Styles' Opponent for the Anniversary Show

[TNABaddboi 0]

The word we have received is that the mystery challenger for AJ Styles' X-Division championship at the NWA:TNA Second Anniversary PPV will be none other than former WWE Hardcore and Intercontinental champion Jeff Hardy. TNA is advertising the challenger as a "Major Player" that is not on the TNA roster.

 

Jim Ross had spoken of signing Hardy back to WWE several months ago during an appearance on Byte This! as one of his last acts as the head of WWE's Talent Relations department. Hardy has made a few independent wrestling appearances (most notably Ring of Honor's Death Before Dishonor last July) since being released by WWE in 2002, but this would be his first wrestling appearance on a national scale.

 

At this point in time, Hardy's appearance will be a one shot with TNA. He's only scheduled to be at the PPV this week and will not be on Impact! tapings in Orlando.

 

Credit: PWInsider.com

 

This is an intriguing match up, but I have to question why they don't just announce it to pop a number with the teenage girls that love Hardy. I guess they're going for the anything can happen vibe. Good pick IMO, on such short notice. First anniversary show we got Sting, this year we get Jeff Hardy. They're going to mess around and establish this show as important or something. lol.

[Guest The Last Free Voice]

fucking oy. First Hardy bombs in RoH now he'll bomb in tna. That match is NOT going to be fun to review. (that's right I write teh TNA reveiws for hte site, bet ya didn't know that, did ya? Sorry, I'm in a shitty mood and my lack of feedback is not helping it.) Hardy will suck. Moving on.

[Guest MikeSC]

If they were wise, they wouldn't do it. The kid has a drug habit (what is the stumbling block in his return to the WWE? Those evil bastards want him to go to rehab) and, outside of an admirable carry job from Jericho, didn't have a good match in the WWE for well over a year.

-=Mike

[Guest netslob]

i got nothing against Hardy, but wouldn't it more sense to use an established X-wrestler who actually earned it, like Kazarian or Garza?

 

wait, i'm looking for logic in professional wrestling, silly me.

[Scroby 0]

So I take it this means Jeff Hardy won't be part of the Lita-Kane-Matt baby angle now? Damn TNA really did make a last minute choice didn't they?

[TNABaddboi 0]

So I take it this means Jeff Hardy won't be part of the Lita-Kane-Matt baby angle now? Damn TNA really did make a last minute choice didn't they?

 

It certainly looks like they went with the "name" for shock appeal to make the show appear bigger because they lost one of the marquee match-ups. We'll see how it turns out. The plus is that they'll have footage of Styles going over Hardy to replay ad naseum like they do with the footage of Jarrett El Kabong-ing Hogan. It might have more value in the long run for TNA than it will in the short run. Plus they get to headline another show with Styles/Kash. If this is a one-off deal, I'm all for it and it will benefit TNA, IMO. If not, we might have a problem. But I don't have a problem with them bringing in Hardy with the sole purpose of putting over Styles, as long as he doesn't "put him over" like Luger did. It'd have to be like Waltman did in 2002.

[Detox 0]

It says is more than likely a "one shot" deal so I guess we might as well see of the match is good I guess I will shell out the 10 bucks because the shows have been improving since the deal with fox

[thuganomics 0]

I don't think you really need to bother with seeing if the match will be good. If it is, it will be a freakin' miracle.

 

Jeff is so scatter-brained he can't even wrestle, let alone pull off the crazy shit he was famous for.

[Silence 0]

Jeff Hardy will definitely be one of AJ Styles' worst opponents in his entire career. I can't even see Styles being able to carry Jeff this Wednesday because Jeff's too much of a drug-ridden spotfest.

[Guest TDinDC1112]

Wrestlers will continue to die young and take drugs/painkillers because of shit like this. People blame everything on Vince and WWE for wrestlers' problems, yet when they fire a guy because he refuses drug rehab that WWE will pay for, and WWE will still take him back but Jeff still won't go to Rehab, and then another promoter will pay him money to wrestle, who's fault is it?

[Guest MikeSC]

Wrestlers will continue to die young and take drugs/painkillers because of shit like this. People blame everything on Vince and WWE for wrestlers' problems, yet when they fire a guy because he refuses drug rehab that WWE will pay for, and WWE will still take him back but Jeff still won't go to Rehab, and then another promoter will pay him money to wrestle, who's fault is it?

