Will Jeff Hardy make THAT much of a difference for TNA?

[It's...Baylariat!]

I'm noticing that they're isn't much chat about Jeff Hardy in here. The man is seemingly groomed to be in the top tier of TNA's main event scene. He's way over and seen as a game changer by some of his fans. And when the ratings came in, the overrun with Jeff Hardy scored the biggest ratings of the night. Can Jeff Hardy really make a huge difference in TNA? Is he just a big fish in a small pond?

 

[Shocky]

As I stated in the other thread, Jeff hardy is TNA's last big hope. Jeff hardy a year ago was the #2 man in the WWE, behind only John Cena. Jeff Hardy is as over as it gets with the younger crowd, the mainstream WWE Audience.

Word of mouth will spread that Hardy is in TNA, and it will be interesting to see if Jeff Hardy can pull those fans taht he had in the WWE. This isn't like Kurt Angle, or Mick Foley, or any other big name that has jumped ship. In all fairness to Kurt Angle, he was far from the wrestler he once was when he jumped, and Angle wasn't as over as hardy was when he left the E.

I'll say this, Jeff Hardy is the best chance for TNA to succeed, moreso then Hogan or Flair. If jeff Hardy can't get it done, it's not getting done.

 

[hatehabsforever]

As I stated in the other thread, Jeff hardy is TNA's last big hope. Jeff hardy a year ago was the #2 man in the WWE, behind only John Cena. Jeff Hardy is as over as it gets with the younger crowd, the mainstream WWE Audience.

Word of mouth will spread that Hardy is in TNA, and it will be interesting to see if Jeff Hardy can pull those fans taht he had in the WWE. This isn't like Kurt Angle, or Mick Foley, or any other big name that has jumped ship. In all fairness to Kurt Angle, he was far from the wrestler he once was when he jumped, and Angle wasn't as over as hardy was when he left the E.

I'll say this, Jeff Hardy is the best chance for TNA to succeed, moreso then Hogan or Flair. If jeff Hardy can't get it done, it's not getting done.

I would tend to agree with Shocky here. Jeff Hardy is really the only guy to leave WWE by his choice and go to TNA at the peak of his popularity and the prime of his career, much like Luger or the Outsiders for WCW.

Hogan, Flair, etc., are not the answer, they're too old and let's face it, if the WWE had wasnted them back on terms that they liked, they would have gone back to the WWE. These guys are only in TNA by default.

Guys like Anderson who were "WWE rejects" are clearly not the answer, if they were, they wouldn't have been rejected in the first place.

The homegrown guys like Styles are great, but they lack the mainstream notoriety to attract an audience. They may be good enough to impress an audience once there, but aren't well known enough to get them there.

Even Angle and RVD left the WWE not at their best. They would be important pieces, but it's still not the same.

Hardy has the ability to attract a younger demographic from the WWE, and is still fit enough and popular enough to do it. If he can't lure them away, I don't know who can.

Assuming, of course, he's not in jail in the near future.

 

[Schizophrenic]

I think Jeff will do his job which is get the casual fan as well as some WWE fans to tune in and see Jeff which will then get them to watch the X guys, the thriving tag division (which no doubt trumps WWE's) as well as women's division (which many think is better than the divas they push). In that case yeah I think he can make a difference but no body can expect Jeff to carry the company.

Assuming, of course, he's not in jail in the near future.

I don't think Jeff (or his lawyers) would go to TNA and do some shows if he really thought he was going to wind up in prison.

 

[The_Evil_Empire]

I dont know that any one man can make that much a difference (unless your Hulk Hogan). Some may tune in just to see Jeff Hardy, but TNA's going to have to use him right, and that's all there is to it. If Hardy shows up to work every week and has nothing to do, the crowd will stop caring about him. WWE finally got behind him and he was pushed to #2 like the guy above me said.

