Why Can't Jeff Hardy Ever Take Criticism?

[Clem]

While watching the latest episode of Impact Wrestling, it struck me that Jeff Hardy (at least the character) can't take criticism.

Eric Bischoff came out, dared to point out how much of a screwup Hardy is, that his performance at Victory Road was unacceptable and he flat out doesn't forgive him. Hardy's retort - physically beat him up. Later, when asked about it backstage, he said "that's just wrong".

I know Bischoff is a heel and what he says will immediately be taken as the wrong side to take, but he didn't actually do anything overly heelish. All he did was say he didn't forgive Jeff for what he did. For that he gets beaten up.

To me, this angle has strong parallels to back when Jeff was in the WWE and immersed in his feud with CM Punk. Again and again, Punk would point out how much of a screwed up drug addict that Hardy is, yet Hardy never once had a legitimate response. For the most part he'd just sarcastically say "sorry i'm not perfect like you!" and proceed to attack Punk.

So basically, if you forgive Jeff Hardy for all his faults, he's cool with you. But if you DON'T forgive Jeff for all his faults - screw you! what does your opinion count anyway!

Anyone else see a problem with this?

 

[This Is My Name Thank You]

He said "Screw you" to Bischoff because he abandoned Hardy after his event with Victory Road. They kicked him out of Immortal, embarrassed him on TV, and destroyed his name even more. His so called "friend" allowed Hardy to even go out and perform while he was fucked up. Eric could of stopped the match and or did something instead of having Hardy go out there the way he did. Instead of Bischoff caring about his Immortal Champion he only cared about saving his name and when he couldn't handle the heat for the incident that went down he threw Jeff under the bus completely.

Why should Hardy forgive Bischoff? Hardy threw away all of his fans, turned his back on his friends for Bischoff to have Bischoff throw him under the bus. TNA had plenty of time to throw Jeff out and tell him to get help but instead they allowed Victory Road to happen. Hardy has in no way should need to accept forgiveness from Bischoff at all because Bischoff is the one at fault along with Hardy.

Hardy is playing the role of the face and Bischoff is the heel in the group that wasn't going to happen unless Jeff turned. So, Jeff said "screw you" to Bischoff for throwing him under the bus, kicking him out of the group he helped create and better yet, for offering Jeff any help in the least bit of way. Instead he blamed Jeff for everything where Bischoff knew he could of just did something else for the Victory Road instead of having a 30 second match. That’s why Jeff said "screw you" to Bischoff.

He is the face saying I don't need you and you don't need me and I finally except that, oh, and thanks for the help. That's how I see it at least.

 

[sfury2005]

Actually I'm not a Jeff Hardy fan and I just wish him luck in staying clean and sober..

Anyway the way I see it Jeff has been going around and apologizing to people in the locker room and took all their criticism for several weeks. In the in-ring segment he took Bischoff's criticism but didn't take Eric telling him he had no place in his ring. It did what it was designed to do and turned him into a baby face. Ultimately it set up Hardy against the world to prove himself and got the crowd cheers behind him.

He's been given what's possibly his last chance in the wrestling industry and now it's up to him to stay clean and prove he is remorseful about what he did. Actions will always speak louder than words and so far we've seen the words and now it's time to see the action part.

 

[King_of_Swing1520]

He said "Screw you" to Bischoff because he abandoned Hardy after his event with Victory Road. They kicked him out of Immortal, embarrassed him on TV, and destroyed his name even more. His so called "friend" allowed Hardy to even go out and perform while he was fucked up. Eric could of stopped the match and or did something instead of having Hardy go out there the way he did. Instead of Bischoff caring about his Immortal Champion he only cared about saving his name and when he couldn't handle the heat for the incident that went down he threw Jeff under the bus completely.

Why should Hardy forgive Bischoff? Hardy threw away all of his fans, turned his back on his friends for Bischoff to have Bischoff throw him under the bus. TNA had plenty of time to throw Jeff out and tell him to get help but instead they allowed Victory Road to happen. Hardy has in no way should need to accept forgiveness from Bischoff at all because Bischoff is the one at fault along with Hardy.

