Travicity
09-15-2010, 09:14 PM
In the time Matt Hardy has been an active performer in WWE, he has seen many great champions begin and end their own tenure in the upper echelon of sports entertainment. Champions that have left, retired, become seriously injured - even died - Matt has seen it all. So why hasn't Matt Hardy seized a single one of these opportunities to propel himself into the WWE World championship picture? Let's see if we can figure it out.
Our man Matt got his dream job in the WWE in 1998. Teaming with his younger brother Jeff, they would soon realise their tag team championship dreams, after having Michael PS Hayes mentor them through the early stages of their career. It is well known that the two brothers had been dreaming of a career in WWE for their entire lives, and many childhood videos of them have been shown on WWE TV. After losing their mother at a young age, they were raised together in a single parent home by their father. Together, the Hardy Boys would become pioneers of the tag team ladder match, and would take high risk wrestling to a new level.
After a blistering ladder match against Edge and Christian at No Mercy in 1999 , the Hardys quickly became one of the most admired and talked-about teams in recent memory. This would be a mere taste of things to come, because the WWE was so impressed with this match, they decided to make it even bigger at WrestleMania 2000 , by introducing the triple threat tag team ladder match.
It was in the year 2000 when Lita arrived as the Hardys' new manager, a real life friend at the time, who would soon be in a real life romantic relationship with Matt. He would find a dose of singles success when he won the (now defunct) Hardcore Championship, and the following year, he would enjoy a reign as European Champion (also defunct) in 2001. While this was a success to Matt, it was his brother Jeff who won the coveted Intercontinental Championship, a long and storied title that still exists today.
On his roll as a singles competitor, Matt won the Cruiserweight Championship (also defunct) in 2003. It was at this time when Matt really started to get over as a bona fide singles start, revamping himself as 'V1' - he would wrestle house shows all over the world and get one of the biggest pops of the night - every night - as a heel. He was a cocky, arrogant swine who put useless facts about himself on his titantron entrance video, which was so preposterous, yet hilariously funny. His new entrance theme was fresh, too, and he was going places.
However, in 2005, Matt suffered an injury which would keep him off the road for a while. While he was recuperating at home, his lady Lita became involved in a real life love affair with Matt's friend Edge. Naturally upset by this, Hardy ranted so much that WWE thought best to release him from his contract.
Matt wrestled on independent shows for a while, contacting his loyal fan base through his own website. He delivered 'cryptic' messages, and complained about his situation, Lita, Edge, and the WWE, and how he had been treated. To his credit, he was trying also to revamp his gimmick again - he called himself the 'Angelic Diablo' in an attempt to change, and keep himself from going stale from a character standpoint.
An online petition was created to get Matt back into the WWE, and sure enough, before too long, he returned. His return was presented in a unique, more realistic fashion than what we'd seen before, and made for a couple of genuine magic moments on WWE Raw. He would appear in the ring, running from the crowd, and attack his nemesis Edge. Again, to credit Matt - how many people would return to their place of work and work directly with the 2 people that had really wronged him just a few months earlier? When he appeared on TV, the commentators would be silent, and security would rush in to get him out, and many fans believed that Matt was not supposed to be there, at all.
Entering into a feud with Edge and Lita at this stage was a great thing for our man, the element of reality was there, and Matt had his loyal fans behind him all the way. Hardy faced Edge in a 'loser leaves Raw' ladder match. After all the hurt that he'd suffered at the hands of Edge, here was Hardy's chance at sweet revenge, a chance to reclaim his territory and banish Edge from Raw. Then he lost.
After being sent to Smackdown, our man was put into a tag team with ex-Road Warrior Animal. After losing to MNM in a match, Animal turned on Hardy, to begin a feud between the two. So, our man, who had been one of hottest stories in WWE mere weeks prior, was now feuding with Animal, a man in the twilight of his career, and a man who had never been in any important singles matches.
Meanwhile, back on Raw, Edge had won the WWE Championship, and was dominating the singles scene – and would continue to do so for years to come. Edge’s former partner, Christian, had moved to TNA, where he won the World Championship.
After a brief reunion as a tag team with Jeff in 2006, Matt would not find himself in beneficial singles competition until the following year, when he feuded with MVP over the US Title. The feud was marred with some terrible moments, when MVP claimed that he was 'better than Matt at everything' - various (non wrestling) challenges were put to Matt, and the two would face off in ridiculous segments which only made them both look foolish. As a positive note, Matt enjoyed a US Title reign - the only singles championship Matt has won in WWE that still exists today.