I was never really convinced that Jeff was a World Champion, but a lot of people were, and it's the majority's opinion that really counts. I don't think TNA's drawing much of the kid crowd anyway. Spike is definitely a man's network, and they go out of their way to advertise to older audiences. Hardy's great, but they'll have to make sure they realize their audience, and not over use him. I think they should have switched the roles of RVD and Jeff on TNA last night. RVD is more over with the older audience I think. Also, Sting beating down Jeff Hardy might have been a bigger deal. They may have had more chatter on the webs if "the Icon" went to town on the "Enigma" in his return.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I think Jeff will do his job which is get the casual fan as well as some WWE fans to tune in and see Jeff which will then get them to watch the X guys, the thriving tag division (which no doubt trumps WWE's) as well as women's division (which many think is better than the divas they push). In that case yeah I think he can make a difference but no body can expect Jeff to carry the company.


I don't think Jeff (or his lawyers) would go to TNA and do some shows if he really thought he was going to wind up in prison.

By the way, that was not intended to be a dig at Jeff Hardy. I hope, WWE versus TNA aside, that he sorts out his personal problems and that jail is not in his future.

Having said this, these are serious charges that some members of the IWC tend to dismiss too nonchalantly. I wouldn't be investing too much stock in him until I had a better sense of what the future holds.

 

[bigvic62890]

Honestly Jeff Hardy is the biggest jump tna has gotten. But people forget that he only got famous because of his first run in TNA when the WWE realized what they had lost. If anyone read his twitter its clear hes really happy in TNA which means his in ring skills could be even better than what we saw in the WWE. But with that said I think TNA is one or two more big jumps away from making a statement. If TNA can somehow get a Dave Batista who has made it clear he wants to wrestle less and his body is starting to break down someone like that would help alot. Me being the TNA fan that I am would love to see HBK or someone like that make a jump if he retires but thats highly doubtful. I think Jeff Hardy will open the flood gates for main stream guys to jump to TNA, something else to keep in mind Matt Hardy is all alone in the WWE all his friends and even his brother are gone so he might be someone to make a jump soon thanks for reading guys

 

[Schizophrenic]

I totally agree. I am not taking this lightly at all and I am really hoping that jail isn't in his future but I do think there is more to the story that we are not hearing (smart move by Jeff's side) and like I said, if they really thought it was an issue I don't think they would let him go out of state to wrestle (which most of the us find dumb anyway) and risk it making him look uninterested in the case.

 

[The_Evil_Empire]

Hogan, Flair, etc., are not the answer, they're too old and let's face it, if the WWE had wasnted them back on terms that they liked, they would have gone back to the WWE. These guys are only in TNA by default.

Hogan isn't in TNA because WWE didn't offer him a good enough deal. WWE bends over backwards for that guy. If he had approached them about a deal, they would have made it. Hogan went to TNA because he saw some in them, and wanted to manage it and see how far he can take it. He's not there to wrestle. If he wrestles, he's trying to get them numbers. He's still one of the greatest on the mic, and he's going to draw more than Hardy because he's Hulk Hogan. He's a pop-culture icon.
Ric Flair is in TNA because he's bound to Hogan for a few years. TNA and WWE dont' market to the same audience, which is why TNA might succeed in what they're trying to do. They have found their place in the hardcore fans and people who prefer action over drama.
Hogan was the answer. Do you think that if Jeff Hardy just went to TNA and Hogan didn't, they would be in the same place? Hogan has brought Jeff, Flair, Bishoff, Hall, Pac, RVD, and kept Sting from retiring. He's the answer because he's boss they need.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Hogan isn't in TNA because WWE didn't offer him a good enough deal. WWE bends over backwards for that guy. If he had approached them about a deal, they would have made it. Hogan went to TNA because he saw some in them, and wanted to manage it and see how far he can take it. He's not there to wrestle. If he wrestles, he's trying to get them numbers. He's still one of the greatest on the mic, and he's going to draw more than Hardy because he's Hulk Hogan. He's a pop-culture icon.
Ric Flair is in TNA because he's bound to Hogan for a few years. TNA and WWE dont' market to the same audience, which is why TNA might succeed in what they're trying to do. They have found their place in the hardcore fans and people who prefer action over drama.
Hogan was the answer. Do you think that if Jeff Hardy just went to TNA and Hogan didn't, they would be in the same place? Hogan has brought Jeff, Flair, Bishoff, Hall, Pac, RVD, and kept Sting from retiring. He's the answer because he's boss they need.

