By: Justice
TNA finally has the biggest story in wrestling right now… and it’s all for the wrong reasons. Jeff Hardy showed up to TNA’s pay-per-view seemingly impaired and was found seated in the corner of a bathroom completely out of it. TNA decided to send Hardy to the ring anyway and give their faithful fans the 2011 equivalent to the “finger poke of doom”. A 90 second squash match of their top star in the main event of a pay per view by a 51 year old champion. Jeff Hardy seems like a mess. The worst rumors I have heard was that this is a work on all the boys in the locker room and Jeff is going to play a Charlie Sheen character. I hope not. That’s just really sad.
A lot has been said on this topic but the big deal has yet to even be brought up. TNA under the control of Hogan and Bischoff and Russo is turning into WCW circa 2001 under the control of… well Hogan, Bischoff and Russo. Now, i understand that the selling point of TNA Victory Road 2011 is Sting vs. Jeff Hardy. But, fans are used to being swerved out of these matches. Here are a few ideas of what TNA could have done instead of parading a seemingly drugged-up Hardy out to the ring- all of which could have feasibly covered up Hardy’s intoxicated state. Have Jeff attacked in the back and substitute Abyss in the main event. Abyss is STILL out selling the “Janice to the back” shot he recieved from Crimson a while ago. Fact is, with the back story he has with Sting and being a major return, That may have saved TNA. Another idea was to put Anderson and RVD in the match seeing as they had fought to a no decision. A babyface triple-threat match would be huge… hell, insert Matt Hardy in their just so Immortal could be represented by someone.
This was just another huge TNA mistake. Their booking is so eerily similar to 2001 WCW that it scares me. Every night, another useless gimmick match, another stupid celebrity no one cares about that isn’t even getting them the media coverage they want and less and less wrestling. You know, the thing that hardcore TNA fans at least could argue that they had as a one-up on the WWE. Remember that?
What a waste of talent like AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Samoa Joe and the X-Division. Where are the Motor City Machine Guns? Why does it look like Ink Inc. is breaking up before they even take off? And where did Jay Lethal and Doug Williams disappear to?
TNA needs to send Jeff Hardy to rehab. They need to get him help. In the mean time, bring another major star into the forefront of Immortal. Jeff Jarrett maybe? Abyss? Matt Hardy? Turn Mr. Anderson heel maybe? Maybe even the Pope. Bring back the TV title and make it mean something. Make the champion a workhorse (AJ or Joe are the best candidates) and defend it regularly and make those your bread-and butter great matches of the night. STOP the swerve-fests. It’s really getting old. Let Fourtune get some heat on Immortal. After all, Immortal can’t look good unless they have people to look good against. And for God’s sake, bring the X-Division back to where it used to be! That was one of the biggest selling points of TNA as a company in it’s infancy. They sell. They get ratings. Believe me, that’s what kept me watching WCW. And keep building new stars. Jeff Hardy may not be around too much longer. Kurt Angle either. Mr. Anderson is injury-prone. RVD may not have a lot left in the tank as well. So build up guys like the Pope, Hernandez and Matt Morgan. And keep Samoa Joe and AJ Styles a viable threat to any championship they challenge for. Push wrestling instead of silly gimmicks. Cater to the fans that are tired of the WWE and want that alternative. And just maybe TNA, you won’t be the laughing stock of the wrestling industry.