IC25 Editorial - Much Ado About...Nothing?

[IrishCanadian25]

As seen on Wrestlezone.com

http://www.wrestlezone.com/editorials/article/much-ado-aboutnothing-113063

One of my friends posted something on Facebook the other day that caught my eye. It was posted in the midst of Lindsey Lohan's post-court drama, I believe her birthday, and something else having to do with Lindsey Lohan. I am not 100% sure, because whenever it comes to her, I tend to tune out. But the 2nd half of the post listed a series of American troops who had passed away as a result of the Middle East conflict this week. Why America was so intently focused on Lindsey Lohan, who poses absolutely zero tangible value to society in general, while these brave veterans died for our country was beyond me.

And then it occured to me - we've all become quite good at taking something so minor and inconsequential and turning it into a major event or story.

Such is the case with Matt Hardy. Sigh.

Someone will really have to explain to me what the big deal is. Why do I care about the conflicts he's having with the WWE management? Why is it noteworthy that he's got some weight issues? Why should I give a damn if he goes to TNA? Matt Hardy, overall, has contributed comparitively very little to the professional wrestling landscape. His best run in the WWE (in my opinion) was when his Version-1 character first came out, and even that was a credit more to the WWE production crew than Hardy himself. "Matt-Facts" always made me laugh, and then once his entrance was over, I'd usually go eat dinner.

Matt Hardy has been struggling to get out of the shadow of his almost equally underwhelming brother Jeff for well over a decade now, and yet internet fans screamed from the mountain tops that this guy "deserved" a push. If I hear one more "_____ deserves a push" discussion I'm going to vomit like Papa Shango just stole my armband. Nobody "deserves" a push - they earn it or they don't. Matt Hardy did nothing to ascend beyond the U.S. Title picture.

Except one thing. He engaged the internet fans.

When the Hardy / Edge / Lita drama occured a few years back, it woke us up because it felt real. All it did was enhance Edge's character in the end, but when Matt Hardy got fired for being unprofessional and lacking the value that Edge had, he went straight to the internet and started his grassroots campaign. I've often said that one internet fan does the work of 10 non-internet fans, because hardcore IWC Smarks will write letters, e-mail people, and post complaints until the carpal tunnel syndrome makes their forearms look like Mae Young's breasts. WWE succumbed to the pressure and brought Matt back. He put Edge over - very professionally - and then moved on with his mediocrity. Ho-hum.

So you'll have to pardon me if I don't subscribe to the twitter-fest that is Matt Hardy's "WWE status." If they resolve his status, it wouldn't matter anyway, because he was barely in a major program even when everything was fine. Let him go to the minor leagues with his brother and their tatooed buddy Shannon Moore. Nobody will notice, and do you know why?

Because Lindsey's back in rehab. Dear God make it all stop.

Chris W. Fitzpatrick

Wrestlezone Forums Moderator

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[Slyfox696]

Well written, but more importantly, directly on the mark. The amount of discussion Matt Hardy generates seems to be inversely proportional to how important he is to the wrestling business. The fact is Matt Hardy has been bland and mediocre his entire career, but particularly as a singles wrestler. The fact he has a job is MORE than enough for him to give thanks for. He's mediocre in the ring, he completely botched his one BIG chance to make an impact (the promo he cut on Edge when he first came back after the Lita affair), and he's proven himself to not be a draw.

Why the IWC decides to continually suck him off, I'll never understand. I guess their fascination with midcard workers blinds them to quality workers.

 

[Super Crazy]

I have to say I agree with you IC. The amount of attention this man receives is ridiculous. He contributes nothing to good to the business, he's been bland even since the days of the Hardy Boyz. I know Jeff is equally bland and mediocre, but he put himself out and was always the stand out of the two.

Matt's best run was indeed when he had " Version One " gimmick and was cruiserweight champion and Shannon Moore was his lackey. In my opinion, he's lucky to have the job, as his contributes nothing more then any other Joe, Dick, or Harry could bring to the table, he's proven to not be a draw when they made him the face of ECW. I'll never understand why the IWC continues to love and adore him. I'll never understand why they continually say he deserves a push. He doesn't deserve anything but to job or to not have a job in the WWE. The guy just doesn't stand out, he never has, he never will, making him World Champion would be worse then Swagger's run as champ.

 

[PsychoWard]

Great article, I enjoy reading all wrestlezone editorials.

In regards to Matt Hardy I'm going to use one saying. He has "jumped the shark" and WWE knows that. Matt Hardy might have some IWC on his side. But when he writes a post or video blogs all his on goings. To me it just becomes a whining rant. If Matt thinks he is destined for bigger and better things outside of wrestling, he would have done it already. But he knew the WWE was the place to be and ride it out as long as he could.

