*MERGED* Hardy/Sting: Judge For Yourself (While Available)

[multiverseman.com]

Panda needs to step in and tell TNA that enough is enough. Hire some people, fire some people, and let them know who's really in charge. Cuz if somebody gets seriously hurt or worse in the ring on their dime, this little tax write off is gonna end in more horrible publicity than they ever bargained for.

 

[He's Phenomenal]

They could be perfectly happy with business. And until anyone sees their company accounts, we'll never know. Wrestlers get seriously hurt in a wrestling ring, it's a fact of life. They know that when they sign up and I'm assuming the insurers do to.

 

[Xander Cage27]

My thoughts exactly, the last thing the need is for Jeff Hardy to seriously hurt/kill himself, or another wrestler, on live Pay Per View. The way he performed last night the match could have very well ended in tragedy if Sting hadn't held him down for the 3 count.

IMO Panda should make Hardy go into rehab, and take a serious look at TNA's drug policy, as it is obviously failing to do anything in its current state. If this was The WWE Hardy would have been fired months ago due to his drug use, and Vince would have paid to get him into rehab/detox, and he probably still will pay for it if Hardy or his family asked him to.

 

[CDoherty]

Someone needs to fully take over. Like in WCW no one was fully in charge. TNA had the chance of a JR or Heyman take over and they passed. After the debactle of last night TNA is really starting to look like a joke. Which is really sad because they got great talent.

 

[Rasha]

Like many, I did not watch Victory Road last night and am only trying to piece together things from reports. Well, I found a YouTube video of the match last night. I did not see anything in the rules prohibiting posting this, so here it is. If it's a violation, please remove it. If you've come to this thread and the video no longer works, it means YouTube took it down.

[YOUTUBE]Lckr9OLR2Ow[/YOUTUBE]

I don't know what to think after watching it. Hardy looked strange, but he wasn't in any way stumbling or having trouble going up onto the turnbuckles. I know not all drugs affect motor skills, but I think there would've been some visual evidence.

That said, obviously something went down as Bischoff clearly made an effort to silently speak to both men. I just wonder what he even said to Hardy if this was an emergency plan coordinated with Sting and the official to end the match quickly. If he told Hardy the plan, why didn't Jeff react then as opposed to after the pinfall? And if Jeff didn't know, then why did Bischoff even bother speaking to him away from the mic?

Very strange.

 

[MHardy_Fan]

The thing is, if it was such a big deal, they should have either sent Matt, RVD or Anderson down there. Why would they risk health of Hardy and Sting if it could have easily been prevented. This is why I think people are jumping the gun on claiming Jeff was high. From what I can tell, Sting held Hardy down and this wasnt how it was supposed to go down.

 

[BTLion1990]

They tried to stall time blatently, with the whole ''No DQ'' announcement. Question is Why? We won't know until more news is available. However, from this video, Hardy looks groggy, slow, not his usual self at all. He even tried to kick out of the move then got up almost instantly, obviously pissed off, with Sting saying ''I agree'' to the bullshit chants.

Add that to Hardy being sent home from the tapings, and Hogan saying they need to sort it out it all adds up to bad decision making to allow this match to take place, and now hopefully Hardy finally gets help, whether from family, TNA or WWE, because at this rate we don't know how far he will go and whether or not he'll even be alive let alone wrestling.

 

[EStreet]

I was in attendance last night and it appeared very obvious neither men were happy Bischoff came down. Almost like it had been settled in the back and last second change of plans. Add that to Hardy blatanly braking character and chanting "this is bullshit" w/ the crowd (idk if that is seen on the video or ppv).
My thought when Bisch came down was he making it a 4 way due to no winner of the #1 contenders match prior. Even that ending seemed extremely off and RVD genuinely looked pissed. Again, idk if that was seen on ppv or if u could hear the crowd chanting 5 more minutes - just trying to fill people in on what may be some blanks.

Considering the alotted time and veterans in the back, its mind boggling no alternate plan was made w/ 25 min left in the ppv. The crowd literally stood for 15-20 of those min waiting for something while the highlights played

 

[MSAnon505]

Those who still think this was just a work, check out the 3:03 mark in that video. Look at the referee. When the "X" goes up, that's a trouble sign. Usually means someone's unable to continue (unless I'm misinformed, and if that is the case, I do apologize in advance). Now since Sting just hit the ring, something tells me the X went up because Hebner knew Jeff wasn't going to be able to perform.

