Wrestling Rumblings #89
September 17, 2010
By: Jose Marrero of Wrestleview.com
I’ve often made it a point to say I hate doing the same thing everyone else is doing. Sure there are absolutely some things that need attention but as a columnist here on Wrestleview.com it has dawned on me that readers look for diverse opinions and not just one person repeating the same thing that the other one has or talking about something pretty generic. Furthermore most of those generic topics that everyone talks about are not even really insightful as you rarely get an explanation as to where the opinion comes from with certain guys in a way that makes you feel that they are just shoving those opinions down your throat rather than pointedly stating their comments as opinions and leaving the floor open to debate from those reading their columns. I had a bunch of ideas for columns this week of things that I am pretty sure you wouldn’t read about but I kept creeping towards one subject that some of you may be already sick of and that’s the Matt Hardy situation. So I am going to break my rule and jump on the bandwagon…you’re reading “Wrestling Rumblings.”
For those of you who don’t know Matt Hardy has been a talent that I have really not been a fan of for years. Not because of his ring work but because of his behavior outside of it. Some of you who have been with me from the very beginning on DOI may remember that the very first writings I ever did, before this column ever existed were editorials that were pretty much ripping Matt Hardy. When this column first started I used to make it a habit to jab and poke at Matt every chance I got. It was something unprofessional at the time I admit but I was a bit younger, stupider and well his antics on the internet got under my skin where he just had “go away” heat with me. I hate Matt Hardy…kind of. You see I don’t know Matt Hardy the person and for all I know he may be a great guy but the person that has been displayed to all of us I seriously just can’t stand. It’s no wonder his relationships with Amy “Lita” Dumas and Ashley Massaro amongst others couldn’t work out, you see no one can love Matt Hardy more than Matt Hardy as the guy is just a narcissist.
Let me tell you a story that I’ve never told publicly before from this past Wrestlemania weekend. When WWE holds the Hall of Fame ceremony, the wrestlers that attend for the most part do not arrive to the arena separately as they do for most shows but actually arrive in a set of tour busses en masse. Sure there are some exceptions that still travel by themselves but they all usually arrive together. I guess with the excitement of the weekend and the larger than usual amount of wrestling fans in the area WWE feels it is safer to transport these guys rather than have them do so themselves. Anyway I am getting off track. These busses are not really hard to spot as they are outside of the venue and well it’s not uncommon for wrestling fans to try to get pictures of WWE talent and their families exiting and arriving to the venue. Think of it as the WWE’s version of the red carpet at the Academy Awards without the interviews. I may be a Wrestleview.com personality and a wrestling columnist but make no mistakes about it I’m a fan and well while I may be tending to business down there with the buzz of the weekend it’s still very much a vacation for me and like many of those fans I take a lot of pictures. It’s not easy to get pictures in that instance as there are so many fans pushing and shoving and well positioning is hard but I got a few of some guys and well some wrestlers you can just call and they will stand still for a picture and if the fan is close enough even pose for a shot, others are just trying to get the hell out of dodge. I’m not proud to admit this but I’m going to be honest there were some guys that I really wanted to get a shot of so I resorted to heckling. Some guys kept going and others sort of got it and actually stopped for a picture.
A good example of this is David Otunga who was still in the midst of WWE: NXT. When David passed by I yelled out stuff that was insulting about his time on I Love NY. Now David could have kept walking but instead he got it and stopped and smiled so I could take his picture. First off he understood by the comments I was making that I did in fact watch and enjoy I Love NY and was really just trying to get his attention. He also understood that he was a heel on TV at the moment and is supposed to get heckled a bit and well say what you want about David Otunga the wrestler but he gets it.
Let’s move onto Matt Hardy, that week the big story concerning Matt Hardy was his comments about not being featured on any of the 26 Wrestlemania covers that WWE Magazine had released in honor of Wrestlemania. You guys remember the story right? Jeff went on Twitter and basically said it was wrong and to be honest my opinion on Matt Hardy aside Jeff was right it was wrong and Matt should have been featured on one of those covers as someone who has been with the company since the big boom period of the late 90’s and was involved in some spectacular Wrestlemania matches. What killed me was Matt couldn’t stand back and let someone else actually put him over he had to jump in and further put himself over which sort of lost support from him on my end. Anyhow needless to say Matt was a bit P.O’ed about not being on one of those covers and when he walked to get back to his tour bus I was a few people back but wanted to get a solid picture of him so I shouted “Hey Matt, guess what? You’re not going to be on next year’s WWE Magazine cover or any after that either”. It should be stated that when I shouted this it was after trying to get his attention in a much more polite way and at that moment Matt was already up two steps back into the tour bus. Anyway, because Matt Hardy the character will not die but Matt Hardy’s ego can’t either he actually came back off the bus and started to walk towards my direction (not towards me because again I was 3 people back) and said “Who said that” as if he was going to do something about it (maybe he was, who knows?) before I could respond and best believe I wanted to respond he was ushered back into the bus by someone who I couldn’t exactly see. I remember David Miranda who was with me on the trip laughing about it and saying how Matt was going to beat me up but what David didn’t understand until after was Matt reacted exactly how I hoped he would. You see first off, I wanted a picture of the guy which if my camera hand was a bit more steady I would’ve gotten and second I’m still somewhat of a journalist so if he would’ve approached me, fought me, etc. he would’ve given me a story. If he would’ve assaulted me one of two things would’ve happened.
