Jeff Hardy: Who Plays the Foil?

[LSN80]

This may be the hardest of all the foil thread Ive done. Hardy has a seemingly endless amount of enemies gunning for him, dpesite have the backing of Immortal and Fourtune.

At Bound for Glory, Hardy turned heel and aligned himself with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. This enabled him to defeat Kurt Angle and Mr. Anderson to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Since winning the champiomship, Hardu had developed a more mystic, sadistic side of himself that we've yet to see before.

Hardy has had two successful title defenses so far, both coming against Matt Morgan. Due to a blown call that would have lead to Morgan winning at Turning Point, he was granted another shot aftr subbing for a concussed Anderson at Turning Point. As a result of defeating Ric Flair on the December 2nd episode of Impact,Morgan was able to name the special referee, and he chose Mr Anderson. Hardy again defeated Morgan at Final Resolution, thid time due to heavy interference fro Immortal and them knocking ou Mr. Anderson.

Thus far, Harddetermine who will successfully end Hardy has had two successful title defenses. But the point of the thread is to determine who will take the title from Hardy. Will it be Matt Morgan, who is in a No. 1 Contenders match against Mr. Anderson at Genesis. Or could Mr. Anderson win the match and go on to defeat the man who legitimately sidelined him with a poorly placed chair shot to the head? Could it be Rob Van Dam, who has to defeat a "mystery opponent" selected by Hardy to earn a shot at Hardy? AJ Styles jumps out as a possibility, as he seems primed for a face turn, and had the most impressive title reign of any major champion within 2009/10 of 7 seven months? Or will it be Kurt Angle when he returns from his hiatus, and was also a victim of Hardys heel turn? Other oprions are certainly available, so feel free to explain why it might be another competitor not on the list Its up to you to decide and debate, and I present you three questions to help the process.

1. Who ends Jeff Hardy's first reign as TNA World Heavyweight Champion?

2. When will it happen?

3. How would you book it/do you see it being booked?

The questions are just guidelines, and your free to come up with your own creative ideas! Just be sure to explain your answer in full. Have fun!

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I'll go with Mr Anderson. He is the most charismatic among the guys you have mentioned and a push would be good for him as well as TNA. I do see Anderson as the face of TNA in the very near future mostly due to his charisma.

I don't know a whole lot about the legal muddle that Jeff Hardy is in but if he does not go to jail, I feel that Hardy should hold the belt for at least 3 more months. Even that might be less though the point that I want to stress on is that Immortal should be made to look as dominating as possible.

As far as booking goes, I'd personally book it in a very simple manner. The story should be that Jeff is scared of Anderson and knows that Anderson can beat him in a fair match and that is why he is making every attempt to dodge Anderson. Anderson should be made to face insurmountable odds to even get a title match against Jeff. And then the eventual title match should be a cage match ensuring that no interference takes place. Then have Anderson win cleanly without any overbooking. This might sound like a very simple approach but sometimes it is the simple ones that are most effective.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I'll go with Mr Anderson. He is the most charismatic among the guys you have mentioned and a push would be good for him as well as TNA. I do see Anderson as the face of TNA in the very near future mostly due to his charisma.

I don't know a whole lot about the legal muddle that Jeff Hardy is in but if he does not go to jail, I feel that Hardy should hold the belt for at least 3 more months. Even that might be less though the point that I want to stress on is that Immortal should be made to look as dominating as possible.

As far as booking goes, I'd personally book it in a very simple manner. The story should be that Jeff is scared of Anderson and knows that Anderson can beat him in a fair match and that is why he is making every attempt to dodge Anderson. Anderson should be made to face insurmountable odds to even get a title match against Jeff. And then the eventual title match should be a cage match ensuring that no interference takes place. Then have Anderson win cleanly without any overbooking. This might sound like a very simple approach but sometimes it is the simple ones that are most effective.

I like this idea alot, I would green rep you dude but already have for another post today so I cant right now

I do think that Jeff needs to hold the belt for a while longer while Immortal continue their quest to get hold of every title in TNA. There is no need for Jeff to drop the title right now.