As for JH being sent home from the tapings, this can only be a good thing. Maybe it's the wakeup call he needs. Hopefully TNA will extend the decision to include forced rehab or (and I know I'm probably going to be ripped for saying it because it's already been said so many times in the last 18 hours) released from TNA entirely.

 

[Captain Jive]

I was going to post this same video earlier, but didn't have time to. This is just my personal possible theory, but I think maybe they decided to let Hardy wrestle because they didn't know how bad off he was, but when it took him til about halfway through his song just to come out, and him being slow to get to the ring, Bischoff decided to come out there and do some damage control. Obviously, at the point when Hardy's music hit, it was too late to change the main event. It's just an all around disaster no matter how you look at it. I'm not a big fan of either Hardy, but I do think Matt has a bright future in TNA, but Jeff needs help. He does deserve to be fired over this, but the more important thing to come out of this is that he is a human being that is in need of help. Everyone makes mistakes, and addictions are really hard to overcome. The people that have never had to do it will never understand how hard it is. If I'm not mistaken, WWE has said they will pay for rehab for anyone that has ever been employed by them, now I don't know if that applies to people currently in TNA or any other promotion, but he should definitely look into it, or Matt or someone else should do it for him.

 

[MaxSteel]

1:35-1:38, you'll see Hardy nearly falling in attempt to climb up to the ring.

By the way, all of Sting's shots seemed legit. Both to Eric Bishop and to Hardy. It's obvious he was PISSED as hell.

 

[Mindshatter]

That looked even worse than what the original report said. I really feel sorry for TNA at the moment, I bet Sting wished he was in WWE right now.

 

[xGotTheEdgex]

Clearly Jeff Hardy wasn't himself during this...most likely...because he was in no condition to even be in that ring. From taking forever to come out at the beginning of his entrance, to stumbling trying to even get up the ring steps, and playing around with his shirt for way too long. The ref at 3:03 knew Jeff Hardy was in no condition to be competing and is most likely why he threw that "X" up. I'm assuming at that point is when TNA sent Bischoff out to do minimal damage control and have Sting end it as soon as possible. I'm glad TNA sent Jeff Hardy home before the tapings. The next step is to release him if he refuses to get any help. All the TNA fans and Sting himself deserved better than what happened last night.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I have no doubt that TNA Entertainment will request that the video be removed in a matter of hours, if not minutes, as I've noticed two or three "versions" of this have already been removed, but there's a series of things to make note of here that really just do not look "right" to a studying eye (but the average fan may have passed over).

0:06-0:49 — Hardy's music plays, but no Hardy is to be seen. Why the delay?

0:50-2:03 — Hardy stumbles coming out of the gate, fumbles with his t-shirt randomly and doesn't seem to be "all there".

At the 1:34 mark he actually stumbles walking up the steps but catches himself on the ropes before entering the ring.

2:46-3:00 — Sting makes his entrance, but you can see Hardy say something to Hebner before leaving the ring.

3:02-3:16 — Hebner makes the X symbol to the main camera, signifying an issue most likely, and proceeds to go to the apron nearest the entrance ramp and speaks directly with someone, perhaps an agent or producer?

3:28-3:38 — Hebner approaches Sting to take the title and mentions something to him. Sting's mouth reads something to the extent of "... you kidding me?" as he removes his coat and tosses it over the top rope.

3:38-4:05 — Borasch is doing the introduction with Hardy no where to be seen. Why isn't he in the ring?

5:22-6:05 — Bischoff's music hits and he heads down to the ring signaling "time out" with his hands. Bischoff enters the ring talking about a change of plans but drops the mic down to his side to shake Hardy's hand and pull him close enough to talk to him about something before quasi-shoving him back into the corner. Very uncomfortable greeting for two guys who are supposed to be a team here...

6:19-6:30 — Bischoff again drops the mic to his side while offering a handshake to Sting but is clearly explaining something to him unbeknownst to the viewers who are likely caught up in what he's doing to the match stipulation itself.

7:36-8:40 — The bell rings for the match start, but Hardy is delaying time again — this time teasing the audience by going to various parts of the ring attempting to throw his shirt into the crowd. He makes it to the corner nearest the main camera and entrance ramp before Sting walks at him and forces him to duck under the top rope at the 8:20 mark but backs off disappointed and even shakes his head around the 8:28 mark as though he were really upset with what was happening as Hardy continues to attempt to throw his shirt before just dropping at the side of the apron.

