QuestionMan

Worse than Team Hoss '03-'04 (Nathan Jones, Jon Heidenreich, and Tyson Tomko)?

...and A-Train still has a job.

THE LATEST VERSION Aug. 12, 2004 Hello, again. It’s your friendly neighborhood sports entertainer here to battle crime and evil courtesy of the Latest Version. Hopefully, the Hurri-Shane won’t take offense to me opening like that, considering that it’s a little close to his stuff. While on the subject of Shane Helms, I’d like to send a get-well wish to one of my favorite amigos. This past Monday, Sugar Shane underwent surgery on his broken nose so that he’ll be able to breathe out of both nostrils once again. Anyway, let’s carry on as you prepare to be injected with your monthly dose of Mattitude. To begin with, I want to apologize to anyone who has attended a live event recently and expected to see yours truly. My knee is not allowing me to work a full-time schedule right now, much to my frustration. I hate not being at any WWE show, but that’s how it has to be right now. After having more-detailed MRIs done within my knee, it turns out I’m unfortunately dealing with a worst-case scenario. My North Carolina orthopedic doctor confirmed that my MCL is torn, but not badly enough to do any damage on its own. My meniscus has a severe tear in it that has to be scoped and cleaned so that knee will no longer lock up. My ACL, the most important ligament in my knee, is non-existent now. The doctor said there were no fibers of my ACL remaining within my left knee. Not good. The tests also showed my ACL has been destroyed for months. The doc couldn’t believe that I was walking without my knee buckling and giving out, much less wrestling a full time schedule up until four weeks ago. With that said, I have to get total reconstructive surgery on my left knee. The typical recovery time for this surgery is usually six to eight months. But before this happens, this tough bastard named Matt Hardy has a match left in him at SummerSlam. I’m gonna miss seeing everyone for a while, but I’m gonna bust my ass to get back as soon as possible. As I sit and type this, I am on my way home from the Birmingham, Ala., office of the world-renowned Dr. James Andrews. In case you’re not familiar with Doc Andrews, he is the orthopedic specialist responsible for putting so many of the WWE Superstars back together after they tear or break something. Yours truly visited the good doctor to get his very respected opinion on my damaged knee. His response was the same as the first orthopedic specialist that diagnosed me — that my knee needs to be totally reconstructed. Andrews was also a little freaked out by my "jimmy legs," as I had to explain that the genetic makeup of my pelvis causes my femur to anatomically rotate wider than that of a normal person. We actually X-rayed my hips, and yes, they are anatomically incorrect. They also have bone spurs that should bother me in a couple of years. Hey, when it rains, it pours — but that’s all the bad news I have for you. The good news is I just saved a ton of money on my car insurance. (Just a played-out joke, I needed to lighten up the mood for everyone a little.) Since I missed the cities of the month last month, let me update everyone. Spartanburg, South Carolina was an awesome old-fashioned type of crowd that was red-hot and happy to see their fellow Carolinian. New York, N.Y., home of Madison Square Garden, was very good to their sensei when I was there last time. It took a while for New York and the Garden to grow on this country boy from the South, but it is truly a special place filled with incredible fans. Time for a little OMEGA news. When in Spartanburg, I got to spend some time with my long-time pal, Thomas. After our show that night, myself, Edge, Thomas, Krazy K, and some others enjoyed dinner while reminiscing over the old days and the fun we had running OMEGA shows. Before I left to go to Charleston the next day, Thomas impressed me with his sushi chef-like talents. Knowing that I’m a big sushi fan, Thomas whipped up some restaurant quality sushi rolls. He made an extremely mean freshwater eel roll. Who would have known? Just recently, I spoke with Ted Hobgood, a.k.a. "Scott Sullivan," who was the voice of OMEGA. About a week or so later, we were able to get together and catch a bite to eat. It was great to catch up on things and once again recall all the rewarding fun we had during the OMEGA period. It had been years since I last spoke to Ted because of our phone numbers changing and moving and whatnot. Ted is an extremely creative and talented guy and has a genuine love for professional wrestling. He was a big contributor to the OMEGA product with his ring announcing and commentary, as well as creative suggestions. Ted is a guy who still has a lot left to offer to the wrestling business. It would be great if one day he got that chance. The last rendition of the Latest Version was quite the issue of discussion among the Internet wrestling community. I thought I’d post a follow up to some of the feedback I received and read about my statements. Overall, I think most people understood the points I was trying to make and appreciated the way they were made. The reason I wrote the article was to help people view the business in a more open-minded and positive way. It’s important to me to help better the business as much as I can. I want people to enjoy watching and following wrestling, enjoy learning about wrestling, enjoy their entire sports entertainment experience. I love the wrestling business. It consumes my daily life and always will in some form or fashion. I passionately enjoy the business on every level, from A to Z. I love watching all other wrestling groups, no matter how big or small the promotion. I want anyone else who passionately follows the business to be able to allow themselves to enjoy the business like I do. Whether you’re in the business or not, I want you to be unbiased and flexible with your point of view, as well as