Agreed. For all of his faults, Vince will try and get workers help when it's clear that they need it. However, indy promoters will continue to use them, even if it's destructive to the worker and the product as a whole. Jeff Hardy will likely drag AJ to the worst match any of us have seen out of him --- if this story is true.

-=Mike

[Guest Real F'n Show]

HAHAHAHAHA

 

Michael Shane > Jeff Hardy

 

Guess who's not ordering?

[Guest TDinDC1112]

Wrestlers will continue to die young and take drugs/painkillers because of shit like this.  People blame everything on Vince and WWE for wrestlers' problems, yet when they fire a guy because he refuses drug rehab that WWE will pay for, and WWE will still take him back but Jeff still won't go to Rehab, and then another promoter will pay him money to wrestle, who's fault is it?

Agreed. For all of his faults, Vince will try and get workers help when it's clear that they need it. However, indy promoters will continue to use them, even if it's destructive to the worker and the product as a whole. Jeff Hardy will likely drag AJ to the worst match any of us have seen out of him --- if this story is true.

-=Mike

That is just not a match I want to see. How bad is Hardy going to be? He blew spots when he was working regularly. The guy has wrestled 3 times in the last year. How the hell is he going to wrestle a match with AJ Styles? I mean Christ, at least advertise that it will be Hardy and maybe get a few extra buys. There's NO POINT in it being a surprise. Once people have bought the show, they want to see good wrestlings, so it might as well be someone on their active roster who fits the bill (Kazarian, Lynn, Garza, hell even Skipper).

[Guest TDinDC1112]

You know who they should bring in? Juventud Guerrera.

[Guest MikeSC]

You know who they should bring in? Juventud Guerrera.

I thought he tended to have problems entering the country.

 

Hell, cancel Lynn v D'Amore and stick Lynn in there. I doubt you'd get complaints.

-=Mike

[The Buzz 0]

Jeff Hardy is a major player now?...

[Guest MikeSC]

Jeff Hardy is a major player now?...

Well, they still think Jarrett is a draw.

-=Mike

[Guest TDinDC1112]

You know who they should bring in?  Juventud Guerrera.

I thought he tended to have problems entering the country.

 

Hell, cancel Lynn v D'Amore and stick Lynn in there. I doubt you'd get complaints.

-=Mike

Meltzer has written that he has had problems, but that's not what has kept him from being brought in. They don't want to use him because he's a whining, complaining crybaby backstage who some feel doesn't take good enough care of his opponents while in the ring.

[Guest ian.]

You know who they should bring in?  Juventud Guerrera.

I thought he tended to have problems entering the country.

 

Hell, cancel Lynn v D'Amore and stick Lynn in there. I doubt you'd get complaints.

-=Mike

Or, have lynn pull double duty, Have him open the show with D'Amore then have him fight aj later. Tenay can play up lynn's stamina or something, i dunno.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

Juvi gave Lynn a stinger because the move was stiff-as-shit. I don't recall any other complaints about him injuring people. Oh, he works a little stiff? Get out of the ring. He hasn't caused any SERIOUS injuries, and when he breaks somebody's ribs because of a fucked up 450? Then you can call him somebody dangerous to work with.

 

If they scrap D'Amore/Lynn, then the feud might never blowoff. So what do they do? Oh, I don't know. Bring in Red, since Styles/Red has always been at least entertaining with the spots they use? No, of course not. Red is a contracted TNA wrestler. It wouldn't make sense.

[Guest TDinDC1112]

A stinger IS a serious injury. The next step is paralysis. When working with hazardous material in the real world, a "near miss" is just as important and reportable as an actual accident. Should they wait until he seriously hurts someone first? If the guys wrestling him don't trust him with their bodies, he isn't wrestling.

