Can TNA Make Matt Hardy Marketable?

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I know Matt gets a lot of flack for his weight and the fact that he's a mark for himself, but can TNA do something that WWE couldn't do and make him mean something again? I mean, as long as he does what he's told and not find a way to piss anyone off, maybe something good can develop for him. It worked well for Jeff, can the same be in the cards for Matt? Or is Matt just so lame that nobody will ever take him seriously again?

Matt has really been a bit strange since arriving in TNA. I haven't seen much of him to see if he has made much of an impact other than being that guy who is Jeffs brother and tries to save him or stop him from losing. I don't think that anybody is buying his whole "Cold Blooded" gimmick as he just isn't believable in that aspect. Matt was never marketable for WWE but according to the Wrestling Observer year-end issue for 2010, Matt was like #30 on the top draws list (and the most under-pushed wrestler based on popularity, by far). So it really shouldn't be too hard for TNA to make him marketable. But bringing him in as a heel really threw a wrench in on him ever amounting to much there. The key would seem to be in multi-man/tag matches. TNA has managed to get Shannon Moore, Orlando Jordan and (from their own ranks) Robert Roode over and even popular in varying degrees, by pairing them up into tag teams. While the hate/disinterest for the above three was probably never at Matt Hardyesque levels to begin with, it does show in my opinion that it CAN be done. And also that one of TNA's greatest strengths is the respect it shows its tag teams and their history.

Matt's biggest problem in my opinion was the fact that he couldn't sell much Merch considering he had nothing special about him. Jeff with his colorful hair most of the time. The more wild style. The arm bands and later face paint. The logo he had. That was easy stuff to turn into merchendise that would sell.

Matt has what? He got a logo. The Key thing he had when heel. Or the MH stuff on his pants. So you could make T-Shirts and a pendent. But what else? Action figure everyone wrestler gets. he doesn't have armbands or other accessories like Jeff does. He's not as colorful like Jeff is. Which color sells for the kids side of things.

Personally, I believe in TNA here. Considering this is the same company where Nash went from a quad tear punchline to a internet favorite, when Scott Steiner went from signaling the death of TNA to being a ratings grabber, where we have Matt Morgan go from stutterer to DNA of TNA, and a few other examples, I think Matt Hardy deserves a chance.

My questions to you:
Can TNA make Matt Hardy a marketable star?

 

[It's Damn Real!]

To who, exactly?

He already is marketable, if only to his own fans at the very least. He's got an absolute cult of personality in terms of a loyal fanbase who follow him wherever he goes — and the same goes for his brother Jeff.

His internet sensationalism is actually extremely marketable, and keeps him very relevant, even if it comes at the cost of IWC marks shitting on him in threads on a wrestling forum.

TNA has turned around a number of careers that were otherwise stagnant — Steiner and Nash like you mentioned, as well as Team 3D, Matt Morgan and The Pope, so absolutely the foundation is there.

It's still early in the TNA career for Matt, so I'll give it some time before really saying one way or another, but if I'm going out on a limb, I'd say they've got a guy under contract who's likely to perform admirably for them for the next three years (at least).

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Tna can market Matt hardy like they did with other wrestlers like Team 3D and The Pope. All he needs is a good gimmick that could work. The "cold blooded" could be good if he acted more like a loose canon like the late Brian Pillman. If he can incorporate a mix of a loose cannon\cold blooded gimmick they could market him as a sort of a brian pillman.

 

[HBKStreakbuster]

TNA will market Cold Blooded Matt Hardy and Matt will market TNA to his legions of fans...Matt Hardy gives TNA much more credibility now, so he can help market them too and in a big way. I hope he becomes Champion because WWE did not give him the push he so obviously deserved! All the guy does is puts asses in seats, sell merchandise, and give it everything he has...he wasn't called the Heart and Soul of Smackdown for nothing...the guy came out to enormous pops!

 

[DForce]

Not to speak for the guy, but I think he was talking about mass marketable and not just marketable to a few fanboys. Anyway, Matt's not marketable and I'll use the fours C's to demonstrate:

Character: Matt has no character. He has a face and a demeanor that makes peope want to slap the crap out of him. When he doesn't get his way, or if things aren't going his way, he whines, complains, and spews his propaganda all over the net.