Hardy is playing the role of the face and Bischoff is the heel in the group that wasn't going to happen unless Jeff turned. So, Jeff said "screw you" to Bischoff for throwing him under the bus, kicking him out of the group he helped create and better yet, for offering Jeff any help in the least bit of way. Instead he blamed Jeff for everything where Bischoff knew he could of just did something else for the Victory Road instead of having a 30 second match. That’s why Jeff said "screw you" to Bischoff.

He is the face saying I don't need you and you don't need me and I finally except that, oh, and thanks for the help. That's how I see it at least.

you pretty much nailed it. jeff was the "immortal" champion and ya they could have easily said oh jeffs sick or something and replaced him but they didnt n they let him make a fool of himself and of tna.

yes jeff fucked up and hes taken the criticism for it. but bischoff and hogan didnt help the situation, if anything they made it worse. jeff accepted the scolding from the wrestlers in the back but bischoff does hold some responsibility so jeff wasnt going to take eric going off on him.

 

[shattered dreams]

Anyone else see a problem with this?

No. Forgiveness has been a major theme in societies going back thousands of years. More often than not the idea is that it is good to forgive and bad not to. He took criticism fine from those that did forgive him and got fed up with those that were trying to judge him harshly for not being perfect when no one is. In fact AJ pretty much only criticized him and Jeff did not attack him at all. Even last week Kurt Angle in a pot calling the kettle black scenario criticized Jeff harshly and he still did nothing. Bischoff was his breaking point, not a general trend. It is pretty clear Bischoff is being insincere when he says he never let anyone down or dropped the ball in his whole career. Just because you screwed up doesn't mean you have to let people dick you around for their own selfish reasons.

 

[Alex]

What you mean how he didn't take criticism off AJ Styles, Devon, Matt Morgan and Al Snow yeah you're totally right

There's something called constructive criticism, and then there's ripping into somebody, Bischoff was ripping into Jeff for fucking up at Victory Road, Jeff understood he fucked up (keyfabe and real life) and he wants to try and better himself, he can't really do that if someone (Bischoff) keeps putting him down all the time. AJ, Devon, Morgan and Al Snow, they criticised Jeff as well, but they did it in a way that he took something away from the conversation (to help him along) Bischoff didn't do that.

 

[BigPoppaPunk]

Even though his not taking criticism is supposedly just from a character standpoint, I'll bet some of it is his real feelings on the issue. He's apologized several times, but ppl keep reminding him that he screwed up, and rightfully so IMO. A simple apology can't erase TNA having a ME at a PPV ruined b/c Jeff can't control his personal life. Or how about his imparied judgement causing bad PPV buyrates to plummet with a 1:30 match? Not exactly gonna win you over any friends in the locker roon, especially since he probably wasn't popular with the guys in the back b/c he came to TNA and stole their opportunities.

My whole issue with this situation is that any other guy in his position would've been fired for what he's done, yet he apparently thinks it should be dropped and forgotten. Not a very realistic expectation, b/c a mistake like this should've had consequences. Yes, he's sorry for his mistakes, but not punishing him for his actions is justifying his behavior. Meaning, it'll probably happen again down the road. Maybe I'm wrong for Jeff fans, but in my opinion, he's never been anything more than hype. Overrated in every sense of the word, and definately shouldn't be treated any different than your average TNA worker...

 

[Krossbreed]

jeff's situation couldve been handled better for his return i would have him do a storyline as being out of controll and he can blame his demons. then having a therpaist character ( a new wrestler) newly signed to play the part of how to overcome addicition then make it a universal thing that every fan suffers from some sort of addicition. then at some point abys comes out and claims...i am your demon in the flesh...sets up a rivalry and abys is used to bury jeff...then after a few losses jeff gets better and claims he is better...does the whole face thing...im doing this for everyone who ever was not in controll for everyone who ever had to fight there demons and overcome addicition...then have him go over on abyss at this time... then a visiting matt in the crowd comes out and hugs him cheers pops then aj styles comes out and says...i dont buy it get out of the house that aj styles built ...then goes another rivalry...

 

[Krossbreed]

jeff is still a big name that can still go unlike the hogans and flairs.

 

[UFOcalling]

I agree with you, that there are strong similarities to Jeff Hardy's last departure from WWE. I actually had the same thought, because these "criticisms" are what supposedly made Jeff want to sign with TNA again...at least that's the story that I heard.