However, the only other option I can see apart from Anderson is if Matt Hardy debuts in TNA as a face and goes up against his brother for the World Title. That is a feud that alot of wrestling fans would like to see. The Hardys, going at it over a world title. Brother v Brother for a World Title is something that never really happens often in wrestling. Apart from maybe the Funks, I cant think of any examples of this happening. I always thought Bret and Owen Hart should have feuded over the WWF title but it never happened. For this reason, I would love to see Matt and Jeff fighting for the TNA title if Matt is in shape, and has freshened up a bit. I think it could be an awesome feud, with a great back story of how Matt is sick of taking a back seat to his brother all these years and is disgusted at how Jeff has turned his back on the fans who made him what he is today etc. Simple, but effective.

 

[nbrew2119]

I dont remember the year that Owen turned on Bret Hart, but, that years Summerslam, they fought in a Cage match for the World title.

As far as who I want to beat Hardy, I would have it be Kurt Angle, after he destroys Jeff Jarrett, who has one of the dumbest gimmicks right now, doing the MMA thing. I like the idea of Ken Anderson winning it, but, I like the idea of Kurt Angle getting the revenge more, and maybe have Anderson beat him.

 

[A Mod's Best Friend (aka Bitch)]

I would have AJ lose at Genesis this month to Douglas Williams which then makes him redundant in Immortal. What i would then do is instead of having Fourtune beat down on AJ after the match itself, I'd have them all stick together and go directly after Immortal themselves. Remember how Bischoff said people love to see a power struggle? How good would it be to see a battle within a battle?

Ric Flair goes directly after Bischoff (and Russo loves to make it as real as possible) so bring up the real past problems and this is Flair's revenge after all these years. Allow Kaz and Beer Money to continue their feuds within their respective divisions and only allow them in the major angle when their is a beat down being handed down.

AJ goes directly after Hardy. Simple as that. They go at each other for a couple of months with AJ not being able to get his hands on him. AJ wins the title in a 20 minute, non gimmick match up which puts AJ over massively and this whole angle will turn Fourtune face. Let be honest, no one wants to boo Ric Flair, AJ and Beer Money.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

1. Who ends Jeff Hardy's first reign as TNA World Heavyweight Champion?
I think it has to be Mr. Anderson.. The fans are kinda waiting for this day to come.. He has been a contender for nearly a year now and has come close at times... Hardy vs Anderson.. A match I think we're all waiting for and we could be getting this soon..

2. When will it happen?
I want to say at the next big ppv.. which at this point is Lockdown.. And also means Jeff Hardy will have had a nice long run as champion.. But it also depends on Jeff's trial.. they might take the title off him before..

3. How would you book it/do you see it being booked?
I think they have a good past for this feud.. doesn't need much booking..

 

[Zeven_Zion]

**Assuming Hardy won't be thrown in the slammer.

1. Who ends Jeff Hardy's first reign as TNA World Heavyweight Champion?
AJ Styles.

2. When will it happen?
Two PPVS after Genesis.

3. How would you book it/do you see it being booked?

-AJ Styles loses to Doug Williams at Genesis. Beer Money win the Tag Titles. Kaz wins the X Division Championship. Styles spoils Immortal's victory streak. Bischoff comes out and fires him. He's gone from TNA.
-Mr.Anderson versus Jeff Hardy takes place at the PPV After Genesis. Anderson loses to Jeff Hardy, cleanly.

-RVD faces Jeff Hardy at the next PPV. Jeff Hardy beats him cleanly.

-At the next edition of iMPACT Immortal comes out with all the belts, bragging that all the "heros" out there to oppose Immortal fell flat on their faces courtesy to The Antichrist of Pro Wrestling. By this point Hardy will seem unbeatable. He defeated Anderson, Morgan and RVD. Then Dixie Carter comes out, saying that there is one last hope. As a matter of fact, four last hopes. Fourtune [Beer Money and Kaz] beat the shit out of Immortal. Reason being that the core four always stick together. They never liked Immortal but they joined them for the almighty dollar. However, when they saw that Bischoff kicked one of them out like he was nothing, and Flair not doing anything about it, they felt that he could do the same thing to them and that's not a risk they can take so they pulled the trigger before he did. Dixie comes in the ring and joins them. She says that Hogan and Bischoff were right. The side with the Championships has the most leverage in the legal battle and right now all the Titles are hers, except for one - The World Title. She can take her company back right now if she wanted to, in court, but that wouldn't be enough.

