TNA Charlotte, Round 2, Match 2: #15 Dean Malenko vs. #18 Matt Hardy

[Shocky]

The following match takes place in the TNA Region, inside of the six sided ring, From Charlotte, NC.

#15. "The Man of 1000 Holds" Dean Malenko

vs.

#18. Matt Hardy

 

[klunderbunker]

Malenko moves on. Hardy is ok, but nothing special. Dean was a masterful technician and this shouldn't be any real test for him. It's a 12 minute affair with Matt losing to the cloverleaf.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Mattitude v/s the Ladies Man. Remember that gimmick from Malenko? Always loved that character. Anyway, the Shooter Dean Malenko makes short work of V1. Sorry. Malenko's simply a wrestling lesson rolled into a human being.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Malenko's simply a wrestling lesson rolled into a human being.

This is quite possibly the best description of Dean Malenko I've ever read. Perfectly described. He's not a draw, he's the black hole of charisma, but he's a hell of a mat technician. And Matt Hardy, though respectable, can't really match up with him in many ways other than charisma.

Dean will really only lose to one of the FEW who can match him on the mat (Hart, Angle, Jericho, Benoit, Guerrero) or someone who can overpower him (Hogan, Warrior, Vader, Bigelow, Andre, Yoko, etc). Anyone who is Malenko's equal in strength has a 95% chance of being his inferior on the mat.

 

[justinsayne]

Matt sucks, Malenko doesn't, Malenko wins with the cloverleaf making Matt tap like the bitch that he is, this match is over quick

 

[HeadlessGnome]

Malenko is too much of a veteran, too much knowledge of what's possible and too much in his skillset to even think Hardy would stand a chance, Malenko wins with the Texas Cloverleaf.

 

[Lil Wes]

Meh, Matt's wrestling ability has always been pissbucket. Malenko would wrestle circles around him, nothing really more to say. Easy win.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I love Dean Malenko, I really do. I can't remember what number he was on my Tournament list; somewhere in the top 10. I think Matt's being sold short though. I mean, he's not great at anything. Nor is he really terrible at anything, even though he has trouble filtering out the word "extreme" from his promos.

All the same, when you consider wrestling styles, Matt is a messy, brawler. He's not even that much of a high flyer - it takes him a while to climb to the top rope and hit those high risk, uh, leg drops. Malenko's style is crisp and he's unrelenting. If his opponents aren't prepared, he quickly takes them apart. If there's one thing Matt Hardy has never been, it's prepared.

 

[Miko]

I think Malenko is boring, I really do. He's also never beaten anyone of note that I can think of, Matt's coming off 2 win's over Jeff who is a former World Champ and has pushed HHH closer to defeat than Randy Orton ever has.

Malenko shouldnt have gone passed King Kong Bundy.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Meh, who the fuck has Dean Malenko beat? A skinny Rey Mysterio and a jobber Chris Jericho. I've seen Matt beat Jeff Hardy, MVP, Edge, Kane, angular Rey Mysterio, I've probably even seen him beat Jericho.

If I'm going by wins and getting the job done I'll go with Matt.

 

[Tastycles]

Matt Hardy is the epitome of average. There's nothing wrong with him, but there's nothing very good either. Malenko has beaten Eddie Guerrero, Ultimo Dragon, Jeff Jarrett, Chris Benoit and THE Disco Inferno in addition to Jake's list.

He may have brought very little to the table in terms of charisma, but neither does Matt Hardy, and as a result I think Malenko will out wrestle Matt to victory here.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Malenko has beaten Eddie Guerrero, Ultimo Dragon, Jeff Jarrett, Chris Benoit and THE Disco Inferno in addition to Jake's list.

It's still not as impressive as my little list.

Eddie Guerrero & Chris Benoit might look impressive on paper. But Eddie was likely stoned and Benoit was was a boring mid carder who was put into Raven & DDP matches o they weren't terrible. Jeff Jarrett was a career mid carder until his second run in WCW and Ultimo Dragon was a cruiserweight.

My Matt Hardy list is full of mid carders. But you only have to look at it to see that couple of months later Edge was WWE Champion, Kane was just a few months removed from his second biggest push, Rey Mysterio was of a higher status than than he was in WCW, the MVP wins will be more impressive a year or so down the line and you've also got him getting the better of his brother Jeff. The same Jeff who pinned Undertaker several months ago and Triple H several time.

Lame I know, but his career is more impressive, more people care about him, he's actually got more charisma (I know, shocking), his title haul is bigger, his list of victories is more impressive, as are his losses.

 

[DhA]

I thought this was a kayfabe tournament? Matt Hardy is way more succesful and can take more pain. I can't recall Malenko ever being in any "extreme" matches of note, whereas Hardy built his career on gimmick matches. Plus he's a heel now so he'll probably cheat to win. If Malenko was that good he would have won more.

 

[joker76]

Dean Malenko was a great wrestler. OK that's out of the way. I believe people are remembering him more fondly than they should. Malenko wrestled only cruiserweights. Malenko would never had beat a man the size of Bundy and he would never beat a heel Matt Hardy. Matt is tougher than he is being credited for and would cheat to win if Malenko through out all of his 1000 moves. MAtt Hardy would beat Malenko.