The story I heard was that Jeff wanted to take a break from the WWE...this was after his very successful last run with them, when he was feuding with CM Punk. It was my understanding that Jeff decided to sign with TNA because CM Punk came out on Smackdown and "made fun" of Jeff's legal situation (the drug raid, which happened within a week of Jeff's WWE departure...from what I remember).

I think Jeff just wanted to leave the WWE to go on a drug-binge anyway, but used the "CM Punk was mean to me on camera" as an excuse. I believe he went to TNA so he could continue to use, but also so he could earn money at the same time. I mean, come on...drugs are really expensive!! ...on a side note, remember that "D.A.R.E. to keep kids off drugs" campaign from the 1990s? We used to always say that "D.A.R.E" stood for "Drugs Are Really Expensive". Anyway, back on track:

I agree that TNA is doing almost the EXACT same thing that the WWE did back in '09 (I think it was '09?); they're "poking fun" at Jeff's drug habit. Why was it something that Jeff was willing to quit WWE over (or never return, whichever), but something he's "okay with" in TNA? Is it just because TNA talked to him about it before they said it? Seems quite strange.

I don't know Jeff's personal situation, and I don't pretend that I DO know. But, drug addicts are quite sensitive about being called drug addicts. That's the case with just about EVERY addict in the world. If you talk to any addict, they'll "shine a light" on other addicts; meaning that they'll talk about someone else with a worse problem than their own. It's their way of downplaying their own addiction. When someone else points out their foibles, they get upset...because they don't want to admit they might have a problem.

My hope is that Jeff finally realized that he has/had a MAJOR problem with drugs and/or alcohol. Maybe in TNA, he's finally ready to talk about it. When he was with the WWE (or even shortly after he left), he was obviously in denial of his problem...which is why he took such offense to them blatantly talking about it on TV.

Whether or not Jeff is actually clean now, at least he's willing to admit that he has a problem...which is the first step to recovery. Even with 12 step programs, the first step is admitting that you are "powerless" over drugs and/or alcohol.

I wouldn't take Jeff's on-screen actions as him being sensitive to this, I'd take it more as a storyline. If Jeff was really that upset about it, he wouldn't be showing up to Impact tapings (similar to how he decided not to return to WWE in late '09/early '10). Bischoff saying what he said was the "truth", but Jeff's on-screen character already admitted to all of that. Jeff was reacting to Bischoff being a dick, not the content of what he said. I mean, Jeff's character didn't react that way to AJ Styles or Matt Morgan -- and they said very similar things to him. AJ & Morgan said those things in a way that was respectful, even though they were things Jeff "needed" to hear. Bischoff (at least in a kayfabe sense) was being a complete douchebag about it. Just my two cents on the whole situation, anyway.

 

[Depakote]

jeff is still a big name that can still go unlike the hogans and flairs.

You shouldnt really use Jeff Hardy in the same sentence as Hogan and Flair when talking about big names. Hardy is nothing but an overrated flash in the pan. The only thing enigmatic is how anyone could say he is charismatic. I just dont get it.

The original poster of this thread is bringing Hardy's on screen character into question for lacking any depth, and the poster is right on point. Hardy's character never had any depth. The only thing he's ever had going for him is his look and in-ring performance, which both have taken a dive in recent years. Now his lack of charisma and character depth is really shining through because gone are the days of his spot fests covering up his character flaws.

 

[HoHo]

I was on a Forum, where they stream matches and ppvs on day and they were showing when Jeff won the WWE title for the first time, and the members were attacking Jeff in and out.I thought about it and I defended him now listen, I don't like what he did, with selling or dealing drugs, showing up drugged up but no one in this damn forum makes just one mistake, we make mistakes and mistakes and our family forgives us.It was funny, their was a person on this forum who was bashing him and he said he does drugs! I told the guy for you to judge the man, for doing drugs right now, your scum and a hypocrite.He said he knows boundaries...No such thing, your an addict if you do it once a week, or every day its the same thing.Right now, I want Jeff to become TNA Champion the right way, very much th like Eddie.He hit that rock bottom and he's starting to understand what he had and how can he become a man people can look up to.If a man like Jeff reaches that mountain top again, the right way, Wrestling gets better.TNA gets the praise for giving him that chance.With all the negative problems going on in Wrestling, steriods, deaths by drugs, killing by using drugs, Jeff could be the man to give Wrestling that respect again.