Before I begin, I don't plan on making this a regular series. This will basically be a section in which I talk about something in the wrestling world that I have to dive into, but it will only be stuff I want to talk about and will be released at random times. With all of that said, let's begin.
Matt Hardy, what the hell is wrong with you? In fact, what has happened to the Hardys in general? Then again, if we talk about both of them, this rant will never end, so let's try to focus on Matt for the time being. There was a point where Matt and his brother Jeff were one of the most popular and decorated tag teams in professional wrestling. When the Hardy Boyz made their splash in 1998, it was something else. During the Attitude Era, in which tag team wrestling actually meant something, the Hardys were on top of their game. The Hardys had rivalries with the Dudley Boys, Edge and Christian, and many others. Yeah, it certainly seemed the Hardys were going to go far in the WWF/WWE. Of course, most tag teams these days don't last forever, so when it became time to make the Hardys singles competitors, things changed. While Jeff was regarded as the most popular of the brothers, I always felt Matt was the more talented one. I felt outside of Jeff's spot monkey tricks and stuntman stuff, he wasn't the complete talent. With Matt, I saw someone who was a little more complete as a wrestler but always got pushed to the side because Jeff was more popular. It was a little unfair, but it should have forced Matt to really step up his game and show the company he's worth it. Instead, he brought backstage politics into the discussion and....well, we will get to that a little later in this rant. In around 2002-3, Jeff was competing in the mid card division while Matt was busy working on his Mattitude gimmick and going for the cruiser weight title. In between this run by Matt, Jeff Hardy was released by the WWE and would dingle around in TNA for a time being. Ironically, Jeff left the company with the same excuse he would use in 2009 where he was "burned out". In other words, Jeff just can't lay off the drugs. Anyway, I always felt the Mattitude gimmick was the highest point of Matt's career. It wasn't anything special, but Matt made it seem special, which is why it worked out so well. Still, the WWE didn't really see anything bigger out of Matt. Matt can produce in the ring, but he was performing in the lower end of the card and wasn't showing the most improvement to go higher up the ladder. Again, promo work is essential to be a successful professional wrestler. Eventually, he was granted his first WWE release in 2005. At this point, there began an outcry over the Matt Hardy fanbase and the IWC to bring back their then Internet Champion. Yes, there was a time where Matt was the internet darling, but you almost forget it ever happened.
Now, Vince McMahon can be a bit of a hard ass, but the man knows what's good for business and he will put aside his personal feelings to make sure the WWE is successful. Matt was brought back and began working a rivalry with Edge and Lita that same year. Even though it was brought in as a storyline, there was real tension between Matt, Adam Copeland (aka: Edge), and Amy Dumas (aka: Lita). In real life, Matt and Amy dated but Amy had an affair with Adam, who is one of Matt's good friends. As you would have thought, Matt didn't take too kindly to the news, but can you really blame him? This is what you call a worked shoot since this was real life tension made into a WWE storyline. Overtime, the three ended up back on the same page and Matt still regards Amy as his friend, but it was interesting to see a real life storyline being used in the WWE. I am normally not a fan of using real life causes for wrestling storylines, but if all the parties agree and are ok with it, then it's ok in my book. Anyway, it seemed like Matt was on his way back to the top, but it didn't take long for Matt's stock to fall apart. His momentum quickly faded and he showed why he never went any higher than the mid card division. Matt knew how to wrestle, but as I've said many times in my rants/reviews, you need more than that to make it as a wrestler. You need to have charisma, personality, good work ethic and mic skills. Matt had charisma and wrestling ability, but it was his blandness on a microphone that kept him from evolving. It also didn't help things when Jeff Hardy was brought back to the WWE in 2006 and instantly became the more popular Hardy once again. Eventually, Matt sank into the mid card division and didn't move much higher. Yeah, he eventually won the US Championship and the ECW Championship, but they weren't impressive reigns. To be fair, they weren't terrible title reigns, but nothing about the title reigns showed that Matt was improving himself to move higher up the card. During this time, his brother Jeff would go on to win the WWE Championship and be one of the main event talents in the WWE. Finally, Jeff decided he was done with the WWE and left the company in August 2009, which was baffling considering he was one of the top guys of the company. He claimed he was "burned out" (ever have deja vu?), but weeks after his last WWE match, he was arrested for drug charges. Just goes to show old habits never die since Jeff was released by the company the first time because of drug problems. The WWE was pretty upset about all of this and some people thought the WWE was taking