A) He would’ve kicked my ass. The guy is a wrestler and I am not and well that would probably be the more popular outcome. However you would’ve beat up on someone who didn’t physically provoke you and probably would have went to jail for the night and missed the biggest payday of the year (depending on the officer there I certainly wouldn’t have pressed charges after all I am a long way from home myself), may have lost some considerable money as I definitely would have sued the guy and perhaps even his job as WWE I am sure doesn’t want that kind of publicity on the biggest weekend of the year.
B) I’d of kicked his ass. Hey it can happen as no one is invincible and at 5’11 and 280 pounds I am of decent size myself and am not too bad with my hands either. Plus anyone can get a lucky shot in on anybody. I’m certainly not going to stand there and just let the guy get a free shot on me I am going to defend myself. So let’s just say that this happened. Someone will probably videotape it on their camera phone or something and there will be several YouTube clips of me kicking Matt Hardy’s ass. So I become somewhat infamous as I am sure everyone and their mother will want to talk to me. I can still probably sue the guy, WWE won’t appreciate the publicity of one of their guys getting beat up by a fan and well if Matt Hardy wasn’t getting pushed before he definitely is getting no push now.
Either way this is not what you would expect from a wrestler who is getting heckled over a magazine cover. While I hate the word Matt Hardy is a mark for Matt Hardy and the sad thing about it is Matt Hardy is over with a good portion of fans and I do believe if he would have a different attitude about going about his business he probably would have a much better standing in the company right now. No one is holding Matt back but himself. He is a good worker and when in shape he is not a bad looking guy and cuts enough of an interview to elevate him to a certain position it is these out of the ring antics that get him in trouble and these out of the ring antics that will keep him exactly where he is.
There is nothing wrong with being fan friendly, and there is nothing wrong with trying to use the internet to further your career and maybe even work an angle. There is however something wrong with a man who can’t stay professional enough to just stay silent. There is something wrong with a man who spent a whole DVD trying to tell people that he was just as good as his brother is. There is something wrong about a man who has been kicked off not one but two house shows and ran to videotape himself to prove the internet wrong and make himself look more stupid in the process when the internet was proven right.
Readers, friends and others have asked me this week about the rumors of friction with CM Punk and where it all comes from. Am I the only one who remembers the comments when Jeff Hardy left the company from Matt on Twitter? For those who don’t remember Matt went on a diatribe about the internet fans complaining about Jeff Hardy (which never happened) and saying how Jeff went out of their way to put over and make their “hero” CM Punk. I don’t think Punk took too kind to this since first off Jeff can speak for himself if he felt like he wasn’t getting his due (which Jeff will never do because Jeff understands that this is a business and all that matters is making sure his check clears) and second of all Punk was already main eventing WWE PPV’s. He actually main evented PPV’s before Jeff did and was a world champion before Jeff was so you can interpret it and I am sure CM Punk did as a kind of a put down. Was it enough to have beef over? In my opinion no, but I am not CM Punk and am not around Matt Hardy all the time. What I do know is that Matt Hardy was supposed to get a push against CM Punk and it didn’t go anywhere and part of it was due to disagreements between the two. This is not to say that CM Punk didn’t have some fault as he would probably be the first to tell you that he is not exactly “Mr. Popular” either and has rubbed many people the wrong way himself. I just want to point out that the friction did in fact start after these comments though.
Many people have asked me about his comments towards the Pro Wrestling Torch. I don’t know where that comes from to be quite honest although I do find it kind of funny that the man behind the Torch Wade Keller is the same guy who conducted the Pro Wrestling Insiders interviews that both Matt and Jeff Hardy took part in during the Matt/Lita/Edge fiasco. He had no problem talking to someone from the Torch then and didn’t mention anything of a grudge then. Why did the Pro Wrestling Torch have to have a grudge against him? Because it was the first site that he saw with the story that’s why? There were actually several sites with that story and I believe it may have been Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer who broke that story first. All Matt Hardy did was prove he does in fact read the sheets and is an avid reader of the Torch since that was the first site he chose to go to that night. If it would’ve been Wrestleview than we would’ve been the object of his scorn same with any other site.
I don’t think anyone has a grudge against Matt Hardy. I think we all just want him to grow up a bit more. He is about to turn 36 next week and has been in the business since he was 17 and I’ll be the first one to admit he has busted his hump to get where he is. I understand the wrestling business can be frustrating and Matt is a guy that wears his heart on his sleeve but while he may be a good worker he needs to be a better businessman. I’m sure Matt is thinking that if push comes to shove he will just go to TNA and while many fans of TNA are hoping for a Hardy’s reunion for some dream matches with The Motor City Machine Guns and Generation Me what does that really do for Matt Hardy? Jeff has already grabbed his brass ring and has been a 3 time world champion and at one point was the most popular guy in wrestling. What is Matt Hardy going to be? The other Hardy? A guy who couldn’t do anything outside of the specter of his younger brother. What happens if Jeff does go to jail than what? If you think WWE has done a poor job with Matt wait till you let TNA get a hold of him. Sure Matt you will get a big buzz when you cross over but just as I correctly predicted in a early editorial for DOI when you first made your return to WWE “I hope you realize that when this is all over it is back to mid card ranks buddy cause you and I both know you are not going to shine once this dies out and it will die out”.
On that note I am going to wrap up for the week but of course I have to give the people something to do. Next weekend is UFC 119 with Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop and we also have The Night Of Champions PPV coming up on Sunday. I’m also going to try my best to get a “Outside Interference ” blog in before the weekend is up as there are plenty of other things I need to weigh in on and well you can all email me at wrestlingrumblings@hotmail.com and that’s it for this week, next week I’ll try to do better and until then, I am out.