I totally disagree. I think Hogan would have preferred to return to the WWE, but he wanted to be the focus there, like he has been in TNA, and Vince didn't want him in this capacity at this stage of his career. Same with Flair. These guys could have been role players, or GM's or whatever for the WWE, but their egos wouldn't let them settle for such roles, so they "took their ball and went home" and joined TNA. WWE absolutely did not bend over backwards to get Hogan at this stage of his career, in fact they made it clear they didn't want him unless it was on their terms, and with his apparent financial woes,couple with a bruised ego, he went elsewhere.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Jeff Hardy is one of the most popular guys in wrestling today. This is a guy who can do well in whatever show you put him on. PG-era, Attitude, TNA's more adult-oriented programming, whatever. He was the #2 face in WWE behind Cena, and would have been number 1 if the kids didn't love Cena.

This guy can help TNA big time. I think they picked a HORRIBLE time to debut him. The first time they did this year, on January 4th, was shitty too. Both times, he said nothign. They made it look like it wasn't a big deal. IT IS A BIG DEAL! He just became your biggest name.

I am not the biggest Jeff Hardy fan in the world, but I like the guy. He is a really big name at this point in time, and if he can avoid jail, he will be their most marketable name, right now. I think AJ has a chance to be that big as well, he's just not well-known enough in the mainstream and with casual wrestling fans to get the job done yet. Jeff Hardy can really make a difference there, he is a much, much bigger star now than he was during his 1st run with TNA.

 

[RicSpade]

I really have to take a major reflection here and give you some major theories about the expanding business...
ROH helped build most of the guys that are in TNA and WWE but are basically just a grooming post, and this is why Flair bailed from ROH. TNA in the beginning was looked in the same light in terms of WWE talent, because it helped groom Christian into a main eventer, R-Truth who flopped in his first WWE run, Evan Bourne, etc. you get the point.

Hogan, Flair, Angle, Nash have something in their hands that people want to get their hands on and that is that TNA is can still be molded.

Look at it this way Jeff Hardy helped put TNA on the map before going back to WWE, RVD was the top reason people tuned in ECW, Angle is probably the best mat wrestler today, and you have future guys in wrestling like AJ, Daniels, Joe, Kaz and that is what is helping build this company. Let us not forget some of the WWE guys like Pope, 3D

Now I know people give Anderson a bad rap, but look at how much heat he draws on a weekly basis, a TNA fan may hate all the bad promos where he mocks Angle and stuff, but didn't we see Jeff Jarrett a short 4-5 years ago have all of team canada come out dressed like Sting and mock everything Sting has done? I mean ya we see Hogan and Flair wrestling, but did we really have Hogan feed his ego cause he was in the main event and the first match or did we show he wanted to build guys since Abyss picked up the victory?

Hardy if done right along with the other guys that made high flying in WWE exciting will be what will keep a fan tuning into TNA. Hogan and Flair and whoever else makes the old fans come back for Nostalgia, and the flying x-division and the original blood and guts of wrestling will be what make TNA run with the ball...

 

[chipandcheese58]

I dont know that any one man can make that much a difference (unless your Hulk Hogan). Some may tune in just to see Jeff Hardy, but TNA's going to have to use him right, and that's all there is to it. If Hardy shows up to work every week and has nothing to do, the crowd will stop caring about him. WWE finally got behind him and he was pushed to #2 like the guy above me said.

I was never really convinced that Jeff was a World Champion, but a lot of people were, and it's the majority's opinion that really counts. I don't think TNA's drawing much of the kid crowd anyway. Spike is definitely a man's network, and they go out of their way to advertise to older audiences. Hardy's great, but they'll have to make sure they realize their audience, and not over use him. I think they should have switched the roles of RVD and Jeff on TNA last night. RVD is more over with the older audience I think. Also, Sting beating down Jeff Hardy might have been a bigger deal. They may have had more chatter on the webs if "the Icon" went to town on the "Enigma" in his return.