I'm sorry he suffered from the exploding intestine, I'm sorry he can't bend at the knees, I'm sorry Jeff became the bigger star...

The only thing that I've liked about Matt Hardy in a while, is when he thanked Vince, because he knew he made him relevant.

Thank you Matt for your WWE career I will look back fondly at all your Ladder matches, table matches and MVP competitions. I hope Matt 2.0 enjoys his run in EV2.0

 

[Whatsinaname696]

Well some people like him, and even jobbers have die hard fans sometimes, and I agree that his best days are behind him and that his best days weren't exactly the most memorable to begin with, kudos to Matt though for staying in the limelight even when he has no business there, I can't knock a guy for that, the IWC is why he's were he is and this will get even more attention on it, even though you're exactly right

 

[MoneyMack]

Im sorry...but why even bother with this editorial? Not tryin to bash the OP here, but we all know where this is guaranteed to go- dont we??

All its gonna do is bring out the Hardy fans & turn into another thread, that has half the people love Matt Hardy & the other half(the ones that know what they are talking about) hate the man with a passion. (theres like 3 of these a month, it seems)

I was never a fan of either Hardy. But the main reason I actually hate Matt these days, is because of all the people on here that seem to love the guy! So it just makes me have even more hate for him.

1. NO mic skills
2. VERY little in-ring skill

Nuff said!! Shut your mouth & just: Go Away Matt! Any fans that you have are either: Under the age of 15 -or- Just have no clue what makes a good pro wrestling entertainer

 

[Y2JChrisJericho]

Alright, I love how the editorial was written and I give the writer kudos for it, but I disagree with it completely.

Now, I don't mind Matt Hardy but I'm only a die hard Jericho fan and that's it. I just don;'t agree with this article because honestly there is always talk when situations like this happen, and Matt Hardy is a person (not a character) i'm interested in, I think he has that ultimate underdog personality with him. I never got why he was always in Jeff's shadow, I'm assuming people loved Jeff because of his cool spots, that's what it was for me growing up, but as I get older I've enjoyed Hardy more and more. He's far better on the mic than Jeff ,he's better in the ring than Jeff too, he has a lot more personality than him yet people just seemed to like Jeff.

That's why I stand up for Hardy, I think he has always deserved some attention and we can all agree on that, but now that he gets it everyone hates him. Yes, he's getting attention in the wrong way, but the reason why this is getting attention is because Hardy is one of those few guys left in the attitude era, and since he's been a mainstay in the WWE it should draw some attention.

People are just hating on HArdy because he wants to leave in my opinion. Actually, I don't know why he's receving so much hate, why is everyone surprised he wants attention when he's been in the shadow of his brother for so long? I'll give him the attention because he deserves it, and truthfully like i mentioned before, I can relate to him as a person. His Matt Hardy Version 1 stint in 2003 was highly entertaining to me, him coming back in 2005 was entertaining to me, his feud with MVP was also entertaining with me.

I really don't know why people who hate on Hardy right now drive me crazy, I really don't. As a youngster Hardy was the wrestler I hated most actually, and the only way I'd get mad over something wrestling related is Jericho haters (surprisingly some do exist). I don't know, I don't mean to bash any of you guys but I find this Hardy situation interesting, and I guess I just really wnat to see Hardy succeed. Maybe it's the connection I have with him being in the shadow of his brother, being an outcast sort of thing, but it appeals to me and anything that has appealed to me Matt Hardy related has been reality (the whole AMy Dumas thing, this situation, being in his brothers shadow)...and I don't know much about any wrestler in reality wise, but with HArdy you do, so I can't help but cheer for the guy.

Go Matt Go.

 

[ThePeoplesChampion]

Finally i have people who have the same feelings bout Matt Hardy as i do....Why is the hell this man not compared to Marty Jennety is far beyond me....the only reason fans cheer him is cause his Brother is Jeff point blank...he is bland his matches are boring...everytime matts on i flip the channel or take a cat nap...Now we have to hear him complain bout management...hell matt thank them for giving you such a push to the Mid Card....Him as a World Champ would be the worst reign ever (yes even worse than hornswoggle and Khali's )...The only news i wanna hear is Matt has quit or fired and quite honestly what is WWE waiting for? TNA can have Bore Hardy.

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

Matt Hardy is by no means a huge draw or a deserving main eventer but to say he has no worth and should just be jobbing or not working at all is stupid. I would have thought guys like IC and Sly would even realise the guy is over, even if it is just old Attitude Era die hards, the guy is over. He is a mid carder though, I certainly don’t think he should be main eventing or getting a huge push, he’s not good enough. But, he is a solid worker who knows the business, he’s worth keeping around.

Honestly I don’t think it’s worth putting up all these videos and tweets he’s been doing because it’s not going to make WWE suddenly think “shit, we better give him a world title or he’ll go to TNA”. I think he’s just realised that he won’t be getting the push he thinks he deserves and now just wants to take it easy over in TNA and get more exposure there and be considered a veteran.

