Int Region, St. Louis Region, First Round: (14) Kevin Nash vs. (19) Jeff Hardy

[shattered dreams]

Nash. Hardy may be a big deal, but Nash held the world title for over a year. That says an awful lot, and considering that all Nash is going to have to do is hit a big boot to put Hardy down, this isn't much of a contest. Nash has experience against smaller guys like Rey, and if he can beat Rey (which he did), he can beat Hardy, which he will.

I would expect a better quality argument from you. A big boot will put Jeff Hardy down Jeff Hardy is arguably better at taking a significant beating yet still managing to win than anyone in this era. Comparing title reign lengths from the past to ones in the present is as dumb as comparing the number of title wins now to what happened in the past. Nash was a big deal but maybe not as much as he might have you believe. Nash will talk about some of the crowds he drew but that is old drawing. I am surprised that with how much we joke about it people don't understand how big a part of new drawing t-shirt sales is. Nash drew because of the position he was in. Hardy's drawing forced them to give him the position he attained. I don't hate the big lazy but I have no problem calling him that because it seems accurate. Nash probably should win but a Hardy at the top of his game is anything but an easy match for Nash. They are so opposite in almost every way that it really is a coinflip type of match as any one of several factors on either side could be the difference that leads to the win.

So who to vote for? I guess the only decision I can make is to go for Nash. The reason? Nash was able to cut it as a Champion in both WWF and WCW, and has shown consistency in his abilities. Hardy has gone from extreme to extreme in terms of holding it together, and has never truly convinced outside of the WWE bubble. For that reason, I'm voting Nash.

Seems like an odd tiebreaker when one guy had his prime at time when WCW didn't even exist. Nash never could cut it consistently in WWE, so is he out for that reason?

 

[klunderbunker]

I would expect a better quality argument from you. A big boot will put Jeff Hardy down Jeff Hardy is arguably better at taking a significant beating yet still managing to win than anyone in this era. Comparing title reign lengths from the past to ones in the present is as dumb as comparing the number of title wins now to what happened in the past. Nash was a big deal but maybe not as much as he might have you believe. Nash will talk about some of the crowds he drew but that is old drawing. I am surprised that with how much we joke about it people don't understand how big a part of new drawing t-shirt sales is. Nash drew because of the position he was in. Hardy's drawing forced them to give him the position he attained. I don't hate the big lazy but I have no problem calling him that because it seems accurate. Nash probably should win but a Hardy at the top of his game is anything but an easy match for Nash. They are so opposite in almost every way that it really is a coinflip type of match as any one of several factors on either side could be the difference that leads to the win.

When I say down I don't mean down for a pin mind you. I mean down as in it would stop Hardy's momentum. Hardy would certainly make a comeback, but for the life of me I can't see Hardy being the guy that would stop Nash, not in Nash's best years at least. That would arguably be either 1998 or 1994, and even at Hardy's best I don't think he could stop Diesel back then. It wouldn't be a squash either, but I think Nash would win it in the end.

 

[Peoples_Champ]

Kevin Nash deserves to take this one. He was an absolute monster back in the 90s, a believable big man. He beat Backlund in 8 seconds with one jackknife powerbomb. Granted this was mid-90s Backlund, but it makes a huge statement to win in Madison Square Garden in 8 seconds against an established contender.

I never bought Hardy as a champ. It's not like CM Punk, who is undersized but has the technical ability to make me believe that he can win it all. Hardy was a glorified, yet successful, spot monkey that got a shot.

I gotta go with Nash. In a traditional catch-as-catch-can match, Nash would finally find the quicker Hardy and put him away, 1-2-3.

Nash by pinfall, 14 minutes.

 

[The Brain]

I'm going with Nash here. He's just too big and strong for Hardy to handle. I'm sure Jeff with hit a flurry of offense and put forth a great effort similar to what he did against Taker a decade ago. In the end though I see Hardy falling victim to some power moves before being finished with a jackknife.

 

[Tastycles]

Seems like an odd tiebreaker when one guy had his prime at time when WCW didn't even exist. Nash never could cut it consistently in WWE, so is he out for that reason?

I would have thought that the argument was plain to anybody capable of reasoning, but I'll spell it out:

Nash - longest title reign for years in WWE, then several short but popular runs in WCW, and part of the most popular storyline ever = measured success in two promotions

Hardy - several short but populr runs in WWE, an embarrassing stint as TNA champion and a total loss of interest in the business = measured success in one promotion

 

[Alex]

I would like to point out Jeff Hardy beat Matt Morgan a guy pretty much the same size as Nash (and slightly more agile in my view)

I still think Nash would get cocky (because he does that) allowing Hardy to catch him by surprise and score an upeset.

 

[The Gribbler]

Yeah thats why he doesn't get big pops in TNA

You count TNA pops? I stopped taking the TNA audience seriously years ago.

