wwechick1982
06-18-2004, 07:01 AM
Behind every great man, is a great woman or so the phrase goes. For Matt Hardy it isn't so much that he has a great woman(Lita the character, not person), but the fact is that his hard work and dedication seem to be heading towards the drain. He was the Cruiserweight Champion and one of the highlights of Smackdown, then he jumped ship to Raw and isn't one of the highlights of the so-called "superior" brand. What is Matt's position now that he has his girlfriend back by his side? In this the Widow's Peak, I'll be discussing Matt Hardy before and the Matt Hardy after.
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The day was October 17, 1999 the night of No Mercy, and Matt Hardy had turned 25 3 weeks prior to the night, that Matt, along with his brother Jeff were about to take another leap into professional wrestling history. On this night, they would partake in one of the most historic matches of professional wrestling and one that hadn’t been done since Wrestlemania X: the ladder match. Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon fought over the prestigious Intercontinental Championship in this match and Matt Hardy knew it would be hard to top that historic match. Matt planned along with the rest of the parties involved to make this one even better than the ladder match before. What no one knew was after that match was over; all four men would be pushed into the upper echelons of the rising tag team division. It wasn’t so much the men themselves, but for the seemingly impassible object that they put their bodies on the line against. After No Mercy 1999, Matt Hardy would find himself in the spotlight that had been shining on the participates of the first ladder match and he took it as a privilege and an honor.
The ladder match had been radical for it’s time and it was no different then as it is now. Matt took it for such, carefully planning his move into wrestling history; that has been Matt Hardy’s mantra: every plan needs careful planning. The day of reckoning came and there was no turning back as the four men took their own lives into the hands of an unsuspecting crowd, who didn’t know it then, but was about to see the future of the WWE. By the time the match ended, which included some of the most incredible spots seen in the WWE, the Hardy Boyz, most importantly, Matt Hardy, had won the match and the managerial services of WWE’s resident vixen, Terri. You also can’t forget the other men in the match, Edge and Christian, who even though lost the match, got a standing ovation from the crowd, as they had truly seen something special. That was then, this is now…
Matt Hardy must be wondering how he got himself into this mess that he find himself in. He was enjoying one of the most prosperous journeys of his wrestling career: he had a killer gimmick, he won the Cruiserweight title and he had a following. No longer standing on the sidelines as Jeff Hardy took the glory, Matt was, for the first time in a long time, truly carving his own destiny. It took him plenty of years to accomplish this, but the crowds had never really left him, we had always been there. We were waiting until the WWE gave him the ball to run with and he ran with it; he held onto it for dear life. It may not have been until the unfortunate accident of his girlfriend, Lita, that Matt found himself without someone or something to lean on. For the first time, in a long time, Matt Hardy had to lose his crutches, as painful as it may have been, but he did it.
Matt Hardy Version 1 popped onto our TV screens, shortly after Lita’s and Jeff’s departures, “helping” his fellow North Carolina natives, Shannon Moore and the Hurricane out. He was so excited to be there, that he forgot that he hadn’t really helped them at all, but this was the first of many misadventure of Version 1. Shortly after, the Hurricane left for Raw and yet again, a familiar piece of his life had vanished, but one remained: Shannon Moore. It was then that Matt decided that Shannon and the Smackdown fans needed a dose of Mattitude, the way of life that made him famous. He then went on to challenge, then Cruiserweight champion, Billy Kidman to a match at No Way Out 2003 for the title, which Matt went on to win. Now as the new Cruiserweight champion, Matt went out and took Crash Holly (God bless his soul!) under his wing and in the words of Crash himself, “ we were the greatest 3 man tag team never to have had a match!” made being a heel fun at the same time. Rey Mysterio, who beat Matt on an episode of Smackdown in the main event to become the new Cruiserweight champion, cut Matt’s happiness short. With losing the Cruiserweight title, Matt found himself in a rut, that got even worse when at No Mercy, just 3 years after his historic match, that he lost to then WWE Superstar, Zach Gowen.
No one would know it, but No Mercy would be the last time that the fans would see Matt Hardy Version 1 as a Smackdown Superstar. The return of girlfriend, Lita sent Matt, bags and all back to Raw, where he humiliated her by dumping her on national TV and calling her selfish. However, a twist of events has turned Matt Hardy back into the babyface that he made so popular with the Hardy Boyz. Saving Lita from Kane and the subsquence reunion of the two have put him back on TV every Monday night on Spike TV. After this feud, if you can call it that, with Kane, ends(which maybe harder even now),Matt Hardy is just floating around, showing up with Lita whenever the time and place call for it(match against Garrison Cade and this week against Trish Stratus and Tyson Tomko). He seems to have found himself back into the spotlight, which has now dimmed on him, and yes, even Lita. The question is what has Matt Hardy done to deserve the position he’s in now? There is no definite or clear-cut answer to this question, most chalk it up to the creative team, however I chalk it up to jumping brands too quickly. With Chris Benoit's jump, the absence of Brock Lesnar and Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle’s wrestling future in limbo, Smackdown would be the best place for him right now.