out their frustrations on Matt, who was still a WWE employee at this time. It also doesn't help when Matt continues to have weight and possible drug issues on top of not making yourself stand out in moving higher up the card, so how can the WWE take your seriously when you don't try busting your ass and better yourself? Matt would continue to sink lower in the WWE card and eventually the WWE gave him his second release on October of 2010. During his remaining time with the WWE, Matt was constantly posting Youtube videos that states the WWE was holding him back and he feels he deserved better. While Matt was gaining IWC supporters, that fanbase isn't going to get you over the top. The hardcore IWC ranks up around 10-15% of the wrestling fanbase. Say what you will about John Cena, but he appeals more to the 85-90% demographic and he seems to be doing pretty well last I checked. Matt would then start appearing on TNA Wrestling in January of 2011. Matt showed up once again out of shaped and looked completely sluggish while going up against Rob Van Dam at TNA Genesis. Again, the WWE was telling you Matt to work hard and when you show up to work looking like this? How do you expect a push from TNA? Eventually, Matt started to improve and it looked as if Matt was starting to take his career seriously and not act like a 15 year old. If only Matt would ever learn to stay away from his old habits. Matt started no showing TNA events and the company suspended him. Matt would then get involved in a car accident in August of this year, in which Matt was charged with a DWI. Yeah, great thinking Matt? Once TNA found out about this news, Matt was giving his release from the company. I didn't want to write an auto biography of Matt Hardy's career, but give you a quick introduction in what were dealing with.
Matt is someone who keeps doing wrong and stupid things, but still people support him. How? This guy shows up out of shape, bitches about management not pushing him, and doesn't want to clean up his act. News flash, Matt!!! You EARN pushes in professional wrestling, they aren't handed to you. I will repeat that. YOU EARN PUSHES!!! Simply put Matt, you weren't working hard enough for a push, which is why you didn't get one. Matt had so much potential, but he kept pissing it away because of his girlfriend/drama issues and poor work ethic. Instead of looking at the TNA release as a wake up call to get off his ass up and do something serious, he pulls a retarded stunt. On August 31, 2011, Matt posted a video on Youtube in which he was saying goodbye to the world and he was going to commit suicide. It was later revealed to be a hoax and really just a chance for Matt to gain some attention from people. Matt, what the f*** is wrong with you? You never do a suicide hoax as any way of grabbing attention. NEVER!!! This is sick, immoral, and just completely wrong. To add insult to injury, Matt claimed it was not a suicide message since he didn't put the word "suicide" in the video, but he did list his own date of birth and death in the video in saying he would die on August 31. Matt also claims this is a "re-birth" for himself. Again, another term just loosely tossed around by the Hardys since Matt has said something similar to this in the past. That's how much of a dick Matt Hardy is. He post a suicide video and people start to show a little concern for him, but its a hoax and he brushes it off like he did nothing wrong. Do you know how many cases there are each day of suicide? And yet, you make it out to be a joke just because you hit rock bottom and wanted to get some attention? Matt, you're an idiot. Why can't you just grow up? Why can't you do away with the drugs and alcohol and better your career? In fact, why can't either of the Hardys just grown up? Then again, this is about Matt and not Jeff Hardy. About a day after the fake suicide video, Matt announced he was retiring from pro wrestling. As of right now, I don't really buy it. Why? Well, because the term "retire" is tossed around so loosely these days. Heck, go talk to Brett Favre about retiring and you will get where I'm coming from. If Matt does hold true to this, then good riddance. Matt, you need to realize you're the reason for your problems. Who told you to half ass your wrestling matches? Who told you to gain an additional 30 pounds? Who told you to bitch about not getting a push? Who told you to keep whining about Amy Dumas? Who didn't work hard enough for a push? Who skipped wrestling events? Who drove a car while drunk off his ass? At the end of the day, you're responsible for your own actions and you have made some piss poor decisions along the way. A lot of people say with Matt Hardy's problems that he should seek help. Well, of course he should, but I think the guy's too stupid to realize that. In fact, his idiot friends like Gregory Helms and Shannon Moore don't do anything to help the situation. If you were really Matt's friend, you would get some help or counseling for him. Instead, you go on the internet and say how "You people don't know the full story" or "I support Matt Hardy" or some other bulls*** excuse. What kind of a friend is that? All I know is my friend was in trouble, I would help them. In fact, I think most of us would do a lot to help our friends, but if your friends stand back and watch you make the same dumbass mistakes and don't even bother trying to help, then you're friends with the wrong people.
