When TNA hired Matt Hardy in January of this year, one thing was abundantly clear: he was brought in solely to participate in his brother’s feud with Rob Van Dam. TNA’s judgement hasn’t always been the best, but surely, they had no aspirations for Matt beyond playing second fiddle to his little brother, their champion. Unfortunately, before the ink was dry on Matt’s contract, baby brother done screwed up again. With Jeff out of the picture, TNA was stuck rostering the Jannetty of the Hardy Boyz. To make matters worse, he looked like a fat Tyler Reks and had the ego of Hulk Hogan. It was only a matter of time before Matt’s house-of-cards career came crashing down.
Last week, Matt Hardy tweeted this:
Only problem is Matt’s few weeks off weren’t of his own choosing. Turns out he’s been suspended. As a result of regularly showing up late to events, the asinine videos he uploads to YouTube, and a multitude of other reasons, Matt was forced to take time off. When the news broke, Hardy did what he does best: deny. Deny, deny, deny, regardless of what kind of evidence exists. We’ve seen this before from Hardy when he was on the outs with the WWE, when Jeff was too high to perform at Victory Road, and when Shane Helms got drunk and crashed his bike. It’s how the man operates.
After the “lie & deny” game, Matt got aggressive. He’s recently urged fans who have purchased tickets to TNA events to demand refunds because he’s not going to be at the shows. He’s promised to retweet fans’ stories about their dismay over his absence. The end result has been a handful (single digit number) of his almost 200,000 followers expressing disappointment that they won’t be able to see him compete. Matt’s also mocked the suspension, cracking jokes about being late and making it painfully clear that he doesn’t take the situation very seriously. Given that this is his last bridge to burn before being chased from the North American wrestling industry completely, he probably should. His immaturity has rustled some feathers to be sure. Abyss (Chris Park), tweeted the following, which has since been retweeted by Karen Jarrett. I have to assume she’s just the first of many TNA talents who will pass this on.
“Our roster of talent is the best and brings everything they have to the ring everynite and our Impact live events give the fans alot for their money. No refunds required or requested. Thanks for being great fans no matter whos on the show. You guys are the best. Now back to my Sun Tzu.”
Hardy’s delusions of adequacy have been well documented in the past, and it doesn’t seem like he’s learned anything. Hardy believes he’s bigger than the business, but in reality, he hasn’t been a draw since a decade ago when WWE’s tag division was going through TLC-Mania. He’s not even one of the top ten stars on TNA, and TNA generally relies on former WWE talents to fill the seats. I’ve admittedly never been a big fan of the Hardys, but even if I were, I don’t think I could stand by Matt through this ridiculousness. It looks like it’s only a matter of time before he’s given his release, and once he is, I’ll take solace in knowing that I’ll never have to watch one of his ten minute rest hold clinics again. Dope.