Dixie introduces AJ Styles who re-joins with Fourtune and becomes their OFFICIAL leader. Dixie announces that she can do this the hard way, or the easy way. The easy way would be to meet Immortal in court and take her company back. But she'll do it the hard way, in the ring, because this is professional WRESTLING, and instead of having revenge in a small court room, she wants the entire world to see Immortal's destruction. AJ Styles will face Jeff Hardy at whatever the PPV's name is for the World Heavyweight Championship. If AJ wins he becomes the World Champion and Dixie gets her company back. If Hardy wins Dixie won't sue Immortal and they can keep doing what they're doing. AJ Styles defeats Jeff Hardy, winning the World Heavyweight Title for the 2nd time in his career, and becoming the true face of the company that he built. Immortal's dead.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA has spent quite a while building Mr. Anderson up as something of a sympathetic underdog. He's had to endure serious injury, doubts as to whether or not he's "ready" to get back into the ring, etc. so having Anderson overcome the doubts and adversity to his abilities by winning the title seems like a logical move to me.

However, Jeff Hardy's agreement to plead guilty to at least one of those charges puts things into a bit of a spin. Nobody knows exactly how many counts he's pleading guilty to or whether they've been negotiated down from felonies or whatever. I might be wrong here but I think that NC law has a mandatory 45 day jail sentence for drug felony convictions. At any rate, this might suddenly put whatever plans they may have had for Anderson on the backburner for a bit.

With RVD facing a mystery opponent at Genesis, getting a shot at Hardy should he defeat this mystery opponent, then it's possible that RVD might get his shot before Anderson does.

So, at this point, I'm not really sure but I'd probably prefer Anderson at this point. I just think it's best to just get the title off of Hardy before he enters a plea.

 

[The Fig Lebowski]

Great question. You are absolutely correct in that Hardy has a slew of potential challengers who are all capable of taking the title from him. But I do not see him losing the title any time soon for a variety of reasons.

The custom belt. I can only think of two other people who had custom belts made - Austin with his Smoking Skull belt and Cena with his spinner belt. Now I know that Austin had a short reign with his custom belt but all of his title reigns were short (except for his heel reign). I saw that custom belt just adding another layer of the his being anti-authority and finding new ways to stick it to McMahon. Cena debuted the spinner belt after defeating JBL at WM 21 and held on to it for 280 days. If you as a company are going to put forth the resources to rebrand your title then you should at least let it ride for a little while. Even when the belt stopped spinning 2007 they kept the design. The only other example of a customized belt is the WCW title being spray painted with the NWO logo. Hogan and Bischoff were there and recycling another idea is right down their alley.

Plus I really do see TNA attempting to make this most recent version of the NWO successful. I have always been a WWE loyalist but I have to say that the main event scene in TNA has me more interested than any other time I can remember in recent memory. They are on the right track and if they can refrain from snap booking then this has a chance to gain new viewers that want to see continued and well booked feuds. But I digress.

To answer all three questions...

Whoever is hot when Hardy collapses. It appears that TNA will not remove the title in lieu of his plea bargaining, which I believe is a mistake. Watching his online videos with his brother tells me he is not okay and can't stop doing drugs even with the title over his shoulder, new baby, and a court case looming. Jeff Hardy will at some point self destruct and when that happens whomever he is feuding with will be the beneficiary of a hard decision having to be made. TNA is banking a lot in Hardy so he is given a lot of rope, but I really don't want to see Hardy given too much rope as I am worried what he will do with it.

 

[Henhouse]

D'angelo Dinero?
If he's continually calling himself the Antichrist, it would make sense for the Pope to defeat him.

 

[Dimice121976]

1. Who ends Jeff Hardy's first reign as TNA World Heavyweight Champion?
How about one name that no one has mentioned or isn't even in the poll, Samoa Joe.


2. When will it happen?
Depends on what TNA wants to do with Jeff's plea. If he isn't going to jail, I'll say Lockdown. If he is going to jail, I could say as early as the Impact tapings after his court date, which I believe is Jan 20th.


