Matt Hardy Wins the TNA World Title (Yay?)
Matt Hardy Captures Gold at TNA’s Bound For Glory Event
My fellow colleagues here at The Suplah have been awfully critical of the older Hardy brother for quite some time. And I understood their pain; we named him Worst Wrestler of the Year in 2011, merely for his lust for attention and bizarre suicide threats since his departure from WWE in 2010. Since then, he’s joined his brother Jeff in TNA and he’s been running the independent circuit. He’s married to Playboy centerfold Reby Sky, and they recently had a child together. But we’ve seen that, unlike his brother, Matt Hardy has been reluctant to use his influence on social media to remind people that he still exists. Which is a sign for a wrestler that they never really “made it” in this business. Sunday night at TNA Bound for Glory, many people say that changed when he won the TNA World Title from Ethan Carter III and Drew Galloway (McIntyre), leading some to believe that he has finally “made it”. However, there are a lot of things that put this into question.
First of all, TNA as we know it is a submerging, not dying, company. Whilst they might still have money pumping into their veins, this isn’t close to being the TNA that existed 5-8 years ago. Not even close. And this isn’t like WWE transitioning between the Ruthless Aggression era to the “PG era” kind of change. This is just a company that has run the way of WCW: doing the same thing over and over, and reusing old stars, storylines, and tactics – and it gets worse every time. TNA has reduced itself to being an independent company, and this is down to who they have in their roster, the size of the company, their TV ratings, and how well people know or even care about the organization.
They’ve fallen down to the same level of Ring of Honor, in terms of prestige. The bottom line in all of this is that Pro Wrestling Illustrated have actually gone far enough to no longer recognize the TNA World Heavyweight Championship as being a legit World Championship, leaving the WWE World Heavyweight Championship all alone at the top. As we’ve seen with The Dudleyz (fka “Team 3D”), as they’ve gone back to the ‘E, their accomplishments with TNA are never acknowledged, and WWE basically referred TNA as an independent promotion.
With that being said, Hardy’s big win in TNA is just a blip on the radar. No offense to Matt Hardy, but this win won’t be at all memorable, or even the defining moment of his career in the eyes of the fans. When people think of Matt Hardy, they’re going to think of how he revolutionized the Tag Team Division with Jeff, Edge and Christian, and the Dudleyz. They’re going to think of all the great TLC/Ladder matches he had. They’re going to think of his relationship with Lita, and how that led to the blood feud with Edge.
They’re going to think of him for his amazing rivalry over the US Title with MVP, and how it led to him finally winning his first major singles title. If maybe he stayed with WWE for a little longer, he might’ve gotten a shot at the WWE or World title (whilst they were two separate entities). Perhaps it should’ve been him facing Edge at Wrestlemania 27 for the World Title, in Edge’s last match. instead of Alberto Del Rio. It would’ve been so much more appropriate for both men, especially after the history they had together.
But, as we all know, things progressed as they did. However, I’m not entirely dissing Matt Hardy; I’ve always believed he deserved to be a World Champion somewhere. With there being a lack of any hope of him winning the big one if he went back to WWE, TNA might be the best place to to it. I believe all six of the TLC founders deserve to hold the big one at least once in their career. Now if only Devon would get a shot somewhere down the line.
But, with WWE unifying their two major belts, and only focusing on marketing their future instead of their past, it’s unlikely for even Jeff Hardy to win it, if he went back to the ‘E. So for this, I say: congratulations, Matt Hardy. Regardless of what the others think, you deserve your day. Everyone has to hit the true pinnacle of their career, and you made it. Thanks for reminding us to always say; “I WILL NOT DIE”
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