Matt was drafted to WWE's version of ECW and won the championship there in 2008. A move to ECW was seen by many as somewhat of a demotion - Matt, however, was one of the few superstars who benefited from it, winning another major singles championship and enjoying a brief period as his brand's top dog.
His fun would come to an end when relative newcomer Jack Swagger beat Hardy for the strap later in that year. This would not be the last time that Swagger would snatch a major opportunity from Matt...
Towards the end of 2008, Hardy captured the richest prize in all of sports entertainment - the WWE Championship. Only, it wasn't Matt, it was his little brother, Jeff.
When 2009 came around, Matt was looking to inject some kind of spark into his singles career. And that he did, by costing his brother Jeff his precious WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. With one vicious swing of a steel chair, he ended Jeff's reign at the top, and the two brothers would engage in a family feud which would go on for several months. The man who profited from Matt's evil betrayal of Jeff? Edge.
Now, we all love a good sibling rivalry. But this one had a different edge to it. Look at most of the sibling rivalries in WWE history and you'll find that the older brother is the more successful (and innocent), and the 'evil envy' comes from the younger, jealous sibling. Not this time. Matt was the guy who was made out to be jealous and evil - and he had every right to be - Jeff had more of the attention, and had held more major singles championships.
Matt ran with it, nonetheless, and cut a cracking heel promo on his brother on Smackdown. He was finally looking like he'd just about cracked the main event. The two Hardys had a short Extreme Rules match at WrestleMania 25, a card which was in dire need of more decent bouts.
On the surface, the fact that Matt had won seemed like an accomplishment. But the commentators kindly made us all aware that Matt didn't win because of his talent, or his crushing Twist of Fate on a chair. Matt didn't win because of these things, no - Jeff LOST the match after taking 'one chance too many'.
The following month, Jeff's superiority was made abundantly clear when he won an I Quit match between the two, and normal service was resumed.
Later in 2009, Matt suffered an abdominal injury which would bring any momentum that he had remaining to an abrupt end. Matt returned again and was given a position as Justin Gabriel's Pro on the new NXT program. He would mentor Gabriel through his time on NXT until he was eliminated.
The following WrestleMania, Matt was involved in another Money in The Bank ladder match. Another big chance to rise straight to the top spot, and his loyal fans, his MF’ers, were really thinking that this would be the one for him. An old nemesis would snatch victory, however. Yep, you guessed it - Jack Swagger won the contest, and won the World Championship a few days later.
Matt continued to occupy the mid-card slots on Smackdown, and would later become engrossed in another feud with another newcomer. This time it was Drew McIntyre who would get the opportunity to be put over by nearly-man Hardy. He would relentlessly batter injury ridden Matt all the way up until the time of writing this article in 2010.
You have to feel for Matt Hardy – a man who, with his brother Jeff, used innovation and high risk offence to pioneer ladder matches with Edge and Christian a decade ago. He remains the only one of the four not to have a spell with a World Championship that still exists today.
With that being said, he has at times been his own worst enemy. He has landed himself in hot water with the WWE office lately with his incessant complaining and his vague, cynical comments that he have been churned out to his followers on Twitter in the last few weeks. He has always tried to maintain a close relationship with his fans – via his Youtube and Twitter accounts, and his own website. This has at times been his undoing – he’s made noise on the internet, its filtered back to the office, and he’s got in trouble for it, more than once.
Matt has recently been kicked off WWE’s European tour, and while the full story is yet to emerge as to why, his comments on Twitter are suggesting that he’s got major decisions to make regarding his career in the company and that could possibly lead to him leaving.
It would be interesting to see Matt disappear for just a while, rejuvenate himself, get his mind and his body back to 100%, and then return with a complete revamp of himself and his attitude. He’s shown on numerous occasions that he could break into the main event picture and be a huge success, but he’s always just come up short every time. If he is given the chance, and if he can keep injury free and get his head in the right place, with one more roll of the dice, he could carry either the WWE or World Championship convincingly.
It’s not too late. Has it all gone wrong, or has it just begun?
