Matt Hardy matches and I miss them in the WWE. I know there's a handful of posters on here that don't like them. I certainly hope they come back to the WWE, and if you ask me it's only a matter of time. Especially TNA being the sinking ship it is, I expect Jeff in the WWE soon.


Thoughts?

Jeff is a liability and shouldn't be hired anywhere, to be honest. It was a mistake on TNA's part to give him yet another chance, to be honest.

Their time has come and gone. It's time to move on.

I get that he's a draw but he's definitely proven that he can't be trusted with a major load. He's part of the reason why everybody does the "lol TNA" thing as much as they do. They had to cancel the main event of a PPV because he's a junky. Personally, it's not a guy I would be thrilled to do business with. I "get it" but it's definitely not something I would do. If it was one incident I wouldn't be so apprehensive but he's missed flights, missed shows, shown up fucked up, and ruined high profile shows/angles.

Personally Id rather just deal with guys that I know are going to perform and guys that I know aren't going to be a liability. I understand why they still do business with him, I just can't help but think they'll probably regret it again at some point.

To be honest.

Or not to be honest.

I stopped liking the Hardys around 2003 when Jeff started going off the deep end with paint and shit.

Loved me some Team Extreme

I will never forget their awesome matches back then, especially ones involving tables, ladders and chairs.

Really can't fathom how TNA can ever put any sort of trust in Jeff Hardy again after that PPV with Sting incident.

I can certainly see them doing business together again, but they should keep him strictly mid-card.

Matt was always the better Hardy to me. You know, before he lost his fucking mind.

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I'd like to see The Hardys as a tag team in WWE again. That's about it. They could be really useful to boost interest in the division. They'd be the what the Legion of Doom were in 98. Mind you, could do the same thing with the New Age Outlaws and they're already under contract.

The Hardy's can still wrestle though, feel like Road Dogg is half a match away from a heart attack

Then again I haven't seen Matt recently.

Party hardy, bro

Matt is in ROH right now putting on some quality matches. They should just never give him the microphone. And they should probably shut off his Internet and his phone.

I dunno his recent YouTube vids have been pretty entertaining.

So could the Dudley's or Edge and Christian if Edge could still wrestle. Any of those four teams could help revive the tag division.

Apart from Edge not being able to wrestle, of course.

He mentioned that, dickhead.

But why would he mention it if it couldn't happen? At least I think that was XL's point.

I wouldn't be opposed to a Vitamin C reunion, though.

I honestly think they're both the risk, they both put on quality matches still

Edge vs Matt Hardy really could've been one of the greatest feuds of all time, to be honest. It's still probably in my top 3 but that first match at Summerslam almost completely ruined the entire thing for me. To me, that first match should have been a brutal and bloody war ending in a no contest with both guys not being able to continue. It was pretty apparent that right out of the gate, WWE wanted To send a message to Hardy. Matt got a ton of heat for complaining on the Internet, not letting the issue go, and basically building a following against Edge. The WWE really didn't really have much of a choice but to hire Hardy back after his droves of fans continually hijacked the show and I don't think it set very well with them. That first Summerslam match really could've been one of the best matches in modern wrestling history but they really ruined it with their bitterness. Edge basically brutalized Matt and WWE weakened the feud right off the bat. They ended up having a fucking phenomenal program with each other afterwards but Ill always view that SS match as one of the biggest missed opportunities ever. IMO, it was the difference between Matt being a WHC contender for years to come and him being an upper mid carder like he turned out to be.

I wrote an essay back in uni that had something to do with wrestling and wrestling fandom, and I used the Matt Hardy/Edge feud as an example of fan reaction, and I cited sources and quotes from RIGHT HERE on TPWW.

The WWE seems to have absolutely no respect for things that they didn't help create. It doesn't matter if there's a dumpster full of cash to be made, if they didn't create it and if they can't completely control it, they don't want it to be the focal point of their shows. That's where the Edge/Hardy feud suffered, that's why Zack Ryder is currently suffering. It's a very childish mentality to have.

If they had booked that feud the way it should've been booked, we might be watching a Hardy/Edge rivalry DVD right now. That's how huge I think that angle could've been. It's a pretty frustrating thing to deal with as a fan of the WWE.