To touch base on that first bold statement, you say that you don't know if one man can make that much a difference except Hulk Hogan. Do you not remember a little era known as the attitude era and a man by the name of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin took the ball known then as the WWF and ran with it and got results. Not to say that he didn't have help from DX and The Rock and Mankind and The Undertaker, but the main point of every Monday Night Raw was Stone Cold Steve Austin. It's what every fan turned in to see. What is Austin going to do this week. He was the 90's hogan.
In todays era are two men who can draw in the Audience. One is Randy Orton, who without a doubt is the WWE's top star today. The other is Jeff Hardy. If TNA utilizes Hardy and can make him extreme and unpredictable they will draw numbers. Put him in feuds we've never seen. AJ and Hardy, Hardy vs. Anderson, vs. Pope, vs. Samoa Joe. And not if, but when Matt Hardy crosses the line make the real brother vs. brother feud we wanted to see. Their match at WrestleMania 25 could've been so much more. Jeff Hardy can be TNA's savior.

Now to touch base on the second bold point. In the attitude era the WWF's target was men, just like TNA's is. But slowly word of mouth spread through all the kids at school. Did you see that? This guy comes out and drinks beer and flips people off. This other guy took 15 chair shots to the head. At that time I was a kid watching WCW. But after hearing about all this stuff going on somewhere else I flipped the channel. all it takes is word of mouth on the playground. Kids will begin to watch. They'll want to see blood, chair shots to the head, cussing. Plus, kids get older. How long does WWE plan on holding the attention span of an 11 year old on his way to being a teenager looking to get into things older kids do and watch. He has three options. 1. Stick with WWE and likely be ridiculed by friends because that's what kids do when you still watch things for little kids. 2. Turn to UFC. 3. Flip the channel on Monday Nights to TNA. Oh and guess what, even if he decides to turn to UFC, on Monday's before impact they show UFC fights from 8 til 9. So after that is over up comes the promo to stay tune for TNA Impact.

 

[hogan is the greatest]

Hogan isn't in TNA because WWE didn't offer him a good enough deal. WWE bends over backwards for that guy. If he had approached them about a deal, they would have made it. Hogan went to TNA because he saw some in them, and wanted to manage it and see how far he can take it. He's not there to wrestle. If he wrestles, he's trying to get them numbers. He's still one of the greatest on the mic, and he's going to draw more than Hardy because he's Hulk Hogan. He's a pop-culture icon.
Ric Flair is in TNA because he's bound to Hogan for a few years. TNA and WWE dont' market to the same audience, which is why TNA might succeed in what they're trying to do. They have found their place in the hardcore fans and people who prefer action over drama.
Hogan was the answer. Do you think that if Jeff Hardy just went to TNA and Hogan didn't, they would be in the same place? Hogan has brought Jeff, Flair, Bishoff, Hall, Pac, RVD, and kept Sting from retiring. He's the answer because he's boss they need.

i agree with you 100 percent hogan is the greatest of all time and the biggest draw of all time and he is still great vince mcmahon would take a second mortgage on his house if he had to just to get hogan back. he knows hogan made him and the wwe without hogan they would be no wwe. i also agree with your post about the only single person who can take tna to the top alone is hogan. that 110 percent true and anyboby that thinks different is the BIGGEST DUMM ASS OF THE CENTRY. BUT I JUST WAITING PATIENTLY BECAUSE I KNOW THERE IS SOME MORON OUT THERE WHO IS GO QUESTION OR DISAGREE WITH THIS FACT IM JUSST WAITIN FOR IT.

 

[chipandcheese58]

i agree with you 100 percent hogan is the greatest of all time and the biggest draw of all time and he is still great vince mcmahon would take a second mortgage on his house if he had to just to get hogan back. he knows hogan made him and the wwe without hogan they would be no wwe. i also agree with your post about the only single person who can take tna to the top alone is hogan. that 110 percent true and anyboby that thinks different is the BIGGEST DUMM ASS OF THE CENTRY. BUT I JUST WAITING PATIENTLY BECAUSE I KNOW THERE IS SOME MORON OUT THERE WHO IS GO QUESTION OR DISAGREE WITH THIS FACT IM JUSST WAITIN FOR IT.

yep, hogan is the only person who can take TNA to the top. after all so many older men who are slow in the ring, can't perform their finisher anymore, and can't take very many bumps draw so many people.