"You never know just how your fate and destiny will unfold.. Even when you have it planned out a certain way" Matt Hardy via Twitter – September 12, 2010.
Wrote By: Adam Hopson (Exclusive Columnist)
What do you think should be fired? Quit or go to TNA?
Our man Matt got his dream job in the WWE in 1998. Teaming with his younger brother Jeff, they would soon realise their tag team championship dreams, after having Michael PS Hayes mentor them through the early stages of their career. It is well known that the two brothers had been dreaming of a career in WWE for their entire lives, and many childhood videos of them have been shown on WWE TV. After losing their mother at a young age, they were raised together in a single parent home by their father. Together, the Hardy Boys would become pioneers of the tag team ladder match, and would take high risk wrestling to a new level.
After a blistering ladder match against Edge and Christian at No Mercy in 1999 , the Hardys quickly became one of the most admired and talked-about teams in recent memory. This would be a mere taste of things to come, because the WWE was so impressed with this match, they decided to make it even bigger at WrestleMania 2000 , by introducing the triple threat tag team ladder match.
It was in the year 2000 when Lita arrived as the Hardys' new manager, a real life friend at the time, who would soon be in a real life romantic relationship with Matt. He would find a dose of singles success when he won the (now defunct) Hardcore Championship, and the following year, he would enjoy a reign as European Champion (also defunct) in 2001. While this was a success to Matt, it was his brother Jeff who won the coveted Intercontinental Championship, a long and storied title that still exists today.
On his roll as a singles competitor, Matt won the Cruiserweight Championship (also defunct) in 2003. It was at this time when Matt really started to get over as a bona fide singles start, revamping himself as 'V1' - he would wrestle house shows all over the world and get one of the biggest pops of the night - every night - as a heel. He was a cocky, arrogant swine who put useless facts about himself on his titantron entrance video, which was so preposterous, yet hilariously funny. His new entrance theme was fresh, too, and he was going places.
However, in 2005, Matt suffered an injury which would keep him off the road for a while. While he was recuperating at home, his lady Lita became involved in a real life love affair with Matt's friend Edge. Naturally upset by this, Hardy ranted so much that WWE thought best to release him from his contract.
Matt wrestled on independent shows for a while, contacting his loyal fan base through his own website. He delivered 'cryptic' messages, and complained about his situation, Lita, Edge, and the WWE, and how he had been treated. To his credit, he was trying also to revamp his gimmick again - he called himself the 'Angelic Diablo' in an attempt to change, and keep himself from going stale from a character standpoint.
An online petition was created to get Matt back into the WWE, and sure enough, before too long, he returned. His return was presented in a unique, more realistic fashion than what we'd seen before, and made for a couple of genuine magic moments on WWE Raw. He would appear in the ring, running from the crowd, and attack his nemesis Edge. Again, to credit Matt - how many people would return to their place of work and work directly with the 2 people that had really wronged him just a few months earlier? When he appeared on TV, the commentators would be silent, and security would rush in to get him out, and many fans believed that Matt was not supposed to be there, at all.
Entering into a feud with Edge and Lita at this stage was a great thing for our man, the element of reality was there, and Matt had his loyal fans behind him all the way. Hardy faced Edge in a 'loser leaves Raw' ladder match. After all the hurt that he'd suffered at the hands of Edge, here was Hardy's chance at sweet revenge, a chance to reclaim his territory and banish Edge from Raw. Then he lost.
After being sent to Smackdown, our man was put into a tag team with ex-Road Warrior Animal. After losing to MNM in a match, Animal turned on Hardy, to begin a feud between the two. So, our man, who had been one of hottest stories in WWE mere weeks prior, was now feuding with Animal, a man in the twilight of his career, and a man who had never been in any important singles matches.
Meanwhile, back on Raw, Edge had won the WWE Championship, and was dominating the singles scene – and would continue to do so for years to come. Edge’s former partner, Christian, had moved to TNA, where he won the World Championship.
After a brief reunion as a tag team with Jeff in 2006, Matt would not find himself in beneficial singles competition until the following year, when he feuded with MVP over the US Title. The feud was marred with some terrible moments, when MVP claimed that he was 'better than Matt at everything' - various (non wrestling) challenges were put to Matt, and the two would face off in ridiculous segments which only made them both look foolish. As a positive note, Matt enjoyed a US Title reign - the only singles championship Matt has won in WWE that still exists today.