Jeff's last run in WWE was pretty mint

Matt's promo skills are what held him back which is odd because he was so good with the V1 gimmick. Zack Ryder got his opportunity and he blew it. He was in the middle of the ring with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. He was given the mic and instead of sealing the deal he blew it. Where is Zack Ryder's massive fanbase now? It is gone because he found something that got him over for the short term, and he couldn't take it any farther when given the ball. He got a big U.S. Championship win and put all over TV. He couldn't hold is own and couldn't establish himself as anything other than a shallow gimmick.

It was.

I always wanted to see them relaunch the HHH/HBK feud after the initial DX reunion, but have HBK turn heel on HHH. HBK finally gets fed up of being treated like a joke and a goofy old man.

I also think HBK should have won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 23.

Bingo.

*Whoosh*

You're still a dickhead.

They said Shawn Michaels would never wrestle again either, and look at what he did after a debilitating injury. Edge will get some robot spine in a few years and make an epic comeback.

FYI: You are still a huge dickhead.

Exactly. I'm really sick of the whole "WWE only likes what they made" BS, and I have to again point out the mutually exclusive "Vince only cares about money" and "Vince only cares about ego" opinions. Matt Hardy should have come out of his feud with Edge shining like gold, but after the "you screwed Matt" air wore off, he had nothing further to give that interested anyone. Same thing with Ryder. The fans put him in a position to succeed on a massive level with his self-made gimmick, but he had nothing to follow it up with and people got bored.

I miss the Hardys too, but neither of those guys is a good idea to rely on in any way, shape, or form in the long-term. Jeff is far too interested in smoking up and far too easily distracted by shiny objects. His last WWE was gold, as was said, but that has a lot more to do with the fact that it was (deliberately) ended before he could do what he ended up doing in TNA. Matt is just too fucked up in the head and I honestly think he is way too bothered by the fact that Jeff gets so much more attention for being exciting and flashy than he gets for being the solid worker with better fundamentals. Part of me doesn't even feel like the V1 gimmick was a work. There is too much of an air of "I'm the best and wah wah wah nobody sees it" from him.

In all seriousness, I wonder if Edge's injury hasn't been deliberately overblown so that he can make a huge surprise comeback someday. I don't believe this to be the case, but if he showed up one day in just that fashion my response would definitely be "I fucking knew it!"

They tried to squash that feud right off the bat before Edge or Hardy did much of anything. That Summerslam match was inexcusable and an example of WWE sour grapes. They wanted to let Matt Hardy know that they do things on their own terms with their own creative ideas, not on his terms with ideas that the WWE didn't create. That could have been such a money feud but money wasn't as important to them as teaching a lesson was.

Is it just possible that Matt Hardy wasn't that good and not ready to be in that spot?

Jeff vs Matt from WM25 sucked. The build wasn't bad, but the match sucked. Every time Matt WWE put him in a high profile borderline main event singles match/feud, he blew it.

FFS, remember the promo he cut when Vince hired him back?

This PWInsider article pretty much sums up most of my feelings on that Edhe/Hardy feud. Written in 2008. It even mentions the shoddy Hardy promo work. The promos shouldn't have been that big of a problem considering they know Hardy can cut promos. It could've been worked on fairly easily. The potential for this feud was fucking ridiculous and they ruined it.

They didn't give that match very much time at all. Not even close to what they should've given it. They tried to put a ton of spots into a very short match. Even with what they had, I'll still always remember that spot that won the match. It's been seared into my head forever.

And James Steele, you can't be that much of a promo snob if Triple H is your favorite wrestler. Lets get real here.

It's WWE's fault that Matt Hardy can't cut a promo to save his life and fight for match outcomes?

Triple H is a great promo guy. He can be long-winded, but he can cut a damn good promo as a babyface, heel, badass, goofball, rich snob, etc.