3. How would you book it/do you see it being booked?
Again, as with question 2, it depends on the terms of the plea deal. If there is no jail time, have Jeff go over RVD and Anderson clean at the next 2 ppv's. The Impact after the March PPV, have either a tag or a 6 man with Hardy on one side, Joe on the other, and out of no where have Joe tap Hardy to end it. The key to this would be not having Joe as the main focus of the team. Build Joe from there leading to Lockdown and since Lockdown is all cage matches anyway, Joe can tap Hardy to win the title there. If there is jail time, and TNA needs to get the belt off him asap, I'd go random title defense on impact that Hardy loses.

The aftermath of Joe with the belt is pretty good actually. Think of the matches you could get with Joe as champ:
Joe vs Kennedy
Joe vs Morgan
Joe vs Angle
Joe vs JJ
Joe vs AJ
Joe vs Abyss
Joe vs Pope
Joe vs RVD

Not one of those are bad options for TNA at all. And some of those matches havent happened or havent happened in a mjor setting yet. The rematches on that list, (Angle, JJ, AJ) would be solid draws based of the history with Joe and each one. If Hardy gets a short sentence, you could then bring Hardy back possibly in time for the rematch at Bound For Glory. I'm not a big TNA guy, but I wont lie, I'd take joe with the belt.

 

[nachoman13]

1. Who ends Jeff Hardy's Reign?
I would love for it to be Matt Morgan but it makes more sense for it to be Mr Anderson.

2. When will it happen?
I would book it happening at Against All Odds(the PPV after Genesis).

3. How would you book it?
I would book it so Anderson beats Morgan at Genesis making him number one contender to Jeff Hardy. Jeff Hardy will then make the following weeks really hard for Anderson. Then at the PPV Morgan will come in whilst Anderson's losing to distract Hardy and the ref. Whilst he does this Foley will throw a chair to Anderson who will hit Hardy in the head with it. This will make Hardy illegitimately bleed as Anderson gets the pin.

 

[Rasha]

1. Who ends Jeff Hardy's first reign as TNA World Heavyweight Champion?

2. When will it happen?

3. How would you book it/do you see it being booked?

While I think there could be better options, I predict that it will be Anderson next holds the title. He's clearly getting the push as Jack-Hammer already mentioned. They're trying to build him up as more of a tough guy/warrior with this notion that he's going to fight through the concussion problems to achieve his goals. Along with that, they've had the dual objective of trying to draw fan support to him through either sympathy or playing on the fans' desire to not hear guys bitch about injuries and go fight with all they've got.

As for WHEN... I don't know. They're billing both the Morgan/Anderson and the RVD/??? matches as Number-One Contender bouts, so how do you resolve that after Genesis? I'm thinking maybe Morgan/Anderson will end in a draw, extending that angle while RVD goes and gets a title shot at the next PPV which he won't win. Then, Anderson will eventually come out on top and probably take the title off Hardy at the March or April PPV.

Now, if I was calling the shots, I wouldn't drag it out that long. I'd have Immortal screw RVD out of his match somehow and also have them hand Anderson the win over Morgan. The logic here is that, between Morgan, RVD, and Anderson, the guy Hardy is LEAST worried about is Anderson. Obviously Morgan is a huge physical threat who had Hardy beat at the last PPV, and RVD is a guy who Hardy respects as a competitor. Anderson is the least proven/menacing as a physical threat AND has the concussion liability. It would make good strategic sense for a "master of mind games" (as Tenay will no doubt call Hardy for some undeserved reason) to give the weakest guy the title shot.

To build up the Hardy v. Anderson match at the next PPV, I'd next have Anderson doing a solid month of running the Immortal/Fortune gauntlet. Have him wrestle every week against guys like Terry, Kaz, and Abyss. Completely legitimize him as he overcomes the obstacles and various attempted interferences and unfair odds. Meanwhile, have what starts as an extremely confident Hardy grow visibly worried as he sees this guy breaking through all the roadblocks and gaining momentum. Have Jeff come down to do commentary during some of the matches and eventually start losing his cool as Anderson continues to win.