Even if you are referring to Hogan playing the role of an on air boss or evil boss, that alone will not take them to the top. Hogan needs talent. Vince McMahon wouldn't have made wrestling big without Hulk Hogan, he wouldn't have won the Monday Night Wars without Stone Cold Steve Austin, and the WWE today wouldn't be as popular with kids as it is without John Cena. Hogan can't do it alone. He can't wrestle anymore. His ideas may take them to the top, but no way will him in the ring is taking them to the top. and him in the role of boss or evil boss won't take them there either. He needs talent which he has. Hardy, RVD, Angle, AJ, Samoa Joe, The X-Division, that will take TNA to the top.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I really doubt that Jeff Hardy can make much of a difference in TNA because he's not good enough to turn things around for the federation.... he's overrated in the ring, horrible on the mic, and only over for insane high flying spots.... some of which he's lucky to still be alive from. Lariat said there's not much discussion about Hardy in here. I noticed that too. That's even more proof that he won't make much of a difference. The only difference he'll make is getting people to say things along the lines of "Oh, Jeff Hardy's in TNA now? That's cool I guess". As soon as the surprise of his federation jump has finally died down, his fan reaction will too because he's not even half as good as some people claim he is. Also, the only reason the overrun with Hardy scored the highest for TNA was because Raw ended before Impact did, meaning I think that it happened due to a bunch of people probably flipped over to see if Impact was still on.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

The reason there hasn't been much talk of Hardy is because there hasn't been much sight of him. If ya put two and two together, you get four there rather quickly, no? Had Hardy been a main-stay on the program since January 4th, I'm more than confident that there'd be a number of threads going on here about his direction and potential seeing as he is probably the 2nd biggest ex-WWE star to willingly leave the WWE for TNA (since Kurt Angle).

I do think TNA is resting quite a few of their laurels on Hardy helping to raise awareness among WWE fans and former wrestling fans to help grow the TNA audience as best he can, and I think you're seeing that in the fact that unlike his former TNA run (2005), he's been instantly vaulted to the main event as opposed to feuding with Raven & Abyss like he did way back when in the mid-card.

What I'm hoping is that they're not throwing too many of their eggs in his basket (case), because there's still a lot of controversy and negativity surrounding his name and his potential future if this drug thing doesn't get swept under the rug. Vaulting Hardy to the main event only to have him end up serving a prison sentence for drug trafficking mid-way through his story would be a lot of egg on the proverbial face of TNA, and I don't think they can afford that kind of negative exposure right now when they're doing everything they can to establish themselves as a viable alternative to the WWE.

 

[The_Evil_Empire]

@chipandcheese- 58

Yeah man, I totally agree with you. I know that in the Attitude Era guys like The Rock and Stone cold were individuals who elevated the entire company. An entire era happened because they were around. I think what i was trying to get at was that TNA is going to need something much bigger than one guy like Hardy.
Hogan was the one man that I think could have played the vital role for TNA, not as a wrestler, but as a face and a name every week. I don't want to talk about this too much, because it's a Jeff Hardy thread, but I think I was just trying to say that if you look at all the guys who can come to TNA, individuals aren't going to put TNA on the map. The Rock and Austin aren't going to go to TNA obviously. There's always the chance that TNA could create somebody who does as much good as the Rock, and ultimately that's what they need to do to. They need to build somebody that transends the name of Sport Entertainment. Somebody that any boy or girl around the world would know by name, even if they've never watched Wrestling. I don't see that being Jeff Hardy, but you never know.
TNA needs to build a Hogan, Rock, Austin, and...I'm going to say it...Cena. Everyone knows who he is, and there's no denying it.

 

[kenobi5]

Its an interesting point you make about Hardy and his impact on TNA.

Im a Hardy fan, correction i was a Hardy fan when he was in the WWE. Now dont get me wrong, the guy puts on a hell of a show and had a superb run in the WWE last year, but the reason i liked him in WWE is that he was the under dog. He was the man everyone wanted to win, even when he did, we knew his time was going to be short, we knew he wouldnt get a long reign as champ etc and he was the best wrestler/star in the WWE who we all wanted to win but realistically knew he really shouldnt.

He didnt need the strap to show his class in the wwe and he certainly didnt need to win all the time because he was so over with the fans.

His jump to TNA albeit suits him down to the ground, isnt something im interested in, yes high spots are always worth a view but do i really want to see him dominating all the time and being the main stay of the show which TNA should and will give him...probably not.

you never get bored of an under dog, but you dont stick that long when the under dog becomes the top draw.

 

[Alex]

Its an interesting point you make about Hardy and his impact on TNA.