Whose fault is it they tried to do nothing but spots? Matt and Jeff. It is Wrestle-fucking-Mania and you are wrestling your brother. They know how to put a good fucking match together regardless of time. It was a 13 minute match. They didn't need 30 minutes to tell a story. They decided to be cheap and just do a shitload of spots. It sucked balls. Show/Cena/Edge only got 14 minutes as well. No fucking excuse for 2 allegedly seasoned veterans to put on that shitfest. If it was Batista/Orton instead of Jeff/Matt you wouldn't be finding excuses for them. (All match times according to Wikipedia)

The MITB match that year only had 1 more minute of time than their match, and they were able to deliver a good spotfest. No reason Matt and Jeff the "high spot kings" couldn't deliver.

It is WWE's fault that they can't capitalize on huge opportunities that are served to them on a silver platter. You're making a much bigger deal of the promos than it needs to be. They were fine, they just weren't "knock it out of the park" amazing. That situation will probably never happen again in the history of wrestling. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that could've bred hundreds of other creative ideas off of its back. The matches were fucking incredible, sans that abortion Summerslam match where they tried to bury Hardy right off the bat out of bitterness. The emotion involved was unreal and it really showed in every single one of those matches. How both guys didn't get catapulted into the main event after a feud like that is not only baffling, it is downright irresponsible. That feud could've been revisited for years to come whenever they needed a money match on a PPV. The WWE completely fucking blew it on this.

"The promos could've been better" is a really horrible reason to throw money into the garbage. And like I said, they really weren't all that bad. They weren't good, but they were serviceable given the circumstances. Do you think Paul Heyman or Jim Cornette would've set money on fire because of a mediocre promo? The answer is no and neither would any reasonable business person. Nobody paying attention at that time was like "omg, fucking promos," they were immersed in the "I can't believe this is fucking happening right now" aspect of it all.

I agree they should have been given more time at SummerSlam, but the feud continued for months and they had brutal long matches. If having a short match can completely derail your career, then you were never going to make it to begin with.

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x2abtw"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2abtw_edge-vs-matt-hardy-summerslam-2005_sport" target="_blank">Edge vs Matt Hardy SummerSlam 2005</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/SmackDown54" target="_blank">SmackDown54</a></i>

It is really easy to explain why both didn't make it into the main event. Matt Hardy wasn'tt good enough to be a main eventer and Edge was. Promos do matter when a feud is based entirely off of emotion and hatred. Matt Hardy couldn't sustain his overness once the Jerry Springer heat wore off of Edge. Also, the SummerSlam match being short does at least makes sense since they were literally beating the shit out of each other and basically fighting. 2 guys trying to kill each other and going at the pace they were can't go on for 30 minutes.

Allegedly they were supposed to have 6-7 more minutes and it was cut down minutes before the match started. And it wasn't a shitfest at all. You are completely exaggerating. And why would a match with tons of weapons with two guys that are known for crazy spots not include spots? You seem like you're being pretty biased right now. They had a lot of things planned and had to cut it down on the fly. Seems reasonable that it all seemed rushed.

And by the way, do you remember your hero being in one of the worst WM main events ever? Do you not offer excuses for that match? I'm fairly certain I've seen you make them.

I also don't think it is wise to build a long-term feud around a very nasty personal situation. We hammer WWE if they use someone's alcoholism, death, drug use, etc. in storylines.

The match itself wasn't bad. The crowd was drained and the stipulations didn't fit the storyline. It is hardly one of the worst WM main events ever.

Why are you exaggerating so much? The promos were not laughably bad or anything, but they could've been better on Hardy's part. And I just explained to you why anybody with a reasonable business sense could've made money on this feud. This situation was so good they could've made a fortune on it even if Matt Hardy was completely deaf and couldn't deliver a promo at all. You don't let things like this just go. This situation will NEVER happen again. Never. Not ever.

Probably the biggest missed opportunity in WWE history, IMO.

See? You're fine offering excuses when it involves things that you care about.

...and I'm the one exaggerating?

I didn't excuse the wrestlers or the match for not delivering. I simply stated why it did. You just are saying "nuh uh. It had a sick finish! It needed more time!" 13 minutes is plenty of time for a midcard match at WrestleMania.

Edge/Mysterio vs Brock/Tajiri. It is shorter than Matt/Jeff and is probably better.