Capital: Capital in this case would be accomplishments gained through previous engagements. Let's see. When Matt left WWE he was fat and useless; not being in the contenders picture, losing recent feuds, and being a pompous internet personality.

Capacity: This is Matt's ability to draw. Matt can't draw a damn stickman, let alone the interest of wrestling fans. It's clear everyone hates him. My proof is that of every five post in these forums, three people have negative things to say about Matt.

Conditions: The conditions in TNA aren't right to make something out of Matt. The moment TNA can make something out of TNA may be the moment that TNA can make something out of Matt. Condition? Matt isn't in the condition to be made something of.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Not to speak for the guy, but I think he was talking about mass marketable and not just marketable to a few fanboys. Anyway, Matt's not marketable and I'll use the fours C's to demonstrate:

Character: Matt has no character. He has a face and a demeanor that makes peope want to slap the crap out of him. When he doesn't get his way, or if things aren't going his way, he whines, complains, and spews his propaganda all over the net.

Capital: Capital in this case would be accomplishments gained through previous engagements. Let's see. When Matt left WWE he was fat and useless; not being in the contenders picture, losing recent feuds, and being a pompous internet personality.

Capacity: This is Matt's ability to draw. Matt can't draw a damn stickman, let alone the interest of wrestling fans. It's clear everyone hates him. My proof is that of every five post in these forums, three people have negative things to say about Matt.

Conditions: The conditions in TNA aren't right to make something out of Matt. The moment TNA can make something out of TNA may be the moment that TNA can make something out of Matt. Condition? Matt isn't in the condition to be made something of.

Matt Hardy is marketabale. I'm not a Matt Hardy mark and when i saw his cold blooded promo i was like " wow he may have something there". Ok yeah when he left WWE he was fat, but it could have happened to anybody considering he was sick. As for accomplishments, yeah it could be argued he achieved his success with Jeff but he still has done more than any of us would have done in our entire lives. As for him complaining when he doesn't get his way, well how would you feel being in a company since 1998 and you were treated like shit even if you gave all you got for the same company?

 

[Rampage Bentley]

I think it all depends on your definition of "Marketing." Marketing is the act of taking something and presenting it to the public in a way to make it profitable.

TNA can't outmarket WWE on anything. It's not a dig at TNA, WWE is a mass multi-billion dollar company with tons of resources and connections TNA could never hope to match. Now if you mean give his wrestling persona new life as they did with Morgan, Anderson, and Pope (although I've been souring on Pope recently, shame. He used to be the biggest reason I watched TNA) then perhaps.

I think Jeff Hardy's on-air character is a good step for him, and I wouldn't argue that he's more interesting now than he's been in a long long time, TNA hasn't marketed him better. WWE marketed him better, they took his mediocre gimmick and made a fortune from it, TNA has taken his mediocre gimmick, made it slightly less mediocre and have made a mediocre sum off it.

 

[JGlass]

TNA has barely been able to make their most talented stars marketable, or at least they have failed when it comes to actually marketing them. It seems when companies want a professional wrestler as a spokesperson or a wrestler is involved in any sort of major public event, it's a WWE guy. I suppose it's possible TNA has more success in Orlando, but that's still very little visibility. TNA doesn't draw anywhere near the amount of commercial interest that WWE does, and it doesn't seem like they have the ability to push stars into the mainstream media like the WWE has recently with guys like Cena and Miz.

On top of that, Matt Hardy has done a lot to hurt his personal reputation. Basically whining his way out of his contract is not going to make him appealing on the business side of things, and him grossly over-exaggerating his wrestling ability is bound to piss some of the boys off backstage. It's only a matter of time before Matt feels he's not being used properly because he's not in a main event level feud, which is where he felt he should be when he left the WWE, and then creative is either going to have to give into his demands or teach him a lesson by having him job to Jay Lethal or someone of equal impressiveness (or lack there of).

Matt Hardy has very few friends in the wrestling business right now, and very few skills that he can use to separate himself from the super talented on the TNA roster right now. He may be in the top half of talent on the TNA roster, but is miles behind guys like Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Jeff, Ken Anderson, Matt Morgan, RVD, many of the tag team guys... he's far down on the pecking order as he isn't nearly as talented as many of those guys. If WWE couldn't make Matt a marketable star, you can bet your ass TNA won't be able to.