Im a Hardy fan, correction i was a Hardy fan when he was in the WWE. Now dont get me wrong, the guy puts on a hell of a show and had a superb run in the WWE last year, but the reason i liked him in WWE is that he was the under dog. He was the man everyone wanted to win, even when he did, we knew his time was going to be short, we knew he wouldnt get a long reign as champ etc and he was the best wrestler/star in the WWE who we all wanted to win but realistically knew he really shouldnt.

He didnt need the strap to show his class in the wwe and he certainly didnt need to win all the time because he was so over with the fans.

His jump to TNA albeit suits him down to the ground, isnt something im interested in, yes high spots are always worth a view but do i really want to see him dominating all the time and being the main stay of the show which TNA should and will give him...probably not.

you never get bored of an under dog, but you dont stick that long when the under dog becomes the top draw.

I see your point about him possibly getting stale because of him being the top draw instead of the 'underdog' but it all has to do with booking. If creative can come up with a way to harness him being a draw and still being an underdog then it could work and so long as they mix it up a bit instead of having the same idea (this is what lead to Cena being stale in my opinion).

 

[kenobi5]

I see your point about him possibly getting stale because of him being the top draw instead of the 'underdog' but it all has to do with booking. If creative can come up with a way to harness him being a draw and still being an underdog then it could work and so long as they mix it up a bit instead of having the same idea (this is what lead to Cena being stale in my opinion).

i agree with that for sure, the only problem being with so many other faces in TNA now that they have to roll with, sting, rvd, joe, styles,wolfe, pope, angle etc etc it will be interesting to see how they can create stuff that keeps them all happy, and how long before a "fatal 4" way comes along. i guess with hardy he can mix it up within the x division but why would we want to see him dominate that???

too many generals in tna and not enough soldiers?

 

[RavensFlock1990]

It can even be argued that Hardy was even more popular than Cena last year because fans of all ages cheer the guy while only kids cheer Cena while everyone else boos the hell out of him.

If he avoids jail time then he's definately the biggest signing TNA has ever made. Live crowds in every city love him, he sells a shitload of merch and he has possibly the biggest fanbase in wrestling. And he's only 32. Bigger than Hogan, bigger than Flair, bigger than Angle, bigger than Foley and bigger than Sting. If anybody is gonna take TNA to the next level its Hardy.

 

[Stallion123]

For the orgionally title's question, I have to say he won't make that big of a difference. The reason being the guy does draw, but due to his legal situation he's a libility, he'll put on great matches and have a great couple of feuds, but I don't see him staying that long in tna due to his reckless lifestyle.

 

[Miko]

I really hope so, not just because I want to see TNA do well, but because I was singing his praises right after he debuted in TNA saying that if TNA get the word out they've got Jeff Hardy they are capable of stealing a chunk of WWE's audience.

I still stand by that, if they get the word out that Hardy's with them, they do stand a good chance.

 

[Coco]

Even if he doesn't draw huge numbers on his own, at the very least he's another big name they're going to have to make room for on a weekly basis. I'll be surprised if we see Daniels on two consecutive shows for the rest of the year. So in that way, Hardy is definately making a difference.

Honestly though, there's really no reason for Jeff Hardy not to make a huge difference in TNA. The man was a huge star in the WWE. But unlike Angle, who hadn't really been a top top guy in the WWE since maybe 2003 (the man was a filler contender for Cena and a filler champion after Batista; Eat it, marks) when he showed up on TNA's doorstep in 2006, and Hogan, who peaked in the '80s and mid '90s, Jeff Hardy was a huge star in the WWE in 2009. Assuming that many of Hogan's fans have moved on and found families, careers, and lives, and assuming that Angle really wasn't all he was cracked up to be when it came to star power, I think Jeff Hardy may well be the biggest signing TNA has ever made. He was red hot over large portions of 2008 and 2009 and if TNA were smart, they'd use that to try and sway WWE's CURRENT audience (not the one that they had ten years ago and who we're not sure still cares for wrestling at this point). Jeff Hardy can be where the money is for TNA. Whether or not he'll get that chance or if Hogan would prefer to keep most of the spotlight in the company on him remains to be seen. But Hardy is a very big deal. Market the shit out of him and let it play.