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x2333t"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2333t_brock-lesnar-tajiri-vs-rey-mysterio_sport" target="_blank">Brock Lesnar &amp; Tajiri vs Rey Mysterio &amp; Edge</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/SmackDown54" target="_blank">SmackDown54</a></i>

I'm not exaggerating. I really think it could've been fucking gigantic if the WWE knew what they had even remotely.

And that's not what I'm doing at all. Nobody wanted their money back after that Hardy/Hardy match. It was an entertaining match but it didn't live up to expectations at all. Part of the reason is because the match was rushed and they tried to fit a ton into a small period of time. And the ending was sick.

And yes, I don't remember being more disappointed in a WWE main event than I was after that Trips /Orton match. Maybe Miz/Cena.

Narc, do you think the Benoit/Sullivan feud could have been a marquee feud for WCW and led them into the new millenium?

Matt and Jeff know how to work a match. They could have cut out some of those spots and put on a much better match that told the story better. Matt killed Jeff's dog, burned his house down, burned him with pyro, etc. It shouldn't have just been a spotfest.

Hey speaking of WWE main eventers that were absolutely fucking incredible on the mic, there's Brock Lesnar!

For everyone's enjoyment:

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:lol: Are you really trying to compare Brock Lesnar and Matt Hardy? Lesnar didn't need to ever say a word. Brock Lesnar is the personification of "spectacle".

Hey James, do you think that the Goldberg/Hogan match should've been cancelled because Bill Goldberg can't cut a promo to save his life?

Let's continue asking questions that further our points but that are completely out of context.

"What about my dawwwwwg, Matt? What about Jack, man?"

:lol: Are you really trying to compare Goldberg and Matt Hardy? Goldberg didn't need to ever say a word. Goldberg is the personification of "spectacle".

Oh. So you mean he didn't have to cut the greatest promos because his work in the ring and the story lines were enough to push him into the main event? Interesting stuff.

I will say that WWE was stupid for turning Matt babyface like 2 months after WM25.

It's almost as if that same principle could be applied to other situations.

Golberg sucked in the ring. So did Hogan and Ultimate Warrior. Wrestling isn't always about the ring work. Some guys have such off the charts natural charisma and an aura about them that they draw in spite of their shit wrestling. Brock Lesnar had that aura but could actually wrestle. Perfect storm of greatness for Brock Lesnar. Matt Hardy is a decent to good wrestler and shit to below average on the mic. He has never had an aura on his own. He leeched off of Jeff Hardy and the sympathy people felt for him with the Lita situation. If Matt/Lita weren't such an established on-screen couple, I don't think it would have anywhere near as big of a deal to the fans.

Edge took the opportunity and made the most out of it. Matt didn't and just continued to whine and bitch for the rest of his career.

Do you know what else was a spectacle? That Edge/Hardy storyline that will never happen again. Are we getting somewhere yet?

No. Whores cheating on their boyfriends isn't all that revolutionary or rare. See: Sullivan/Benoit/Woman, See: Val Venis' first year in the WWF.

People got tired of him whining about the whole situation, but somehow it could have been a years long eternal battle of wills over some well-used poongtang?

See? There you go again trying to simplify what was a very complex situation. It was not just about the cheating. Edge/Lita had an affair which caused Matt to flip his shit on the Internet. The WWE, seeing that this was a shitstorm fired Hardy because they saw more in Edge than they did in Hardy. Then for the next couple of months, Edge couldn't even go to the ring without 9 million Matt Hardy fans wanting to rip him limb from limb. Matt Hardy fans literally hijacked every show that Edge was on for months. It got to the point that WWE couldn't ignore it anymore and were pretty much forced to give Matt Hardy his job back so they could see this feud through. That will never happen again and it should not be discounted how crazy all of that was. That will never happen again.

...and all those Matt Hardy fans disappeared and never returned once the feud was over. The fans have always gone nuts when someone they truly like gets fired unjustly: Matt Hardy, Daniel Bryan, Ric Flair, etc. Matt couldn't capitalize on it and it isn't because he lost to Edge at SummerSlam but because he just isn't that good.

If he came back and won the Rumble/a title it'd be the most epic example of being "The Ultimate Opportunist".