 

[DeathClutch]

Not to speak for the guy, but I think he was talking about mass marketable and not just marketable to a few fanboys. Anyway, Matt's not marketable and I'll use the fours C's to demonstrate:

Character: Matt has no character. He has a face and a demeanor that makes peope want to slap the crap out of him. When he doesn't get his way, or if things aren't going his way, he whines, complains, and spews his propaganda all over the net.

Capital: Capital in this case would be accomplishments gained through previous engagements. Let's see. When Matt left WWE he was fat and useless; not being in the contenders picture, losing recent feuds, and being a pompous internet personality.

Capacity: This is Matt's ability to draw. Matt can't draw a damn stickman, let alone the interest of wrestling fans. It's clear everyone hates him. My proof is that of every five post in these forums, three people have negative things to say about Matt.

Conditions: The conditions in TNA aren't right to make something out of Matt. The moment TNA can make something out of TNA may be the moment that TNA can make something out of Matt. Condition? Matt isn't in the condition to be made something of.

And the 5th C, Coward.
No I'm not bashing the guy, but he isn't a fighter by nature, Paul London and Sean Morely have both called him out for being a coward by nature lately which reminded of when it came out Edge had been nailing Lita and Edge offered to fly out to NC to sort it out with Matt man to man and Matt declined, most guys would want to throw fists with who ever their woman who they were going to marry and have kids yada yada yada with and then this other guy who just happens to be your best friend seduces YOUR Woman and is fucking her while your on the injury list? yet YOU get fired, HE gets YOUR woman and HE gets one MEGA push? come on you'd want to throw down and hurt him but Matt declined.

Now some people are soft by nature and that is cool but considering Matt tries to play up this psycho, cold blooded guy yet gets called out as being a pussy? it's laughable, kind of like Psycho Sid, how he was this monster and psycho yet Double A Arn Anderson and him came to blows and he used a pair of sissors on him and when a much smaller Brian Pillman offered him a fight he ran out and picked up a squeegy for protection?

I find it laughable and as far as Matt goes, he hasn't been in TNA 30 days since his debut yet he's trying to get TNA get Lita in for an angle?
He needs to MOVE ON Lita has and so should he.

 

[Tugboat77]

I'm not trying to be rude and bash TNA because as you can see from my avatar, one of my favorite wrestlers is in TNA. With that being said, TNA can't market anything. If they COULD market anything, their ratings would have skyrocketed when they acquired the biggest name in professional wrestling history. I'm of course tlaking about Hulk Hogan. People that have never watched a second of wrestling in their lives know who Hogan is, yet over a year after joining TNA, their ratings are roughly exactly the same. I know that's been said and discussed a million times here in these forums but seriously, that is all the proof you need that they don't have the ability to market anyone, except to their own hardcore fanbase which doesn't seem to be growing at all.

 

[Syko Sid]

That Answer Is NO. Matt Hardy At This Point Has To Market Himself, But He's Too Busy Holding Grudges. A Guess A Better Question To Ask Is, Is Matt Hardy Truly Motivated & Dedicated To Wrestling Like He Used To Be?

 

[WZMember####]

TNA sure will try though. TNA Shop has already released a shirt Cold Blooded. Its exactly like the Jeff Hardy one with the face except its Matts face and they currently running a deal. But I am not sure how its going to fit in to anything storyline wise having a similr shirt as Jeff. Unless, they decide to have them team up more.

 

[PsYcho]

Before I contribute ANYTHING to this conversation, let me be the first to admit that I am a huge Matt Hardy fan. When the Hardys arose from jobber status and became a featured tag team during the attitude era, Matt was always my favorite of the two. I guess I just liked his style better.

Okay, now onto the topic: can TNA market him? Well it's not so much that they can't as it is they won't. TNA's talent pool is full of old WCW and WWE castoffs/has-beens. What does Matt have to make him stand out from guys like Jeff Jarrett (who I think is inactive), Kurt Angle, or Mr. Anderson???

Yes, he was on Monday Night Raw.......yes, he worked for "the boys up north"......but what ELSE? What does Matt have that none of the other guys do?

I don't really see as he has much of anything. I see Matt Hardy buried in the tag team division personally. TNA is suffering as it is and I think rather than risk trying to put Matt Hardy in the spotlight, they're going to stick to their proven draws as well: the Styles, Samoa Joes, Angles, and people like that who TNA KNOWS can draw!