The last Impact before the PPV, Hardy, Bischoff, and Flair (and even Hogan if it fits the storyline) all come out and call Anderson to the ring. They do a big face-to-face where they basically kiss his ass and praise what he's done over the last month, then offer him a spot in the stable. Flair can talk about how much Arn Anderson meant to him and say that Ken could be that man for Hardy. Bischoff offers Ken all manner of perks and bonuses. Of course, the catch is that he has to forfeit or take a dive in the PPV match.

Ken will do the quick tease about selling out being what "any good asshole would do," but he'll naturally decline the offer and say that he'll EARN all of those things when he becomes the TNA Champion. The heels will snap and tell him that he may not make it to the PPV, because tonight he has to take on both members of Beer Money in a handicap match. Then, assuming AJ Styles has been kicked out of Fortune at this point, Anderson will end up winning that match when AJ runs in to help to screw his former allies.

Next PPV... Hardy vs. Anderson... do the one thing nobody will expect and give Anderson a CLEAN victory and title win. Give him the "locker room celebration" treatment as Morgan, RVD, Foley, Lethal, AJ, and other faces run down to congratulate him. This would set up so many possible avenues as you could then either have Fortune turn on Immortal or have the stable become unified and even more ruthless in its defeat and go on a warpath through TNA. Maybe have Roode, as the new leader of Fortune, step up and say he'll bring the title back to the team and have a spat with Hardy over who gets the shot. I think it'd be good to let the heels battle it out for a month to set up Roode as the next top heel in TNA while Anderson takes on a face like Angle, RVD, or AJ for the title.

I'll go with Mr Anderson. He is the most charismatic among the guys you have mentioned and a push would be good for him as well as TNA. I do see Anderson as the face of TNA in the very near future mostly due to his charisma.

Real quick... Anderson's mic style is more extravagant and verbose than Kurt Angle's, but that doesn't make him more charismatic. The key to charisma is not what you actually say/do but rather how an audience responds to it. I still think Angle is more charismatic than Anderson because he can make you laugh just as easily as he can make you believe he's the toughest, most determined man in the business. Anderson can be really funny, but he's yet to sell me that he's anything more than some loudmouth.

 

[WJDwjdWJDwjd]

I like Rob Van Dam to do the job. TNA was big on RVD a while back until his dates with the company ran out. They always advertise the fact he never really lost in a match to lose the title as well. Also, who was Hardy's biggest ally in TNA before he started teaming with Anderson? That's right, RVD. RVD is a great candidate to make a feel good story. After jumping through hoops laid out by his former best friend, he gets his revenge in taking the title back he never lost in the first place. The story writes itself. Knowing TNA though, great stories that write themselves is something they don't go for. There's always some huge plot twist that is so convoluted and asinine that it pisses off these boards to no extent. TNA is pushing this whole Immortal angle to the moon, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the once savior of TNA, RVD, job to Hardy in what will surely be a clusterfuck of interferences. It'll take another faction of face wrestlers to get that title off Hardy eventually to neutralize Immortal.

 

[Rasha]

RVD is a great candidate to make a feel good story. After jumping through hoops laid out by his former best friend, he gets his revenge in taking the title back he never lost in the first place. The story writes itself. Knowing TNA though, great stories that write themselves is something they don't go for.

The story would be decent, but the outcome of having RVD as TNA Champ again would not be good for the company. We've seen that show (the whole f'n show, if you will) already and it wasn't that entertaining. The guy is gold in the ring but the mic work is just not good enough for the face of a company. I know you could the same about Hardy (and trust me, I've said it in numerous threads), but moving the belt to RVD gives you the same lack of charisma without the intrigue of Hardy's heel turn. With guys like Anderson, Angle, AJ, or even Morgan at this point available to take the gold, I just couldn't buy RVD.

 

[The HEEL JuiceLee]

I think that Anderson is getting the push with them taking there time to make it seem like a big deal when he finally gets the belt.Personally i would give it to AJ.He is the face of the company,would probably have the best math against Jeff.But i see Anderrson getting the belt.Maybe Jeff gets it back a couple moths after if his legaL woes go away.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Would it be possible that Anderson defeats Matt Morgan at "Genesis", then Bischoff comes down the ring with Hardy and a ref by his side, tells the ref to start the match, saying that Anderson wanted a shot so bad and Bischoff's doing exactly what he asked for. Anderson's hurt, beat up, tired. Hardy fucks him up for a while. Whenever Anderson gets some momentum a member of Immortal comes down the ramp. Anderson seems like he's gonna lose and then WHAMO, Fourtune comes down the ring, turns face (because they felt Bischoff giving AJ the boot was an insult to them, assuming AJ loses and gets fired) to clean house with Immortal. Hardy is distracted or something, Anderson does the Mic Check, 1.2.3 - New Champion.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

D'angelo Dinero?
If he's continually calling himself the Antichrist, it would make sense for the Pope to defeat him.

