Roughly two years ago, before Jeff Hardy’s second Charlie Sheen-esque stint in TNA, before Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan were brought in, the company was like the “little engine that could.†With a young, up and coming roster and a hearty lineup of former WWE stars, the company needed a combination of smart booking and lucky bounces to get on the radar of Vince McMahon… and stay there.
Many have argued for quite some time that the in-ring action of TNA has been superior to the WWE . However, better wrestlers don’t necessarily mean better ratings. Because of that, over the past year and change, TNA has gone out of their way [even more than they were before] to bring in people they thought could change the game in their favor.
Enter Jeff Hardy…again.
The same guy with history of drug abuse and trafficking, as well as no-showing events, which if you didn’t know, is the worst thing an athlete in that sport can do, was back, in TNA’s quest for global supremacy, or the closest thing to it in professional wrestling, ratings.
Even though he was a huge risk then, his reward apparently was high enough in the company’s mind for them to put the respect of their brand, athletes and fans in jeopardy.
With Hardy’s actions at Victory Road this past Sunday, where he looked so under the influence that his match had to be ended prematurely, it appears that TNA is perhaps at its lowest point in its eight-year run.
All the things they hoped Hardy could provide have instead blew up in their face.
Forget the handful of quality matches he’s provided or the tons of merchandise he’s sold during his year plus with the company, Hardy will ultimately be remembered more for this one night than any of the brilliant matches during his career.
This was something that was unavoidable however, with the chance for his breakdown appearing in front of a camera getting greater with every opportunity Hardy had in the ring.
And TNA made sure he had a plethora of them.
They made him a champion. And when he didn’t have a belt on him, he was made the top heel in one of the most powerful factions.
Having a person in Hardy’s condition as a champion says a lot about the company as a whole- sadly for TNA, much more bad than good. Though not specifically said, it shows that TNA believes that Hardy, even with his botched resume, is a better choice to have headline their TV program and tours than the bevy of talented workers [that actually show up clean and ready to perform], many who haven’t been given a fair chance.
It also says that they’re willing to let a man destroy himself for the betterment of their company.
While this is no different from what wrestling promoters have done all over the world for nearly a century, after so many deaths in the sport over the past few years, it’s time things begin to change.
Now, with his problem more than exposed, TNA, for the sake of their brand, needs to do something they haven’t done before, get Hardy help and institute a public wellness program, with clear consequences for violators, that makes sure something like this never happens again. Even with his brother and a troupe of friends in the company, Hardy was unable to curb his dark passions. More needed to be done to insure not only Hardy’s safety in the ring, but also the people he shared the ring with.
For the sake of not only the respect of fans and sponsors, but for his own life and anyone that’ll be in his spot in the future as well, Hardy, the husband and father, must be saved first.
Otherwise, he’ll become another broken soul ruined by the beautiful bastard that is the professional wrestling business.
Sadly, TNA and Hardy are all out of options. The only way to fix this is to keep him off television until they’re proof positive that it’ll never happen again. With the chances of that seeming remote at this point in time, it appears that Hardy, one of the most dynamic athletes to ever wrestle, may be finished forever.
If TNA doesn’t play this smart, this could be the beginning of the end for them as well.
If there was ever a time to develop their young stars and forget about hiring the former stars the WWE has given up on, this appears to be it.
While guys like Ken Anderson and Rob Van Dam have bolstered their in-ring product and mix in well with their home-grown talent, the opportunity for another Jeff Hardy situation to happen once again is just too great.
TNA’s fans and their talent deserve better.
Photo by David Seto
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