 

And second, what's with this "he works a little stiff? Get out of the ring" macho shit? It's professional wrestling. It's not supposed to be real. Great - All Japan provided great wrestling in the 90's. Now half those guys can't walk. When Lo Ki kicks someone or chops someone and everything thinks it's so great because "it's so stiff," well guess what - then he's doing something wrong. It's not impressive to me when Steve Corino loses his hearing in his ear because he's working "stong style" or Lo Ki almost kills a member of Special K at Death before Dishonor. It's a work guys. I understand aches and pains will happen, but when a guy doesn't take care of you properly in order to make dropping you on your head look "more real," then there's a problem.

[2GOLD 0]

So is he going to be covered in that damn glow paint or is he going to come out dressed in that stupid costume like at ROH?

 

God, I saw a recent photo and he looks worse now than ever. It's a damn shame to watch him pissing his life down his leg.

[HandofFate 0]

You know who they should bring in?  Juventud Guerrera.

I thought he tended to have problems entering the country.

 

Hell, cancel Lynn v D'Amore and stick Lynn in there. I doubt you'd get complaints.

-=Mike

Or, have lynn pull double duty, Have him open the show with D'Amore then have him fight aj later. Tenay can play up lynn's stamina or something, i dunno.

Hey....I said the EXACT same thing earlier. lol

[Magus 0]

so many better choices....

 

Jeff Hardy is a terrible wrestler, so i think the "he doesn't wrestle X Division style" arguement would be futile. i agree that AJ will have his hands full trying to make this match watchable. if he can drag Hardy's carcass across the finish line, it'll be yet another miracle he's worked. the only thing TNA gets from this is the fact that they had a (ahem!) "big name" on their Anniversary Show, wrestling for one of their major titles, and the Phenomenal One pinned him.

 

now that i know who they're going to use, i can safely say that these guys would have all been better choices, both angle-wise and match-wise: Sabin, Red, Dutt, Juvi, Teddy Hart, Hector Garza, Petey Williams, Jerry Lynn, Spanky, or Kazarian.

[Guest MikeSC]

so many better choices....

 

Jeff Hardy is a terrible wrestler, so i think the "he doesn't wrestle X Division style" arguement would be futile. i agree that AJ will have his hands full trying to make this match watchable. if he can drag Hardy's carcass across the finish line, it'll be yet another miracle he's worked. the only thing TNA gets from this is the fact that they had a (ahem!) "big name" on their Anniversary Show, wrestling for one of their major titles, and the Phenomenal One pinned him.

 

now that i know who they're going to use, i can safely say that these guys would have all been better choices, both angle-wise and match-wise: Sabin, Red, Dutt, Juvi, Teddy Hart, Hector Garza, Petey Williams, Jerry Lynn, Spanky, or Kazarian.

Magus, it'd be quicker to name WORSE choices.

 

I have Russo and Mantel --- and that's about it.

-=Mike

[Scroby 0]

Honestly mark wise this is a good move, now for the smart fans, this is a sucky move.

 

Juvi gave Lynn a stinger because the move was stiff-as-shit. I don't recall any other complaints about him injuring people. Oh, he works a little stiff? Get out of the ring. He hasn't caused any SERIOUS injuries, and when he breaks somebody's ribs because of a fucked up 450? Then you can call him somebody dangerous to work with.

 

Actually dropping someone on their head sorta does make you look bad. Lynn took the juvidriver hella hard because Juvi wasn't protecting Lynn.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Poor AJ. This "suprise big event" is going to lay an egg.

[Placebo Effect 0]

I find nothing wrong with this decision, but then again, I'm not so heavily into workrate as everyone else.

 

As another member said, this is going to give them an excelllent promotional material. They'll get to pull the "anything can happen" card on the FSN show, include the clip of Styles beating him in video packages, etc.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

It's not like it was completely Jeff Hardy's fault that his match in Ring of Honor bombed, he didn't really have a stellar supporting-cast that would've put on a good match in the first place. If A.J. Styles can carry X-Pac to a good match, he should be able to get something out of Jeff Hardy.

[Jingus 0]

Well, it's not like Hardy could be that much worse than last year's big main event, featuring a cracked-out-looking Sean Waltman and a more-lazy-every-time-I-see-him Sting. At least Hardy might try a spot or two, even if his chances of pulling them off ain't that good.

 

Personally, I would've gone with Teddy Hart. especially with the advance publicity about H2Wrestling's first show this week, but that's just me.