He has skill and is worth something to the wrestling business and to write him off as useless is pathetic.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

i loved that line where you say that "nobody deserves a push you earn it or you dont".so true.

as for matt/matthew/fat/boring/obnoxious hardy well the only thing he's been somewhat good at is being a publicity hound.you guys say chris benoit is wrestling's oj simpson,matt hardy right there is wrestling's paris hilton.

i somehow never got this whole edge/lita/hardy situation.fans sided with matt because lita dumped him and matt washed his dirty linen in the public.no man with an iota of self respect does that.this was before i knew about lita's reputation but i think you should always respect a girl's decision.considering the kind of loser hardy is im not surprised that lita left him.she might have a reason.he might have a "small package"if you know what i mean.either way i dont care.the thing that i dont get is how hardy became a face in their onscreen feud for being a whiny crybaby(generally a heel characteristic) while edge ended up heel for behaving in the most ideal manner

as for how much matt has mattered to wrestling the answer is "JACKSQUAT".i do have issues when people compare him to christian.even in the wwe in 2005 christian main evented a ppv with cena and jericho.matt has never even come close.the mattitude run you are talking about??? he was a cruiserweight champion which was a lower midcard title.so that's not exactly something to puff your chest about.im not even gonna compare christian and matt hardy as far as their talents are concerned.ill just say that even when he was feuding with edge matt never managed to get the reaction that christian was getting in his mini feud with alberto del rio.

christian is the owen hart of this generation while matt hardy is nothing but barry howoritz with a hunger for publicity.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Hey all, thank you for the feedback. I appreciate it all, positive or negative, agree or disagree.

I got an e-mail from Marty Nolan, who also writes for Wrestlezone.com in his weekly "A British Point of View" columns. He and I have bantered a bit over the past few months, so he reached out to me with some of his thoughts about the Matt Hardy peice:

Hi Chris,

Just read your article regarding Matt Hardy and the current media situation. I was comtemplating writing an article myself in a simular direction but you hit the nail on the head.

I too find it disgusting that here in the UK we here more about the drug and alchohol problems our minor celebrities like Katie Price and Kerry Katona have rather than our brave soldiers we have too lost in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It seems to the media world these days to create useless gossip rather than factual stories.

That brings me on Matt Hardy. Matt is aware of this too. I have never understood the popularity Matt has got with people but i have never seen anything remotely special in him.

Matt understands the terms of any news is good news. I think that because he feels that he is dropping out of the spotlight and other things have taken his interest rather than wrestling (just look at his weight to prove that.) He feels the need to cause controversy. He knows people on the internet will talk about it and he is getting fame from it.

He seems to treat his fans like sheep by constantly praising them and acting like some kind of Messiah of Wrestling when in fact he is little more than a mid-carder.

His fan base has been brought in mainly by his brothers dangerous antics early in his WWF career and since then he has done everything to keep them.

His possee of Shannon, Jeff and Gregory Helms (Who is most probably the only one i do like) seem to think they know it all in Wrestling, but when did one of them carry an organisation like someone of Undertaker's, Austin's or Rock's stature? Exactely.

But like Lohan, Price and Katona. He will keep doing things that offend people or make out that he is preparing to do something big because it keeps people talking about him, the longer he gets talked about the more other people get forgotten.

I hope he goes to TNA because at the moment he isn't missed on WWE television and i have grown tired of his antics.

Kind regards

Martyn

I especially loved the point Marty made about Matt looking at his internet fame as "any news is good news." It's a very celebrity thing to do - even if you enter rehab, as long as you stay in the public eye and remain relevant. People often sympathize with failure. Look at Mickey Rourke - he had an amazingly promising career derailed by personal demons and substance abuse, but he cleaned up and came back, and people LOVED him for it. When you are contrite, you can play the "victim" card. If Matt Hardy is fired by the WWE, he could very well come out and talk about how he and Jeff put their lives on the line for the WWE and in the end they both got released. Make the "big, bad corporation" the bad guys and play the victim. Works every time.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I enjoyed the article too. Matt Hardy is in a slump right now and will say any thing random on the internet to get people talking about him. WWE really has no interest in him and I don't think TNA has interest in him either. He hasn't even talked with TNA or ROH. Matt might have a chance to go to TNA since Jeff is there. It sounds like WWE is hesitant to let him out of his contract. I wouldn't be surprise if he was let go because he has brought nothing to the table. Matt Hardy is just like Lohan or Paris Hilton, famous for being famous. I could maybe understand the infatuation with Hardy 5 years ago, but not now.

Matt is an afterthought at this point. He can make all the tweets and youtube videos he wants, but at the end of the day this routine isn't impressing anybody.