So to sum it all up, it's not so much that they can't but I just think that they won't risk it.

 

[Sparky]

TNA can't make him Marketable, He needs to shake off his tickets he has on himself and realise he isn't even half the star he actually thinks he is. When he can do that, and he starts to improve his game Hardy himself could do it, but no way TNA could do something not even the WWE could pull off.

 

[Trent Valentine]

And the 5th C, Coward.
No I'm not bashing the guy, but he isn't a fighter by nature, Paul London and Sean Morely have both called him out for being a coward by nature lately which reminded of when it came out Edge had been nailing Lita and Edge offered to fly out to NC to sort it out with Matt man to man and Matt declined, most guys would want to throw fists with who ever their woman who they were going to marry and have kids yada yada yada with and then this other guy who just happens to be your best friend seduces YOUR Woman and is fucking her while your on the injury list? yet YOU get fired, HE gets YOUR woman and HE gets one MEGA push? come on you'd want to throw down and hurt him but Matt declined.

Now some people are soft by nature and that is cool but considering Matt tries to play up this psycho, cold blooded guy yet gets called out as being a pussy? it's laughable, kind of like Psycho Sid, how he was this monster and psycho yet Double A Arn Anderson and him came to blows and he used a pair of sissors on him and when a much smaller Brian Pillman offered him a fight he ran out and picked up a squeegy for protection?

I find it laughable and as far as Matt goes, he hasn't been in TNA 30 days since his debut yet he's trying to get TNA get Lita in for an angle?
He needs to MOVE ON Lita has and so should he.

Im going to have to agree with you on that. The guy comes off as such a damn coward. If my BFF took my girl, cost me my job and my push, I'd want to kick his ass too. But instead he decides to hide behind his little website and whine and cry to his little fanbase that Edge is a cheating rat and Lita is a filthy ****e. He tries to come off as such a badass but the dude is a total pansy. Whats sadder is that he's trying to get his old flame back in wrestling when she made it clear she's retired and is focusing on her punk band. The dude needs to get over her, get over himself, and move the hell on already.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

The hardest part about marketing Matt Hardy is that there is absolutely nothing that stands out about him. He is average in the ring and on the mic as well. The only time he was marketed a bit was when his personal life was in tatters and I guess that's the only way in which he will become relevant again. So, Matt Hardy needs to find a girlfriend then hook her up with a friend of his and then post a youtube video crying about it if he needs to become marketable again.

So, unless the above scenario happens I do not think that there is any promotion in this world that can make him marketable. Riddle me this. If a kid looks at the TNA roster he would love to wrestle like AJ Styles and Kurt Angle or be would want to own people like like Mr Anderson. Why would the kid want to be Matt Hardy? If you know the answer to that then you should know the answer to the question that the OP has posed.

 

[TCBT]

TNA has barely been able to make their most talented stars marketable, or at least they have failed when it comes to actually marketing them. It seems when companies want a professional wrestler as a spokesperson or a wrestler is involved in any sort of major public event, it's a WWE guy. I suppose it's possible TNA has more success in Orlando, but that's still very little visibility. TNA doesn't draw anywhere near the amount of commercial interest that WWE does, and it doesn't seem like they have the ability to push stars into the mainstream media like the WWE has recently with guys like Cena and Miz.

On top of that, Matt Hardy has done a lot to hurt his personal reputation. Basically whining his way out of his contract is not going to make him appealing on the business side of things, and him grossly over-exaggerating his wrestling ability is bound to piss some of the boys off backstage. It's only a matter of time before Matt feels he's not being used properly because he's not in a main event level feud, which is where he felt he should be when he left the WWE, and then creative is either going to have to give into his demands or teach him a lesson by having him job to Jay Lethal or someone of equal impressiveness (or lack there of).

Matt Hardy has very few friends in the wrestling business right now, and very few skills that he can use to separate himself from the super talented on the TNA roster right now. He may be in the top half of talent on the TNA roster, but is miles behind guys like Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Jeff, Ken Anderson, Matt Morgan, RVD, many of the tag team guys... he's far down on the pecking order as he isn't nearly as talented as many of those guys. If WWE couldn't make Matt a marketable star, you can bet your ass TNA won't be able to.

Exactly! How can anyone say TNA has the ability to make Matt Hardy marketable if TNA hasn't made ANYONE marketable. I'm not trying to put down TNA. It's fact. TNA has had the same overall numbers (give or take a few points) since their move to Spike TV.