question popular opinion. Praise things that you think are good. Offer constructive suggestions to what you view as bad. I get frustrated about things as well, and I know realistically that everything on a wrestling show isn’t always going to be great. I suggest that you don’t hate or trash something for no rhyme or reason. I plan on doing as much as I can on my end to make the business better. I’d like it if you’d do the same. My goal isn’t to insult you or your intelligence, it’s to help you better your sports entertainment experience. I’m not here to start fights, I’m here to set examples. Random thoughts: But first, merchandise plug time … Current Mattitude items available that will make you a better MFer: (1) Warning T-shirt — Mattitude may cause severe side effects (2) Sensei T-shirt — The Sensei of Mattitude (3) V1 pendant (4) Ruthless Aggression Matt Hardy action figure with white pants (5) Exist to Inspire — Hardy Boyz autobiography (6) Soon to be released Matt and Lita action figures two-pack The last rock CD I bought was Blink-182’s latest offering, and I’ve enjoyed it as I have five songs on it I really like. The last rap CD I bought was Lloyd Banks, "The Hunger for More." I think Lloyd is going to be a big rap star who will be around for quite a while. I really dig both of the "Warrior" songs. I love to eat out and try new foods, especially when it comes to experimenting with other culture’s cuisines. My latest venture has been into Thai food and so far my favorites have been their spicy soups and Pad-Thai. I never drank coffee until I was older, but recently I fell in love with Starbuck’s white mocha chocolate concoction. Everyone who is taking time to read this column probably knows that my primary goal in this business is to be the World Champion, which symbolizes the fact that you are the best in this business. Recently, I’ve have my mind set on a goal that may be even more important to V1. I want to make my mark on the wrestling industry by changing the business for the better in some form or fashion. I want to help the business evolve into its next stage. Several people have recently asked about my brother, Jeff, and my thoughts on his current situation. I support my brother unconditionally in whatever he chooses to do with his life. We’ve been through too much together for me not to. I’m glad he has a positive situation to once again invest his talent and time into. I think the wrestling business is definitely his calling in life — Jeff just has to be able to find a happy medium between his career and his independence. The main things I want for my brother is for him to be happy and healthy. Adios amigos! Take care of yourself, and remember positivity breeds positivity. Be well, and until then … THE MATT HARDY V1 The Sensei of Mattitude I’m Veeeee-Oonnneeeuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh! P.S. — It’s 3:00 a.m. on August 12, and I was just getting ready to send my commentary to my friends at WWE.com. Before doing so, I decided to scan the Net and check the headlines, and I came across something quite absurd. After reading this, I just had to use this as an example of the "wrestling negativity snowball" that I’ve been speaking about. I encountered a ridiculous article that some kid wrote that made an analogy comparing Amy (Lita) to credit and debit cards. This person went on to talk about how my career’s screwed because I’ve reunited with Lita and because of my recent storyline. The most asinine part of the article is how it criticizes the reality of Amy and I being put together on the same schedule, not just on TV. He then rambles on about how I’ve made a career-destructive decision and how Amy is deteriorating. He then states that one of the Diva Search contestants is going to take Lita’s place. He also quotes a sign from a fan to back up his claim that Lita’s days are numbered in WWE. This was too much. At this point, I had to wake up Amy up to read this laughable nonsense. To begin with, anyone who doesn’t personally know Matt Hardy or Amy Dumas can’t accurately comment on our personal lives. You can comment on the characters of Matt and Lita that you see on TV because you’re familiar with them. But the only information you have is your opinion of what you see on screen and what you read or hear about. People have no idea about what goes on and our status behind the curtain. Is Matt Hardy’s career suffering? Absolutely not. Right now, I am in the best spot I have ever been in as a singles competitor. I loved the stuff I did on SmackDown! It was great and good for my career. Although it took me a while to get where I wanted to be on RAW, I am currently in a better position now. If I didn’t have to get some work done on my knee, my snowball would keep rolling and getting bigger. Whether you love the Matt-Lita-Kane saga or think it’s rotten, you don’t understand the business if you don’t realize it’s a huge, high-profile part of the RAW show. It’s these types of negative, nonsensical articles that set bad examples for other fans and give the IWC a bad rep. But, if you happen to disagree with my comments and doubt my views, just remember this: Growing up, people said I would never be able to wrestle in WWE. I did. People said I would never become a legit WWE Superstar if my brother and I kept losing on TV early in our careers. I did. Most people thought I’d never be able to survive as a singles star without my brother. I did. When I had my run as Cruiserweight champ, a majority of people thought I’d never break the cruiserweight stigma. I did. People thought I would never get out of my "slump" on RAW. I did. Nobody thought I would beat Kane at Vengeance. I did. If you don’t think I’ll come back from my injury better than ever and become one of the biggest stars in all of WWE, please, bet against me. Matt Hardy loves to prove people wrong and make them eat their words. You can quote that — because I mean what I say, and I say what I mean.