8:58-9:42 — Sting hits the SDD and covers Hardy who actually tries to kick out a the 2 mark by pulling all his weight and Hardy's legs down onto his shoulders as Hebner counts to 3. Sting gets up and the look on his face tells it all as Hardy protests to Hebner after no-selling the move entirely by immediately standing to his feet. Hardy says nothing to Sting, though he's obviously upset and walks off into the corner.

9:53-10:29 — Walking up the ramp to "This is Bullshit" chants, Sting shouts to a fan at the 10:14 mark "I agree! I agree!".

 

[Beitter]

The TNA ppv main event last night, was not even 5 mins long! There is nothing about this that is good for TNA! First of all if it is legit or story I don't know, you'd think that if Hardy was not fit to compete they wouldn't run him out there, so then why would you have your main event be less than 5 minutes long?? Do you think the main event of Wrestlemania will be that short? Honestly thats beyond poor booking! I think TNA has serious problems!

 

[Rampage Bentley]

He was kind of stumbling on his way to the ring, tripped up on the first step, and with the whole t-shirt thing it kinda seemed like he was out of it. I know he was doing it to play the crowd, but Sting even tried just starting the match and Hardy went to the rope and continued it. Sting was visibly upset at it all and Hulk Hogan even tweeted about how he's not looking forward to dealing with this whole Hardy situation.

Plus, let's face it, in this situation, accusing Jeff Hardy of being high on something isn't jumping to conclusions, it's jumping to probabilities and certainties.

 

[Mister Nice Guy]

What is so wrong with being professional? If a wrestler is billed for a match and is unable to perform, would it have been so bad to replace him with another? The professional thing to do was to replace Hardy with an able bodied main-eventer. Fans would have been upset to not see Jeff Hardy at the PPV and critics like myself would have flamed TNA for their poorly managed showcase, if they substituted Hardy. Anyone else would have seen a better show than the option presented last night. TNA has made some bone-headed decisions over, but this is over the top. Not even the best TNA fan can defend this decision.

 

[BTLion1990]

All the TNA fans and Sting himself deserved better than what happened last night.

Im glad somebody mentioning Sting deserving better too. He could've walked to WWE, had a match at Mania for a massive payday, and opted to stay with TNA. They reward him by having fight a man who looked nothing like himself, and if he was drugged up, then could've injured Sting or himself physically. Sting being a devoted Christian, would not have liked the fact he was off his face, and we could all see that by Stings reactions.

The man deserves better than this. Hardy has pissed on the name of TNA and himself. Get him help or fire him if he refuses. No job would except this behaviour, Dixie needs to stand up and do something!!

If it doesn't effect the performance of the job then it shouldn't matter what they do in their lives. When it does EFFECT the performance, then theres a problem!

 

[RicSpade]

This at first glance seemed like a massive play to the crowd followed by a quick squash but for a main event I must admit I was a little puzzled. Granted you have to remember when Sting was injured he was squashed in under a minute by RVD, so I thought maybe injury, but given Hardys track record I am not surprised one bit by this, and no one knew this was really coming. I don't blame TNA or Hogan or Sting the blame lies with Jethro However I think the audible Bischoff did should've threw another match at Sting after he squashed Hardy, or hell even give him a hurt Matt or something, anything would've made it a little better then what That was...

 

[DJ-LyRiX]

What is so wrong with being professional?

I agree. But it's not just TNA that needs to be professional in this situation. Jeff Hardy is a paid-performer. How is it professional for him to just walk out there in the state that he was obviously in?

Also, I feel that Jeff Hardy needs to try and take WWE up on his offer, if he can. He has been in the quagmire literally since the week after leaving WWE, and he needs to find his right mind once more.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

Wow. First time I've seen the footage after reading the updates. I'd love to believe that TNA was smart enough to concoct some elaborate scheme to get people talking...but they aren't.

This is clearly a huge problem. Listen, I know I'm likely the only person on these forums that even remotely likes Jeff Hardy, but I've gotta say more than getting fired, arrested, suspended, or whatever other disciplinary actions I keep hearing people suggest. Just remember this:

This man is a father to a little girl not even a year old, and he just got married a couple of weeks ago. He needs serious help, and I really pray for him that someone can come to his aide and provide him with that, whether it's a WWE sponsored rehab or whatever. He is really responsible for revolutionizing high flying wrestling in America and it would be devastating to his family, friends, and fans all over the world to see him become another statistic of the wrestling business. I feel really bad for him and TNA right now.

I just hope someone can help him.