WHAAAT??!!! That is perhaps the most infallable logic I'VE EVR SEEN!!
Seriously though I think it's going to be Anderson because there is so much empathy for the guy going into it all. But I don't think it'll be for a few more PPV's. I think they'll want to cook the grenade for a little longer because if Jeff Hardy loses top spot so soon, where does that put everything else. You have to shake the bottle so much that when you release the tension it is explosive, it's still not at that point yet.

After that I thing Morgan just may be the next champ if he feuds with Anderson. I'm hedging my bets on Anderson turning heel very very soon after he wins the belt though.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Real quick... Anderson's mic style is more extravagant and verbose than Kurt Angle's, but that doesn't make him more charismatic. The key to charisma is not what you actually say/do but rather how an audience responds to it. I still think Angle is more charismatic than Anderson because he can make you laugh just as easily as he can make you believe he's the toughest, most determined man in the business. Anderson can be really funny, but he's yet to sell me that he's anything more than some loudmouth.

Angle is charismatic but his in ring ability kind of overshadows his charisma. See if Angle is a face and he is cutting a promo against a heel, I expect it to be an intense promo where he will talk about how he will settle the business in the ring. However if Anderson is cutting a promo I expect him to come up with some witty and funny verbal insults. Its not got a whole lot to do with skill, its merely the way their characters have developed over the years.

On the whole though Anderson is a young and fresh babyface with a lot of charisma while Kurt is a legendary babyface in the mould of Undertaker or HBK. They are really not comparable in any way. Kurt has wrestled for over 10 years and all around the world and has been a World Champion in all of those promotions while Anderson has earned a reputation of a talented but erratic performer. As of now though I do feel that Anderson is the better choice to end Jeff's reign because he can gain something from it, unlike Kurt. Anderson can be the future of the company as he will be wrestling for a long time but you cannot say the same for Kurt.

 

[The HEEL JuiceLee]

Ahh me & ZEVION ZION & I pretty much predicted it.Zion knew it would be last night,got to give props for that call,i thought it would be the next PPV.I guess Jeff gets a Rematch that he can probably win if he clears up all his legal woes...but if not where does TNA take Mr.Anderson. do they do a face/face with Angel.do they turn POPE heel and have them fued.does AJ stay heel & go after the belt.I mean IMMORTAL FOURTUNE are dominating the storylines,i think they have to have the heavyweight title ob there side,So im thinking they had Jeff deop the belt so when he pleads guilty the news cant say the TNA CHAMPION JEFF HARDY pleads guilty.They will have to say former champion Jeff Hardy.Then when its all over next month Jeff has to get the belt back.HAS TO!!!

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Ahh me & ZEVION ZION & I pretty much predicted it.Zion knew it would be last night,got to give props for that call,i thought it would be the next PPV.I guess Jeff gets a Rematch that he can probably win if he clears up all his legal woes...but if not where does TNA take Mr.Anderson. do they do a face/face with Angel.do they turn POPE heel and have them fued.does AJ stay heel & go after the belt.I mean IMMORTAL FOURTUNE are dominating the storylines,i think they have to have the heavyweight title ob there side,So im thinking they had Jeff deop the belt so when he pleads guilty the news cant say the TNA CHAMPION JEFF HARDY pleads guilty.They will have to say former champion Jeff Hardy.Then when its all over next month Jeff has to get the belt back.HAS TO!!!

Can I has a booking position in TNA pleez!? Easy E, stop reading forums and get to work!

I agree about Pope. A few people brought up a good point. Now that Anderson is Champ and all the heels are busy, AJ injured, who is he going to feud with? Pope is also busy with Joe so ... what now? Matt H-.. aw fuck. It's gonna be Matt Hardy. Shoot me in the balls.