Comparing Jeff Hardy and Christian as main eventers/World Champions

[mont3818]

I don't know if there is already a specific post addressing this (I hope not), but I was curious on what people thought.

Two things:
-First off, I haven't been watching WWE lately but I was suprised/delighted to find out Christian won the World Title finally. I might end up getting the Extreme Rules blu-ray just to see it (in what was apparently a really good ladder match).
Then I got to wondering: Jeff Hardy and Christian are comtempories to one another. In other words similar career paths and history during the same period of time. Matt Hardy and Edge are too, but they are both at the opposite ends of success (Matt's carrer having its high moments but otherwise mediocre, well Edge will be a legend and hall of famer).
So then I got to thinking aren't Jeff and Christian right about in the middle? Only with Jeff crossing over to pretty much full-time main eventer towards the end of his WWE career? Then I got to thinking, shouldn't it have been Christian who crossed over to the main event instead of Jeff? Are they equally as popular or was Jeff more? One thing I do believe is Christian is consistantly the much more interesting and versitile one in his matches. Well Jeff was sometimes exciting he started to look just like a sloppy one-trick-poney in his matches to me. Wouldn't it have paid off more in the long run if that was Christian who cross over as a consistant main eventer and had a decent title reign or two? Especially given all of Jeff's personal problems??
-Secondly: Do you guys think ultimately Christian winning the belt at Extreme Rules happen JUST to make Edge's career look better and to closeout Edge's career on a better note?? I can just hear it now, Christian doing Edge's HOF induction speech: "Thanks to Edge, I was able to become World Champion" or "Because Edge retired...." and so on. You know, to serve as Edge's storybook ending moreso then a legitimate accomplishment in Christians career? Because having the belt for less than a week if you're him (being a transitional champion) can't be all that great considering how long this moment had been coming for Christian and his peeps. I mean I guess its great that he DID become a World Champion regardless, but I think in Vince's eyes it was just to serve the greater good, which was a nice ending to the more valuable Edge. Sad but probably true.

Thanks, and sorry if all of this was already addressed elsewhere. I didn't have the time to look.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I don't know if there is already a specific post addressing this (I hope not), but I was curious on what people thought.

Two things:
-First off, I haven't been watching WWE lately but I was suprised/delighted to find out Christian won the World Title finally. I might end up getting the Extreme Rules blu-ray just to see it (in what was apparently a really good ladder match).

I'd recommend getting it for this match alone, although the whole Pay Per View was pretty damn good.

Then I got to wondering: Jeff Hardy and Christian are comtempories to one another. In other words similar career paths and history during the same period of time.

In a way, I suppose you're right but at his peak Jeff was without a doubt way more popular than Christian has ever been in his career.

Matt Hardy and Edge are too, but they are both at the opposite ends of success (Matt's carrer having its high moments but otherwise mediocre, well Edge will be a legend and hall of famer).

That and Edge has never been fired by the WWE.

So then I got to thinking aren't Jeff and Christian right about in the middle? Only with Jeff crossing over to pretty much full-time main eventer towards the end of his WWE career? Then I got to thinking, shouldn't it have been Christian who crossed over to the main event instead of Jeff? Are they equally as popular or was Jeff more?

No, they are in no way equal in terms of popularity. Jeff Hardy was an absolute mega star because while I'm sure that Vince was hesitant to pull the trigger on him, the fans made him that way by losing their minds when he showed up. Not to mention the merchandising aspect of their careers which has to favor Jeff.

One thing I do believe is Christian is consistantly the much more interesting and versitile one in his matches. Well Jeff was sometimes exciting he started to look just like a sloppy one-trick-poney in his matches to me.

To each his own I suppose but the fact that he was so insanely popular leads me to believe that you're in the minority.

Wouldn't it have paid off more in the long run if that was Christian who cross over as a consistant main eventer and had a decent title reign or two? Especially given all of Jeff's personal problems??

Why? Christian wasn't the money maker that Hardy was and he still isn't. Who would have benefited from making less money and possibly even losing money?

-Secondly: Do you guys think ultimately Christian winning the belt at Extreme Rules happen JUST to make Edge's career look better and to closeout Edge's career on a better note?? I can just hear it now, Christian doing Edge's HOF induction speech: "Thanks to Edge, I was able to become World Champion" or "Because Edge retired...." and so on.

That's just stupid. No need to delve into it.

You know, to serve as Edge's storybook ending moreso then a legitimate accomplishment in Christians career? Because having the belt for less than a week if you're him (being a transitional champion) can't be all that great considering how long this moment had been coming for Christian and his peeps. I mean I guess its great that he DID become a World Champion regardless, but I think in Vince's eyes it was just to serve the greater good, which was a nice ending to the more valuable Edge. Sad but probably true.

The reports have indicated that the title was originally going to be put on Del Rio and he would have dropped it to Orton in the same fashion that Christian did, which would have been ******ed. It seems that they did it to Christian instead rather than killing any momentum that Del Rio had garnered up to this point. I mean yeah, it really sucks for Christian and his fans like myself, but honestly, who could absorb the hit better if they were intent on just feeding the winner to Orton less than a week later, Christian or Del Rio? I don't like the fact that they decided to rush Orton's reign instead of actually letting them have a feud with Orton winning but if they were going to do it, it made more sense to do it to Christian instead of Alberto.

What the hell does any of that have to do with comparing Christian to Jeff Hardy anyway? Your post was really all over the place and didn't make a whole lot of sense which is probably why it's gone this long without a reply. Point blank, Jeff Hardy was 10x more important and popular than Christian and it isn't even really close. They're hardly comparable at all.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

How can you compare Jeff Hardy to Christian? As far as I recall, Jeff Hardy was always over with the crowd, it was just Vince who didn't give him a shot at the big one until late into his WWE career. I can't remember a time when Christian was considered a main eventer except around 2005, when he was talking down people like John Cena and Chris Jericho. That's the only time I found him completely watchable. Yeah, it's a damn shame WWE didn't let him run with the World Championship for at least a month, let alone a week, but then again there were barely any main eventesque people on Smackdown at the time. Edge was retiring. Del Rio was the only other legitimate option and like Nate above me said, Orton was scheduled to take the gold from him anyways but WWE at the last minute didn't want to put a halt to Rio's momentum.

To sum it up, Christian is a hell of a competitor and has done much already in the WWE. But Jeff Hardy was more popular, and had more flashy moves. In the world of sports entertainment, Hardy sold more.