At the end of the day, Matt Hardy will in my eyes be known as a guy who had unbelievable potentinal, but pissed it away because he doesn't want to grow up and act like an adult. Hell, you don't see guys like John Cena or CM Punk doing half the things the Hardys do. It was also reported that WWE management told the WWE Superstars to not talk to Matt at all. Can you really blame them? Any news regarding Matt Hardy is just negative news and the WWE doesn't need bad publicity. Things are going well in the WWE, and they don't need to deal with past f*** ups like Matt and Jeff Hardy. Matt often blamed WWE for not giving Matt a proper push, but you have to work hard for your pushes as I've said many times in this rant. There was a time where a name like John Cena didn't seem like it would go anywhere, but Cena busted his ass all the way to the top to earn the spot he's in. For the majority of the talent in professional wrestling, they had to work for their spot as well. Matt, and the end of the day, you just didn't work hard enough and you weren't good enough to become a main eventer. Heck, TNA took a shot on you and you ruined that? Considering TNA still has Jeff Hardy under contract and are about to bring him back to TV (who still has issues and problems), that says how low your career has gotten. Heck, TNA took a shot on Scott Hall last year. Scott f***ing Hall? A guy who has had his own share of problems similar to the Hardys. I thought I would never say this, but Matt Hardy makes Scott Hall look like CM Punk. If you're wondering what I mean by that, CM Punk is Straight Edge, so there you go. You have to go pretty far to sink that low? Matt, you're a classless human being. If you're serious about this "re-birth", get some much needed help. If you do that, maybe you can be well enough to perform in a squared circle once more or find another fulfilling career. If you don't....well, you might sadly join the list of other professional wrestlers who died before the age of 45. I hope the day never comes that I write an article on Matt Hardy's death, but don't say I didn't tell you so if it becomes a reality. Matt might have been something else with the Hardy Boyz, but as a singles star; you're not even a has been, Matt....you were a never was....
Sorry I am overly harsh against Matt, but I also think I have said this in the best way possible. Still, I was pretty tough on this matter, but Matt Hardy's just pissing me off. I know there are others who are a lot more harsh against the Hardys than myself. Matt lost my respect a long time ago and he needs to go the extra mile to earn my respect again. The same thing goes for Jeff Hardy, but that's another topic for another day. Plus, I talk a great deal about Jeff Hardy in past reviews like Wrestle Ramble #1 or the Victory Road 2011 review in case you're wondering. This was a little different to what I normally do, but I hope you guys and girls enjoyed the ride. I am aware that other people have also talked about this subject and I avoided reading those other post so I can put this into my own words. I'm the WrestlingNerd, so I felt this was something I needed to address since some people might have been curious about my thoughts on this whole mess. Plus, there was some things I wanted to get off my chest regarding Matt Hardy. Plus, I wanted to talk about this topic at the end of the day, no matter how negative it was. Anyway, I'm the WrestlingNerd, and I will see you guys and girls next time.
Amazing how things change overtime, wouldn't you say?
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