Jeff Hardy's Open Challenge

[Megadeth]

I havent seen a thread on this yet, and really it has been staying somewhat under the radar, but I was curious as to whether anyone had an idea of who Hardy's mystery opponent will be. Initially I thought it would be a Hardy/Joe rematch, but given that Joe is suspended, and the news that it is expected to be an ex-WWE person, I guess that idea is out the window.

So trying to think of what WWE people it could be, the only person that I could really come up with would be The Hurricane, Gregory Helms. Obviously, I doubt he could use the Hurricane gimmick, but given that the Hardys, Shannon Moore, and Helms are all friends, it would make sense. But then again, while I like Helms, I dont see them doing anything big to introduce him, and I think it would be kind of a let down of a surprise.

One other idea I had is, and this may just be wishful thinking, is that instead of a ex-WWE person, it would be the return of a former TNA person, The Fallen Angel, Christopher Daniels. I know Tommy Dreamer said in an interview he wanted to try to get him to come back, and I think him vs Hardy would be an awesome match.

So those are my thoughts on who it might be, anyone else have any ideas?

 

[Schizophrenic]

The ideas I had were Joe (with recent reports it seems Joe was suspended weeks ago and that his suspension would be up by next week), Shane Helms considering the rumors he will be coming to TNA, or (my hope) would be Paul Burchill. The guy would be a great addition to TNA and another guy whose talents WWE let slip through their fingers and could be a great prospect for TNA.

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

I think there are two possible people that can accept the open challenge from Hardy, and since its being reported that it is a wrestler that was recently released from WWE it will be either Helms Or Burchill will be the guy and I'm leaning toward Helms, If its either of these two I wouldn't mind because I like both of those wrestlers.

 

[Kenny Powers]

It could be Helms or Burchill. Maybe TNA will surprise us and have Wolfe actually appear on Impact and win a match maybe? There have been hints that it will probably be a former WWE employee or even ROH employee. TNA has signed some new ROH talent. It could be one of them, but doubtful. I'm thinking TNA will probably have Hardy face Helms next week.

 

[jccool420]

Helms would be cool, but I'd expect Helms to be aligned with Hardy rather than facing him...

Another option would be Mike Knox... Dreamer has stated that he would like to bring him in and I think he would do well in TNA...

 

[LegendKiller716]

i like a lot of the ideas above and i think it will be helms, but i'll just throw out the possibilities of

Carlito: he just signed somewhere else, but i don't know how exclusive that is.

Kenny Doane: Formerly Kenny Dykstra, i really miss this guy and he would be a great addition to the show.

Lance Cade: Another great talent that could main event in TNA and had a history with jeff hardy.

Bryan Danileson: What if TNA pulled out the surprise of the year? Doubt it

Like I said, I think it's Helms, but yo guys can just think on those names.

 

[Notorious718]

It wouldn't surprise me ifHelms made his debut next week. As was mentioned, he has a history with Jeff. I would also expect Burchill to make a debut if not Helms. I wouldn't mind seeing Mike Knox either. I liked the guy and though that WWE did such a piss poor job booking him and I hope TNA would do better. Perhaps just wishful thinking.

However, in the event that Christopher Daniels returns, I think this could potentially be his chance to get into the main event scene if not the Top 10 rankings. Going over Hardy would give him the relevance he had prior to the Hogan/Bischoff regime. Again, just wishful thinking.

 

[King Blitzkonic]

Quite a few calls for Helms and Burchill already. I must say I wouldn't mind that... but there IS a "recently" released WWE star that could be thrown into this argument: Mr. Aaaaaaaanderson!...AN-DER-SON! Weird yes, but it IS an open challenge and Vince Russo IS still around. I got a sneaky feeling that there's going to be a swerve of sorts.

 

[Lancer]

It would be a good thing to see Gregory Helms step foot in TNA. In my opinion, he was always a better fit for TNA's X Division rather than the "Cruiserweight" Division of WWE. He was a great Cruiser champion towards the end of WCW, and proved that he can be a big star when he took on the Hurricane gimmick.

Hopefully TNA will not backtrack and do some ripped-off variation of the Hurricane. Just let Helms be himself...he is a solid competitor who could help bring a little relevance back to the X Division. Perhaps he comes in, has a friendly, competitive match with Hardy, and moves on to chasing down Douglas Williams and the belt. Not too farfetched.

It's still all speculation of course, but that's what I'd like to see happen.

 

[jccool420]

Quite a few calls for Helms and Burchill already. I must say I wouldn't mind that... but there IS a "recently" released WWE star that could be thrown into this argument: Mr. Aaaaaaaanderson!...AN-DER-SON! Weird yes, but it IS an open challenge and Vince Russo IS still around. I got a sneaky feeling that there's going to be a swerve of sorts.

Anderson shouldn't be considered a recently released WWE star... He's been in TNA quite a while now and it was 3 months before that, that he was released from WWE... Plus, he's already in a 3-way match with Pope and Morgan...

But, last time we had a surprise it turned out to be Joe and Terry... So, I wouldn't be too surprised if it was someone already on the roster and not a recently released star... I would like to know how credible the source is that reported this...

For all we know, it could be Hernadez...

 

[Tha Wolfpac]

Sorry Mods, Pressed it twice by accident my net was lagging. Please feel free to delete it.

 

[Tha Wolfpac]

Hey Yo!

Everybody has pretty much said all the most logical ex-WWE employees. Paul Burchill would indeed be a nice surprise as i think the E past up a good opportunity with an excellent talent. Paul Burchill under that pirate gimmick was gold, even though a little cheesy it was solid, but how about TNA step up that character a notch and make him a real aggressive menacing pirate hey?

