“What the hell is Jeff Hardy doing here?”
That very statement was made by Taz during last night’s Victory Road pay-per-view. Judging by how Hardy performed during his short TNA World Title match, I’m sure Taz wasn’t the only person asking that question.
In a decision that was most likely booked on the fly, Eric Bischoff came down to the ring to make the TNA World Championship bout a no disqualification match. During this announcement, Bischoff silently talked to both Hardy and Sting before the match officially began. Hardy then heelishly played to the crowd for a moment before Sting finally landed a couple of blows and took Hardy down with the Scorpion Death Drop to score the clean pin fall.
The match itself lasted a little over a minute with the no disqualification stipulation playing no part in the outcome, except for allowing Bischoff to relay the changes to the participants and stalling for time in what was going to be a short main event. Shortly after Victory Road, news spread around that Hardy was in no shape to compete, which sheds a little light on the subject.
It never ceases to amaze me how many chances Jeff Hardy seems to get from TNA. Hardy’s actions on Sunday night can just be added to the heap of issues he has had in the past, yet he is seen as a big name so TNA will bend over backwards to make him a top star. Hopefully after this debacle, TNA will realize that Hardy is hurting himself and their company and will take the appropriate action.
Hardy’s rocky past with TNA began with his first stint in the company. Hardy no-showed two pay-per-view events, one a House of Fun match against Raven at Hard Justice, the second being a six-man tag team dark match prior to Turning Point, both of which took place in 2005. Hardy said both no-shows were due to travel issues but he was suspended from TNA after the second offense and was removed from television.
In a surprising move, well… maybe not considering it is TNA, Hardy captured the TNA World Championship at Bound for Glory in 2010, even though Hardy had pending drug trafficking charges against him, a charge that has yet to be settled. Two months later, the main event for the Final Resolution pay-per-view was almost scrapped at the last minute as management felt that Hardy was in no shape to compete. Hardy claimed he was fatigued and the match went on as planned with Hardy defeating Matt Morgan to retain the TNA World Championship.
Forward a couple of months to last night, which was the embarrassment that was Victory Road. Thus far, Hardy has been quiet about what went down, and rightfully so, but as far as I can tell he didn’t seem to take the news all that well as it appears he tried to physically kick out of Sting’s pin attempt.
In hindsight, TNA should have probably pulled Hardy from the match and possibly booked Mr. Anderson and Rob Van Dam, who competed in a #1 contenders match earlier that ended in a double count out, in a three way match in an attempt to salvage the main event. It would have been considered a bait-and-switch, but it would have saved some face and had the opportunity to send the fans home happy… or at least more pleased than they are after what went down.
News is now surfacing that TNA has sent Hardy home from the Impact tapings, which will hopefully give him an opportunity to sort his issues out. If TNA has Hardy’s best interests in mind, they would keep Hardy off television until his court proceedings are taken care of and probably after a trip to some sort of rehab facility.
Jeff Hardy isn’t just some persona to entertain fans on television. He is a human being, a father, a husband, a son, a brother. Ignoring his personal problems is not going to make them go away. Giving him the opportunity and the support needed will put him in the right direction.