I also imagine Sting probably really missed a golden chance to go to WWE for Mania. If he still has anything left in him, I think he should really consider this for next year, since it seems Cena is being geared up for Rock and not for Taker's 20-0 as once thought.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's one thing to hear about Hardy's problems but to see them live and in color on a major wrestling ppv really gives a clear picture of just how far Jeff Hardy has fallen over the course of the past few years.

I don't see how this can be thought of as a work because..well quite frankly, what would be the point in this situation? To make TNA look bad? To make light of legit problems hanging over Hardy's head and the heads of lots of other young wrestlers over the course of this past decade? To insult fans that paid money to see this match?

Well if by some miracle this was a work then, Russo, mission accomplished.

I also feel bad for Sting. He's someone that's done a lot for TNA, he's been loyal to TNA and deserved more respect than to be placed in that situation last night.

 

[themusicman]

Thanks for posting the vid as in the UK we get TNA ppvs on delay so hadnt had the chance to see this yet. I think its very obvious the Hardy isnt right during this, as someone else pointed out it takes him a v long time to come out and watch his walk to the ring again, he is all over the place, swaying and staggering and then he trips up the steps and nearly falls getting in the ring. During Sting's entrance he leaves the ring and is wandering around outside and looks v v unsteady, also, check out his eyes during what there is of the 'match' they are almost completley closed, I have no doubt in my mind Hardy is less than well.
Firstly I would like to say I think its really sad to see Jeff in this condition, I dont think that anyone would argue that only a few years ago he still seemed like a potential legend in the making but his decline has been rapid and its now becoming apparent on TV as well. He needs help, bottom line.
Its also very obvious that Sting in extremely angry, he looks pissed even during his entrance maybe the match should have been changed but I think once Hardy gets to the ring everyone involved realises that something needs to be done. Lets not forget, Sting isnt a young man anymore and probably doesnt have the reflexes he had 20 years ago with a potentially sloppy and dangerous Hardy in the ring there is no way Sting would have been able to carry them both safely. It may have been done badly but at the last second TNA made the right decision.
I have one more thought on the length of the match, while it was a total rip off for both the live crowd and the PPV audience (something they should address) I think what TNA has done is try and find the most effective way of burying Hardy. Having him lose a main event match in less than 2 mins and piss off the fans at the same time has pretty much destroyed any momentum he may have, they can move on to another challenger for the title and no-one will question it.
I for one hope that TNA are totally honest with people about the situation and Hardy's health maybe that way he will get the help he clearly needs.

 

[dogmanx23]

If this is a work I have no idea where they could go with this. It looks bad anyway you try to slice it.

Remember the Hogan Vs Jarrett thing? At least Russo came out and gave the fans a real match with Jarrett and Booker T. The fans seemed to love that match.

I also thought about the Taz situation in ECW when he was leaving for WWE. He was champion and how did they handle that? A 3 way match and he was the first one to get eliminated. ECW won, Taz WON because he got an ovation from the fans and the locker room and ECW got a great match with Mike Awesome and Tajari.

RVD or Anderson or both would have probably taken an 2nd match for the sake of the company. Creatively its the easiest thing to resolve.

RVD, Anderson are pissed their fight ended in a count out. Hardy mocks them backstage and take him out. Both say they want their title shot now since Hardy is out of it. BAM! 3 way match between Sting, RVD, Anderson.

Would the Hardy fans be upset? Maybe but it would be better then the joke TNA is being made out to be today. The question would be why was Hardy taken out of Main Event. Instead how can TNA let someone in that condition wrestle. How can they do that to Sting. How do they not have a fix for that on the creative side?

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

I just noticed the X sign a little while ago and when i watched it again I noticed that something else that has not been mentioned yet. If you notice, the ref throws the X sign after Jeff walks up to him and says something, also, when Jeff walks away he has a noticeable limp. It could be that he just had a legitimate injury. I admit it may be unlikely, but until we hear something definitive one way or the other we really don't know what the cause of the short match was. Maybe it was Sting's condition after all he did look like he got bit by a vampire haha just kidding. The whole thing was weird, though, if Jeff really was as bombed out of his mind as people say he did a decent job of not fully coming off that way, he didn't puke in the ring like Shane Douglas nor was he falling all over the place minus the slight stumble up the ring steps. I'm not saying he could have or should have gone out and performed, my point is I don't think he was completely bombed and would have gone up to the ref saying so at the last moment. I think the limp was the cause and he was genuinely hurt. And whatever happened, this match was still a better pay per view main event than Diesel vs King Mabel!