I am not the least bit impressed with Jeff Hardy the heel. The problem is two fold for me. On one hand, you are asking a guy to strip away the only thing that ever made him interesting, his "daredevil" ring style. Now, he is a ground and pound guy and it has already showed in his match vs. Matt Morgan. It's hard to get excited about a Jeff Hardy match if his ring style is going to be so stripped down and dull.
To be frank, dude, Hardy hasn't been a daredevil in at least 5-6 years. I mean, even in WWE as a face, and in TNA as a face AND heel he'd wrestle in the exact same manner. A punch here, a kick there, whisper in the wind, twist of fate, swanton. I see absolutely no difference between Face Hardy and Heel Hardy as far as in-ring work goes. It speaks bad for him because it comes out as the only thing he CAN do. And it IS the only thing he can do. Jeff's never been a wrestler, he's just a guy that does two highflying moves that were the shit back in the day but are a tie and elbow lock up and an arm drag for guys like Amazing Red in 2010.
On the other hand, putting him in the heel champion role is absolutely detrimental to a Jeff Hardy. The only time Jeff was someone people cared about was when a great heel made you sympathize with Jeff. People like Edge make you root for him to win the title and people like CM Punk make you want to love the guy. I'm not a Hardy guy, but those feuds make you want to root for him because the heel carries the feud. Jeff was always a guy who needed a better guy to carry him. Now, he has to be that "better guy", that veteran to carry a feud and I just don't believe he can do it. He hasn't gotten me to care about a feud with Morgan, and he hasn't built up anything with anybody else. He says nonsensical things that come off heelish, but a heels job is not just to remotely sound heelish, it's to be a heel to a face and make you want to root for that face. Simply interfering for 5 seconds in the face's matches won't do that. That's as generic a heel tactic as can be. Thus far, Hardy hasn't done anything to make you care about his main event matches as a heel.
I could not possibly agree more. So far, Jeff didn't strike me as a guy that can make me boo his ass off. But, as always, I'll wait it out. He hasn't been a heel for long. It takes time. So far so good. He's got the look, he's building an attitude, building a new persona. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt simply because he's not a light switch. The guy's been a face for a decade, I'm sure he's not quite aware of how to work a heel character.
That's the same reason why the fans are still chanting for him. He isn't an established heel. It happens to most heels in the beginning.
You also have to remember that heel Hardy is going to main event Pay Per Views. Unless he's facing Kurt Angle, the matches won't be very good. He has to be carried and that's tough for any babyface to do. I think you are running into trouble because Jeff simply doesn't have the ring fortitude to work a great match from the heel side. Thus, short term shock is not leading to long term payoff in terms of ring work.
True. Like I said, Hardy's never been a wrestler, but at the same time, he's not very intelligent in the ring as far as telling a story goes. I remember Taz saying something about Hardy that summed him up completely.
"Jeff Hardy is as good as his opponent"
Absolute truth right there. Put him in the ring with Kurt -- you get a kick ass match. Put him in the ring with Morgan, you get a meh.
Let's also examine these "promos" Jeff has been cutting. These ditties are what most of you are clamoring about and saying that Jeff is finally doing well. While I might agree that this delivery is better than his random yelling, weird ass face promos, that doesn't make them good. They are nonsensical in a way that the Ultimate Warrior was. They are just random thoughts from a faux poet. Then a little heel smile at the end and many are convinced that a quality heel promo has been cut. But is it? I think not.
Well, it's no Shawn Michaels, but the bar has been so low over the past few years that a promo like Jeff's can do just fine. I personally like them. Jeff's a mystery to a lot of people. He's just plain weird. I'm fine with his crazy talk, but you GOTTA cut a promo that makes sense every now and then. Mixing the two would be perfect. Be all Jeffro all you want, but speak as a human being too so the other human beings around the world can understand you.
Again, cutting a quality heel promo is about making the fans cheer more for your opponent and hate you more. These random thoughts aren't doing it. Evidence of that is that Jeff still gets cheered in the Impact Zone (who doesn't?) and on the road at house shows. I suppose in this day and age it's hard to get heel heat, but if Sheamus and Wade Barrett can do it, why not Hardy? To do that, he will have to really hone his talents. He will have to truly put down the Angles, Andersons, and Morgans of the world to the disdain of the audience. Words about forgiveness and giving himself an unearned nickname do not make a good heel. Perhaps I'm critical, but I just don't buy Hardy in this role.
You're critical, but it's logical criticism. One we don't see much on these boards.
Anyway, Hardy's never been a Roddy Piper on the mic and a Dean Malenko in the ring. It's a fact. He's not a Champion because of his inring work or mic skills, he's a Champion because of the shock factor he created, how well known he is and his merchandise sells, which from what I hear are pretty darn good, and also 'cause he fits perfectly in this storyline. He was just the right guy to do it. Some would argue that Anderson was more fitting, and at one point I was one of the "some", but now I'd much rather see a face Anderson go against a heel Hardy, and eventually taking down Immortal and restoring the ballance yada yada, than a face Hardy do all of that.
Is he the best option for a champion? HELL no. Is he the wrong guy to hold it currently? Absolutely not.
But he's done nothing more then tape some goofy promos backstage, that are only half-way decent because the editing makes them look "creepy?" & creepy isnt even the word I wanna use there. Oh yeah- & he got a cheap victory over Morgan, after actually being pinned himself beforehand.