Matt was drafted to WWE's version of ECW and won the championship there in 2008. A move to ECW was seen by many as somewhat of a demotion - Matt, however, was one of the few superstars who benefited from it, winning another major singles championship and enjoying a brief period as his brand's top dog.
His fun would come to an end when relative newcomer Jack Swagger beat Hardy for the strap later in that year. This would not be the last time that Swagger would snatch a major opportunity from Matt...
Towards the end of 2008, Hardy captured the richest prize in all of sports entertainment - the WWE Championship. Only, it wasn't Matt, it was his little brother, Jeff.
When 2009 came around, Matt was looking to inject some kind of spark into his singles career. And that he did, by costing his brother Jeff his precious WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. With one vicious swing of a steel chair, he ended Jeff's reign at the top, and the two brothers would engage in a family feud which would go on for several months. The man who profited from Matt's evil betrayal of Jeff? Edge.
Now, we all love a good sibling rivalry. But this one had a different edge to it. Look at most of the sibling rivalries in WWE history and you'll find that the older brother is the more successful (and innocent), and the 'evil envy' comes from the younger, jealous sibling. Not this time. Matt was the guy who was made out to be jealous and evil - and he had every right to be - Jeff had more of the attention, and had held more major singles championships.
Matt ran with it, nonetheless, and cut a cracking heel promo on his brother on Smackdown. He was finally looking like he'd just about cracked the main event. The two Hardys had a short Extreme Rules match at WrestleMania 25, a card which was in dire need of more decent bouts.
On the surface, the fact that Matt had won seemed like an accomplishment. But the commentators kindly made us all aware that Matt didn't win because of his talent, or his crushing Twist of Fate on a chair. Matt didn't win because of these things, no - Jeff LOST the match after taking 'one chance too many'.
The following month, Jeff's superiority was made abundantly clear when he won an I Quit match between the two, and normal service was resumed.
Later in 2009, Matt suffered an abdominal injury which would bring any momentum that he had remaining to an abrupt end. Matt returned again and was given a position as Justin Gabriel's Pro on the new NXT program. He would mentor Gabriel through his time on NXT until he was eliminated.
The following WrestleMania, Matt was involved in another Money in The Bank ladder match. Another big chance to rise straight to the top spot, and his loyal fans, his MF’ers, were really thinking that this would be the one for him. An old nemesis would snatch victory, however. Yep, you guessed it - Jack Swagger won the contest, and won the World Championship a few days later.
Matt continued to occupy the mid-card slots on Smackdown, and would later become engrossed in another feud with another newcomer. This time it was Drew McIntyre who would get the opportunity to be put over by nearly-man Hardy. He would relentlessly batter injury ridden Matt all the way up until the time of writing this article in 2010.
You have to feel for Matt Hardy – a man who, with his brother Jeff, used innovation and high risk offence to pioneer ladder matches with Edge and Christian a decade ago. He remains the only one of the four not to have a spell with a World Championship that still exists today.
With that being said, he has at times been his own worst enemy. He has landed himself in hot water with the WWE office lately with his incessant complaining and his vague, cynical comments that he have been churned out to his followers on Twitter in the last few weeks. He has always tried to maintain a close relationship with his fans – via his Youtube and Twitter accounts, and his own website. This has at times been his undoing – he’s made noise on the internet, its filtered back to the office, and he’s got in trouble for it, more than once.
Matt has recently been kicked off WWE’s European tour, and while the full story is yet to emerge as to why, his comments on Twitter are suggesting that he’s got major decisions to make regarding his career in the company and that could possibly lead to him leaving.
It would be interesting to see Matt disappear for just a while, rejuvenate himself, get his mind and his body back to 100%, and then return with a complete revamp of himself and his attitude. He’s shown on numerous occasions that he could break into the main event picture and be a huge success, but he’s always just come up short every time. If he is given the chance, and if he can keep injury free and get his head in the right place, with one more roll of the dice, he could carry either the WWE or World Championship convincingly.
It’s not too late. Has it all gone wrong, or has it just begun?
"You never know just how your fate and destiny will unfold.. Even when you have it planned out a certain way" Matt Hardy via Twitter – September 12, 2010.
Wrote By: Adam Hopson (Exclusive Columnist)
What do you think should be fired? Quit or go to TNA?