No they didn't. He had an eventful run on Smackdown but the fans aren't going to stick around forever if they aren't given a reason to give a shit. They didnt strike while the iron was hot because they never do. You have a very annoying habit of not telling the full story so you can try to further your argument. It's very frustrating talking to you on here sometimes. Like seriously, you need to work on that. I can't have a regular conversation with you.

Matt Hardy didn't give them enough to give a shit about. He went from a guy seeking vengeance to a boring whiny cunt. People don't like whiny cunts. WWE took advantage of the situation and had a months long feud over it. Edge capitalized and Matt didn't. Everybody can't be a main eventer. Matt should be proud of how far he came piggy-backing off his brother and whore girlfriend.

That Love Triangle heat launched Edge into the stratosphere. Edge was arguably more ready for the push than Hardy but the booking definitely helped. Not only did he get the upper hand in the first match at SummerSlam but he got the final say when he won a match to send Matt to SmackDown.

Of course, Steele won't agree with that. Vince/WWE are, after all, infallible.

Stop being such a smug dickhead. I have attested to several of WWE's mistakes in this very thread. Just because I don't blame Vince McMahon for every time a wrestler doesn't become a superstar main eventer doesn't mean I don't give WWE its due criticism. You and the Snooty Cunt Patrol seem to go out of your way to shit on everything WWE/Vince McMahon does.

I agree that is is a unique situation that will never be duplicated. But when half the feud is a limited character it can only go so far.

Also, why wouldn't WWE use that hot feud to push Edge over the top and into the main event? He was more ready for it and I dare argue long overdue for it. They should have killed their next top heel just to help a mediocre midcard babyface maybe become IC Champion?

When Edge got inducted into the Hall of Fame, I don't remember too many "We Want Matt!" chants and those HoF crowds are nothing but obnoxious smarks.

Jeff Hardy is probably going to miss Wrestlemania and come back. I've heard good things about Matt Hardy's current role in ROH. If they get their act together, the WWE will do a great job to market their brand.

I'd love to see Matt/Jeff back in WWE as a tag team. I think the WWE has missed out by not using the NAO enough. A small feud going into a PPV to put over Primetime Players or some other heel tag team wouldn't hurt anything.

The more I think about it, a New Age Outlaws vs Primetime Players feud would be awesome.

James Steele, do you understand how frustrating it is trying to talk to you about things on here? You purposely exaggerate everything and only reference parts of the story that fit your argument. I'm trying really hard not to be a dick to you but you are making it very difficult. Are you always like this on here?

I don't see how I'm leaving out anything important. You like to make every little facet of something seem like a big fucking deal when it wasn't. Yes, fans went nuts for Hardy but they stopped once the sympathy ran out. If only Matt Hardy had main eventers sleep with his girlfriends more often...

Says the guy that seems to remember hardy as being way more over than he was. People were against edge more than they were for hardy.

So, you dont think that WWE could've made more money on this feud? The matches that they did have, everyone went absolutely fucking nuts for and that was even after WWE tried to cut its legs off at Summerslam. To me, Heyman or Cornette would've knocked this out of the building. WWE lets personal feelings get in the way of business far too much. They really had something special here and they treated it like it was everything else. I remember every single match from this feud and something specific that happened in each match. That cant be said for too many midcard feuds that happened 8 years ago. They absolutely could've cashed in on this more than they did.

I can understand why WWE decided against dragging out a feud based on a real backstage affair though.

Well, that's impossible to prove that people were more against Edge than they were for Hardy, now isnt it? But I'm guessing that's probably why you said that.


And go watch when Matt Hardy's music played during the edge/kane feud and tell me he wasn't over. And that was just his music.

They were popping because of his return/shock/the situation.

That's like saying people cheered buff bagwell because he was over and not because of his injury. People dug the story, not hardy which is why once the initial shock wore off that people went back to not giving a shit about hardy.

People popped for Hornswoggle all the time. Does that mean WWE should put the WWE Championship on him?

Both are former WWE Cruiserweight Champions by the way.

The difference is harnswoggle actually sold merchandise

Are you two done jacking each other off yet?