If it's so low on his list, then why are piledrivers and overhead belly-to-belly suplexes restricted from being used?

Yeah, but still, calling UT a talentless slug is completely inaccurate. Talentless slugs don't stick around for 14 years. And there's been a lot more physically impressive people than UT to come through WWE over the years and couldn't last because they were the actual talentless slugs.

They made the decision a few months ago not to use him on TV anymore, but they've now officially cut him free.

That IS sarcasm, right? RIGHT? And this guy goes beyond talentless slug. He was ALREADY taken off TV once. Why even bother again? Like him or hate him, but accept that in 98 he was over bigtime as leader of the Wolfpac. BTW, remember that "Blue Chipper" Rocky Miavia who was pushed despite being insanely green, failed miserably, and was taken off tv? Yeah, good thing they never brought his talentless ass back. He wasn't taken off TV. He injured his knee and needed surgery. He came back when he was healthy and turned heel.

Well, if it worked for DDP, then why don't more people do it? Old-school mentality or not, if it produces a higher quality match, then what's the problem with doing it? Kudos to DDP doing what it takes to produce high quality everytime. And by your statements on Undertaker, you obviously have not seen any of his matches since the beginning of 2003. He's pulled good matches out of Big Show, A-Train, and Orlando Jordan, had great matches with Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar, and worked many miracles with John Cena. Given Cena's recent work, it's obvious now who carried who in those UT/Cena matches. The only times I've seen UT put on a less-than-good match since Jan. 2003 were gimmick matches (Vince, Dudleys, Biker Chain vs. Lesnar, etc.) and WMXX vs. Kane. Other wise, UT has been an absolutely solid worker since January 2003. And he's kept the political bullshit down to a minimum too, so more kudos to him.