 

[jmt225]

Yeah... I have to vote off actual wrestling talent here and I'll take Dean Malenko over Fat Hardy any day of the fucking week.

Matt Hardy seems like an okay guy and is a decent wrestler for the most part, but he's no Iceman. And I'm not talking about Chuck Liddell. Dean Malenko has been apart of some of the best matches I've ever seen live and in person, and he was also a part in one of my favorite feuds of all time when he and Jericho had their tremendous run in WCW. The guy was great, and underutilized in WWE. Like anyone could ever buy someone like him falling for Lita? That's all they did with him in that company and that's beyond ridiculous when you look at his past work in WCW.

Plus, come on guys... to pull a Jake here, I must mention deaths and Dean Malenko is the only one from the Radicalz not to be dead or paralyzed. Shouldn't that say something? He came from that fucked up stable of friends and is still around, and could probably still go out to the ring and work a match as good as anyone in WWE? To me it does.

Matt Hardy's best is when he has his little brother to tag to. Singles wise, Dean would tear his ass apart. Such an easy choice here.

 

[Leeds Guy]

Malenko may be the man of 1000 holds, but Hardy is bigger,stronger and is decent enough in the ring to take him past Dean. Malenko hasnt beaten anybody substantial in the ring were as Hardy has beaten Edge.Undertaker,Kane and Jeff Hardy. Hardy would take this one with the Twist of Fate

 

[Big Sexy]

If the tournament was about wrestling ability then guys like Bret Hart, Dean Malenko, and Lance Storm would win but this is a kayfabe wrestling match. Malenko has not been as successful as Matt Hardy. Both have some impressive wins, but Hardy has more.

 

[Theo Mays]

Matthew Hardy has been moving up my list of late, as I'm digging his new heel character and his new attire. I think is going to be an impact player soon. But I don't think he is quite as good as Malenko. Ask me this next year and Hardy probably has the win. But right now it is Dean all the way.

 

[RVDgurl]

Matt Hardy is fairly solid, but just about as bland as Malenko in the personality department (his recent heel turn has helped a little bit). But Malenko was light years beyond fairly solid as far as wrestling skills are concerned. He was a one man clinic in the ring. Malenko gets the win here.

 

[Shocky]

Matt Hardy has accomplished a whole lot of nothing in the business, but the problem is, he's been pushed to the moon. Dean Malenko accomplished a shit ton in Japan and WCW, before he went to the land of not being pushed by Vince McMahon. Malenko can bend and break Fat Hardy in ways he never thought possible. Matt Hardy has nothing in his arsenal that could match up with anything that Malenko could throw at him.

 

[NSL]

Meh, who the fuck has Dean Malenko beat?

I'd also add 2 Cold Scorpio to the list. They had a nice little feud in early ECW.


I don't see how Matt Hardy has any votes here. This is ridiculous. Malenko is one of the all-time best on the mat, and made a career of beating guys bigger (like Rey, because he had to), and faster than him. He has enough moves, that even if one doesn't work, there's another one right behind it. Matt will walk himself right into a problem, and Malenko will use the Cloverleaf to make him tap, and go crying back to mommy.

 

[Miko]

I don't see how Matt Hardy has any votes here. This is ridiculous.

Because Matt Hardy is actually an over wrestler who has beaten people that matter, won important(ish) titles and generall had a good career. Dean Malenko has done. . . .

Malenko is one of the all-time best on the mat, and made a career of beating guys bigger (like Rey, because he had to), and faster than him. He has enough moves, that even if one doesn't work, there's another one right behind it. Matt will walk himself right into a problem, and Malenko will use the Cloverleaf to make him tap, and go crying back to mommy.

Or Dean Malenko will bore everyone to tears in the arena and then walk straight into the twist of fate, Dean Malenko has done nothing to suggest he could beat Matt Hardy at his peak.

 

[Skillz]

Both suck. Dean Malenko is incredibly overrated. People think he's good because he's a technical wrestler and knows lots of moves. But how can he be good if no one gave a shit about him his whole career? People may have liked the moves he could do, but no one cared about him as a wrestling character. He had the charisma of a peanut.

Matt Hardy is by no means great, and is clearly the less talented Hardy brother. But he is a bigger star, and is more over than Malenko ever was. He's also beaten bigger names and won more important titles than Malenko. So, Hardy deserves to win this match.

 

[Luther_Hull]

Neither have really done anything, but I'm going to go with Matt Hardy due the fact he's had more success and in a bigger promotion, sure he has no charisma or real talent, but he's a fighter and just won't die and ultimately that attitude will see him got through in a hard fought contest.

 

[Ptd]

Along with Storm, I also think Malenko is good, but horribly overrated. He is also somebody else claimed to be so great, but has accomplished next to nothing at all. But on the other hand we have Matt Hardy, while I believe he is the better of the two Hardys, he still can't wrestle very well. Overrated or not, Malenko advances.