Take a look at the amount of marketable talent TNA has or had - legends like Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan. The most successful WCW stars like Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Booker T, Sting, DDP, Macho Man. The most successful tag teams in the world like the Dudleys, the New Age Outlaws, the Hardy Boyz. The most popular wrestlers from ECW like Sabu, RVD, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, Rhyno, Taz, Raven. Established and successful stars of WWE like Kurt Angle, Pope, Mr. Kennedy, Jeff Hardy, Jeff Jarrett, Christian, Val Venis, X-Pac.

I'm not including the jobbers or unimportant Superstars from other companies who ended up in TNA (Shannon Moore, the whole Knockouts Division). And I'm not even including any in-grown TNA wrestler (like AJ Styles, and ummm.... AJ Styles, and uhhh... AJ Styles).

So no, there's absolutely no way in hell TNA can make Matt Hardy marketable. The most marketable thing Matt Hardy has done (and figures prove this) is when he did his whole Mattitude/Matt Hardy 1.0 deal. Other than that, he's been stale, boring, annoying, whinny, and everything BUT marketable. I don't think I've EVER seen anyone wear a Matt Hardy t-shirt unless it included his brother in it....

 

[BJM0703]

Matt Hardy wont make a difference for TNA. Only 2 men will make a difference for TNA and that is Goldberg, and Batista. But it will never happen because TNA cant afford Goldberg or Batista and it's sad too but that's what happens when you put someone in charge who has no knowledge of the wrestling buisness.

 

[Tech N9ne]

Matt Hardy will always be big on the internet. He is very active online when it comes to videos, interviews, tweets, blogs etc...

So that will always make people look for him and what not, because he is so accessible. But, as far as being any company's Top Star, he is done. He is marketable in the sense he advertises for himself and that helps his buzz. Any company he is with will sell Matt Hardy stuff. He has a cult following. He & Jeff will always have die hards.

But the casual fan, which is basically the majority, will not take to him. The older this generation gets, the less of a chance he has to be a Top Guy. He is getting older and eventually he wont appeal to younger fans. He will still have that cult following I alluded to above.

I believe the Matt Hardy ship has sailed. He will always be what he is now. Maybe he will capture mid card titles in the Main Companies. But he will NEVER be WWE or World Heavyweight Champion. I don't think he will ever be TNA Champion either. He might capture a smaller indy company's World Title. That would be it though. He never attained what people felt he would. He was never given that final push to win a World Title in WWE.

 

[Calderownz]

Like anything in life, they have a chance. As far as an audience, Matt does come with his own built in fanbase. In terms of getting any bigger or better? That remains to be seen.

The problem with assuming that he can get better in terms of notoriety, is the fact that you either have to be exceptional at one of the three things that make a star. The look, the mouth or the ability. In my eyes, his look and ability of dwindled in recent years and he was never incredible on the mic. That will remain a problem for him as he moves ahead.

Still, if they can find a nice fit for him and he stays dedicated to getting in a bit better of shape and re-honing his skills, he should be able to keep people interested. Especially with his online antics.

 

[ABMorales787]

Quite frankly, at this current point, he's higher on the card than he was for most of his time in WWE. Can he be marketable? Hornswoggle's marketable. Your gonna have to give me a better term than that. And besides, didn't WWE just put his face next to Jeff's and they became the hottest thing on WWEShop.com? Yeah, he can be marketable. Especially when glued to his brother.

In my eyes, he does not deserve to go anywhere past the X Division (where he should be right now) or the TV title. He just does not deserve it. Rewarding such a conceited ego is just wrong in my eyes. Matt should just stick to trying to be a sold performer. But we all know he wont.

 

[GameOver]

I'd agree with others above, he already is marketable. Just needs to lose weight and get off the drugs, same as Jeff.

TNA ha a poor record of taking somebodies and turning them into MEH!!!! though. and Matt has already been meh for the last several years

Still they can't make him too much less than he has fallen to in the last 2yrs.

 

[GameOver]

notice you didn't say anything about getting off the drugs though
and yes while i had TNA on in the background i don't really watch most of it as it's BOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRINGGGGGG

Then again same can be said for WWE programming, don't watch all of it either just have it as background noise til something peaks my interest. There ya go TNA fanboys i said something negative about WWE too