On topic, I really cannot see nash putting over someone that small. He had a thing about not jobbing. And had very particular thoughts on where people like Jeff Hardy fit in the scheme of things. Hell he is one millionth as talented as Guererro, Malenko, Benoit and Jericho were and Nash wouldn't give THEM the time of day, let alone Hardy.

Just My Opinion

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I definitely think Jeff Hardy would put up a fight here, as he did in that famous ladder match against another big man in The Undertaker, but Nash would come out on top if we are comparing both men in their primes.

He would simply be too strong, too dirty and too powerful for The Charismatic Enigma, and with this being in WCW, the nWo would be on hand to watch Nash's back and give him all the help he needs (if any) to put away Hardy.

Hardy fights bravely, but a cheap shot from Scott Hall on the outside leads Hardy to stumble into a Jackknife Powerbomb from Nash, and the 3 count.

Winner: Kevin Nash

 

[George Steele's Barber]

If if you ignore Nash's backstage influence and Hardy being too distracted by Hall walking around ring side with a load of painkillers shoved down his trunks, Nash is going to win easily.

All of Hardy's spots are worthless against a man with the size and strength of Nash. Whisper in the Wind, Swanton and Twist of Fate would be incredibly ineffective. Nash in his prime in WCW would throw Hardy around like a bouncer throws around a drunken frat boy. Hardy would take the power bomb bump very nicely.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I've got to go with Nash here. I've never really been overly impressed with Hardy's track record against big men. I was never a huge fan of Nash inside the ring but during his peak years, he was pretty dominant. Nash is obviously much slower, less agile & less mobile than Jeff Hardy is but so much of Hardy's offense just seems ineffectual to me in terms of keeping Nash down. I see Hardy putting up a good fight, throwing caution to the wind and just hitting Nash with every high flying, high risk moves that come to mind. Nash would also get in his share of ground & pound offense and use his size & strength to take Hardy's mobility out of the game to do some damage.

I can see Hardy getting Nash down and going for the Swanton Bomb off the top, only for Nash to counter by pulling up his knees for Hardy to land on or simply rolling out of the way due to Hardy, having been worked over & hurting, taking longer to get to the top & set up for the move than normal. At any rate, Nash has time to recover and takes advantage of the situation by hitting the Jacknife on Hardy for the win.

I know some have said that Hardy beat Morgan and he's roughly Nash's size. While that's true, Morgan isn't Nash. Compared with Kevin Nash, Morgan's a nobody that's done pretty much nothing. By the time Nash was Morgan's current age, he'd embarked on one of the longest World Championship runs of the past 25 years. From there, he went to WCW as part of the original nWo, which was one of the biggest angles & factions of all time, had a further 5 more World Championship wins & 9 tag title runs. Not all of those runs were the stuff that dreams were made of, nor were the feuds, but at least he had them. Morgan's biggest claim to fame lies with 2 joke tag title runs and generally coming out on the losing end of any big feuds he finds himself in.

 

[Loveless]

Nash at his best would crush Hardy in no time at all. HBK couldn't beat Diesel at Wrestlemania XI and Hardy sure as fuck isn't HBK. Nash is a 6'10 beast, Hardy has the physicality of a ballet dancer.

 

[shattered dreams]

I would have thought that the argument was plain to anybody capable of reasoning, but I'll spell it out:

Nash - longest title reign for years in WWE, then several short but popular runs in WCW, and part of the most popular storyline ever = measured success in two promotions

Hardy - several short but populr runs in WWE, an embarrassing stint as TNA champion and a total loss of interest in the business = measured success in one promotion

I understand what you say but I just don't see the relevance. If apathy in TNA is a mark against someone then Nash probably has some skeletons in his closet you should disclose. Why is Nash doing stuff in WWF and WCW different than Hardy doing stuff on Raw and Smackdown? Are we going to mark Cena down for not going to a different non-existent company? If you want to argue Nash had more success then that is one thing but I just don't see the relevance of the number of promotions that someones success occurred in.

 

[jmt225]

Fuck the kayfabe argument... Jeff Hardy is one of the best, most entertaining, and popular professional wrestlers of all time. He deserves the vote here.

I loved Nash when I was a kid, and his run with Diesel was fairly entertaining when he was working with the right people, but nothing he ever did comes close to matching Jeff Hardy's body of work. Jeff's tag team run was remarkable, and his singles run has been remarkable. Bitch and moan about his personal demons all you want, but you cannot deny that he has always been an INCREDIBLE professional wrestler, much better than Nash ever was.

 

[Alex]

Now that Nash's WCW influence is void Hardy should definitely win.

He's beaten guys more or less the same size as Nash (Undertaker, Matt Morgan, Abyss) and big guys who are more agile than Nash as well (Umaga). Nash would find it hard to catch Hardy and Hardy's resilience would mean he could take a lot of Nash's offence.