Could possibly be Charlie Haas or Shelton Benjamin but i think they're heading to ROH somebody correct me on that. So if true that rules them out.

So that leaves Gregory Helms which is quite a lacklustre surprise in my opinion, he would do well in the X-Division though.

Personally i dont think Mike Knox would be a TNA target, his style isn't very much something i can picture in TNA but i could be wrong.

 

[sislater69]

Obviously Helms or Burchill would seem the most logical. But do we know for sure that it will be a "recently released wwe guy"?

I haven't seen this name mentioned yet so I'm gunna throw it out there - Kevin Nash.

After the last few weeks, and especially Hogan's "pass the torch Kev" speech this week, this seems possible also. Nash is frustrated at being left out recently and just wants to beat the hell out of somebody.

 

[Megadeth]

Of course plans always change, but the whole ex-wwe guy is based on a news report posted on the Main WZ page, and cited the Wrestling Observer as it's source. Both are typically fairly accurate on their information, but you never know they may change it a dozen times between now and when they record impact.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I don't get it – why does it have to be a free agent?

Joe would have been the most logical choice seeing as he and Hardy had that time-limit draw a few weeks ago, but if the news of his suspension is true, what's to stop anyone else in the locker room who TNA is looking to push from being that guy?

Kazarian has no feud right now, and neither does Suicide, Homicide (who had an altercation with Hardy when he debuted) and there's always Brian Kendrick, too.

 

[Reddannihilation]

Of course plans always change, but the whole ex-wwe guy is based on a news report posted on the Main WZ page, and cited the Wrestling Observer as it's source. Both are typically fairly accurate on their information

Since when?

Anyway, like IDR said, it doesn't have to be a free agent. Me personally, I kind of want it to be a debut, mainly because it'd add a little bit of intrigue to the show, seeing as everyother match is booked, then it makes sense for Hardy's opponent to be someone not currently in TNA. Alternately they make it someone in TNA who needs a feud and for me personally I'd love to see Kazarian vs Hardy in a full length match.

As for new debuts, I don't like the idea of it being a recent WWE release. It's not going to be Shelton as he's in ROH now. I'd rather it not be Mike Knox or Paul Burchill, because Knox is shit and Burchill's nowhere near Hardy's level on the card. A Christopher Daniels return wouldn't be bad, if TNA managed to sign Bryan Danielson that would be the ultimate in awesome, however that's arguably the longest shot in history.

It could be someone already on the roster and if that's the case I want it to be Kazarian. I don't want it to be Samoa Joe, I don't want it to be Magnus or someone like that. I would prefer a new arrival, but if it's going to be a person already signed then I want it to be Kaz.

 

[goodlay]

Gregory fucking Helms. The rumors of him going to TNA have been going on for a while now, and I think him and Hardy could put on a really fun match. Plus, who else could it really be? The reports on WZ are saying it's a recently released WWE wrestler. It can't be Haas/Benjamin, so who else other than Helms? Paul Burchill? I doubt it. Plus I really doubt if it was someone already on the roster, why would they call it a "Open challenge to the wrestling world". That seals it for me that it's a new arrival.

Im hoping if it is Helms, that he returns to his Hurricane gimmick in some capacity. I would mark the fuck out.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I realize my post may sound like I'm against it being a free agent, so let me clear that up now before someone misinterprets what I said...

I'm not saying I don't want it to be a free agent. I'd actually be OK depending on who the free agent is, and personally I love debuts as they're often much more exciting than seeing the guys you see every week as it is.

Were someone like Helms to debut, I would certainly mark for it, but there's a number of guys mentioned who I would absolutely not mark for – namely Knox and Burchill, neither of whom are very good or special. Knox is a generic "big guy" and Burchill is an odd-ball type like Benoit in that he doesn't really classify as a heavyweight or as a cruiserweight either.

 

[shattered dreams]

If the report is true then I will be pretty surprised if it is not Helms. At first I thought that was kind of lackluster even though I like Helms but upon further review it works. Somewhat surprising because it is against Hardy, he might be able to coax some caring out of jeff's ringwork and it channels a finer time in wrestling history. I am not much of a Knox fan but I do like Burchill. Just not to randomly show up here.

 

[Reddannihilation]

Giving this a little more consideration, maybe it'll be Reid Flair. I can't think of a better way for him to debut then in a quality showing against a top face. It's already confirmed that Reid's with TNA. I'd love to see him get his debut against Jeff Hardy.

 

[nightmare]

imo helms makes the most sense but that isnt always the way things go. his friendship w\ hardy & moore make him a good choice. the xdivision needs him. tired of seeing kendrick\williams.

shelton- probly unlikely b\c of roh

daniels- would be too obvious but a very warm welcome back. tna needs the fallen angel.

carlito- eh...

burchill- never been very high on this guy but he does have some skill

knox- i think would be a good fit. tna needs more big guys that arent nash\hogan. knox can be intimidating & could be a good match for hernandez or morgan. plus he could have some great hardcore fights with abyss.

or maybe jimmy wang yang? that would be a good fight & make for great xdivision matches

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

If it is a recently released WWE star then I hope it is Helms. But I don't know if it's really going to be any good. I don't think they're much of a draw fighting eachother. But I suppose it could be Burchill or someone else but I'm not holding my breath.

It'll probably be someone that's already signed or something. I'm interested though to see who it is. Hopefully it is a mark out moment and not a let down.