Watch their WWE Title match on Smackdown in September 2003 I think it was. An absolutely awesome match. They worked circles around their Fully Loaded 2000 and Survivor Series 2000 matches.

Are you trying to say Undertaker is a talentless slug? Oh lord...you've just opened the flood gates. Goldberg, Luger (in his earlier days), and Nash were able to be carried to good matches. DDP got a good match out of Goldberg when everyone thought it was impossible. Flair made Luger look like a million bucks. Jericho did yeoman work with Nash in that hair-vs-hair match. I don't even think Angle or Benoit could carry Heidenreich past *.

Going back into my Observer archive to the November 1st, 2003 edition, I see: "Nathan Jones and Jon Heidenreich were both signed to 3-year contracts last week." They have until October 2006 to figure out what to do with Heidenreich. But also... LESS THAN 2 YEARS LEFT FOR MARK HENRY!

It's not really the same We're giving UT thumbs up for having a brain and realizing that this thing was going to bomb. And if anything, he did Heidenreich a FAVOR to keep him from being totally exposed as a Nathan Jones-esque lack of talent. However, UT did no favors for Brock Lesnar at Unforgiven 2002 by completely squashing him and not putting him over. It just made Brock look like a clown. UT kept Heidenreich from looking like a clown.

HHH power?

That's not the point. Classic was fired because he was pretty unreliable, amongst other things and I think Eddie even knew that he probably shouldn't be there because he was just going to get Chavo Jr. buried. Konnan wasn't hired because TNA wouldn't give him a release.

Ugh. Please don't have Eddie vs Luther. Kurt beats Taker at Series to win the belt, then they start the feud with Eddie again. Simple. I think Eddie should be given power backstage. Eddie does have power. Chavo Classic was hired completely as a favor to Eddie. According to Meltzer, Classic was supposed to be gone after Royal Rumble, and ended up staying until a few weeks before Great American Bash. Also, Konnan was going to be hired completely as a favor to Eddie and Rey Mysterio.

This is news about UT and Edge's reactions to the crowd. Not the crowd itself. And plus, it had a piece in there completely unrelated to the crowd.

WWE's completely missed the window of opportunity on Rob Van Dam. 2002 was his time to be world champion and by him not getting it, they've lost any chance of him being able to make any money. People accuse him of being unmotivated. Wouldn't you be if you were asked by so many people when you were going to be champion and being told by so many people how over you are? Wouldn't you be if the political actions of others in higher positions than you kept you from being the #1 guy? Remember, Kevin Kelly told us once upon a time that RVD was booked to beat HHH at Unforgiven, but HHH got it changed and his defense was, "I'm better than him." I'd be unmotivated as fuck too if that happened to me, because I would know, despite how much I nearly break my back for this company, someone else in power thinks they're better than me. Does RVD deserve a chance to be WWE Champion? Yes. Will it bring good business? Probably not, because it would be two years too late. If Bradshaw somehow deserved it, then everyone does by default.

I must say, UT gets a high-five for getting the kilbosh put on this upcoming feud with Heidenreich, if in fact UT was the one responsible. And if he wasn't, a high-five to whomever was.

But there's a difference. The IWC mainly hates HHH for the things he does in real life, not for his television character. It's not like they are saying, "You are such a good heel, I hate you," it's, "You're such a fucking asshole to your co-workers, I hate you." I say "they" and not "we" because I like HHH, but you know what I mean.

That's impossible. Remember? Tori said he had a burnt-up weiner.

I will more than likely be at Armageddon.

If WWE just drops this angle, they will lose more creative credibility than WCW did when they just dropped the hummer angle.

A-Train's been on RAW, what, 1 time since he was traded over?

Yeah, Matt really wasn't harsh at all in his response. Unlike JBL who went the 8th grade route and called everyone gay. By the way, WWE.Com has deleted Matt's commentary.

I'll watch it at Hooters.