I think we all see the point of his jump, wanting to be closer to his long time girlfriend, but was it too soon? The answer to that question is yes, Matt was having great success, he even put Zach Gowen over and helped him put on a fairly decent match! Where was the point where Matt Hardy’s career went on the low ramp to wrestling limbo? The point where losing to the One-Legged Wonder was considered beneath him, but it wasn’t. Matt knows that more than anybody, he’s always been willing to give everyone a chance; that’s the type of person Matt Hardy is, read the book, read the magazine articles, he’ll tell ya. Having the knowledge of seeing where his career is headed, don’t you think it’s time to give Matt the ball again and run with it? That answer can be answered with a resounding yes, give Matt Hardy and his fans what he truly deserves. Why isn’t Matt in the hunt for the Intercontinental title? There are only two words: Randy Orton, to give us that answer. Send Matt back to Smackdown, maybe even have him take Lita with him, he had good matches with John Cena, and he could do it again; he could even have good matches with Mark Jindrak, Eddie Guerrero, Rene Dupree, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Rey Mysterio, his old friend Shannon Moore, Mordecai and the list goes on. Sometimes you have to sacrifice and Matt Hardy did that, he sacrificed everything to get that WWE contract. Matt Hardy sacrificed his career for love, which people will never understand, but he did it. Matt Hardy is in control of his own destiny, it doesn’t take Vince McMahon or a storyline to prove that to us, Matt Hardy has done that. When you think about it, Kurt Angle’s 3 I’s, Intensity, Integrity and Intelligence, sum up Matt Hardy Version 1 perfectly, don’t ya think?
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If you liked my column or even if you didn't, your feedback is greatly appreciated. You can email me at hardyfan_2@hotmail.com or post here. Check out my new column that will be opening soon at wrestlingintensity.com in which I discuss why I hate the Lita pregnancy angle before it's even off the ground. Until then, good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.
~Rachel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The day was October 17, 1999 the night of No Mercy, and Matt Hardy had turned 25 3 weeks prior to the night, that Matt, along with his brother Jeff were about to take another leap into professional wrestling history. On this night, they would partake in one of the most historic matches of professional wrestling and one that hadn’t been done since Wrestlemania X: the ladder match. Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon fought over the prestigious Intercontinental Championship in this match and Matt Hardy knew it would be hard to top that historic match. Matt planned along with the rest of the parties involved to make this one even better than the ladder match before. What no one knew was after that match was over; all four men would be pushed into the upper echelons of the rising tag team division. It wasn’t so much the men themselves, but for the seemingly impassible object that they put their bodies on the line against. After No Mercy 1999, Matt Hardy would find himself in the spotlight that had been shining on the participates of the first ladder match and he took it as a privilege and an honor.
The ladder match had been radical for it’s time and it was no different then as it is now. Matt took it for such, carefully planning his move into wrestling history; that has been Matt Hardy’s mantra: every plan needs careful planning. The day of reckoning came and there was no turning back as the four men took their own lives into the hands of an unsuspecting crowd, who didn’t know it then, but was about to see the future of the WWE. By the time the match ended, which included some of the most incredible spots seen in the WWE, the Hardy Boyz, most importantly, Matt Hardy, had won the match and the managerial services of WWE’s resident vixen, Terri. You also can’t forget the other men in the match, Edge and Christian, who even though lost the match, got a standing ovation from the crowd, as they had truly seen something special. That was then, this is now…
Matt Hardy must be wondering how he got himself into this mess that he find himself in. He was enjoying one of the most prosperous journeys of his wrestling career: he had a killer gimmick, he won the Cruiserweight title and he had a following. No longer standing on the sidelines as Jeff Hardy took the glory, Matt was, for the first time in a long time, truly carving his own destiny. It took him plenty of years to accomplish this, but the crowds had never really left him, we had always been there. We were waiting until the WWE gave him the ball to run with and he ran with it; he held onto it for dear life. It may not have been until the unfortunate accident of his girlfriend, Lita, that Matt found himself without someone or something to lean on. For the first time, in a long time, Matt Hardy had to lose his crutches, as painful as it may have been, but he did it.
Matt Hardy Version 1 popped onto our TV screens, shortly after Lita’s and Jeff’s departures, “helping” his fellow North Carolina natives, Shannon Moore and the Hurricane out. He was so excited to be there, that he forgot that he hadn’t really helped them at all, but this was the first of many misadventure of Version 1. Shortly after, the Hurricane left for Raw and yet again, a familiar piece of his life had vanished, but one remained: Shannon Moore. It was then that Matt decided that Shannon and the Smackdown fans needed a dose of Mattitude, the way of life that made him famous. He then went on to challenge, then Cruiserweight champion, Billy Kidman to a match at No Way Out 2003 for the title, which Matt went on to win. Now as the new Cruiserweight champion, Matt went out and took Crash Holly (God bless his soul!) under his wing and in the words of Crash himself, “ we were the greatest 3 man tag team never to have had a match!” made being a heel fun at the same time. Rey Mysterio, who beat Matt on an episode of Smackdown in the main event to become the new Cruiserweight champion, cut Matt’s happiness short. With losing the Cruiserweight title, Matt found himself in a rut, that got even worse when at No Mercy, just 3 years after his historic match, that he lost to then WWE Superstar, Zach Gowen.
No one would know it, but No Mercy would be the last time that the fans would see Matt Hardy Version 1 as a Smackdown Superstar. The return of girlfriend, Lita sent Matt, bags and all back to Raw, where he humiliated her by dumping her on national TV and calling her selfish. However, a twist of events has turned Matt Hardy back into the babyface that he made so popular with the Hardy Boyz. Saving Lita from Kane and the subsquence reunion of the two have put him back on TV every Monday night on Spike TV. After this feud, if you can call it that, with Kane, ends(which maybe harder even now),Matt Hardy is just floating around, showing up with Lita whenever the time and place call for it(match against Garrison Cade and this week against Trish Stratus and Tyson Tomko). He seems to have found himself back into the spotlight, which has now dimmed on him, and yes, even Lita. The question is what has Matt Hardy done to deserve the position he’s in now? There is no definite or clear-cut answer to this question, most chalk it up to the creative team, however I chalk it up to jumping brands too quickly. With Chris Benoit's jump, the absence of Brock Lesnar and Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle’s wrestling future in limbo, Smackdown would be the best place for him right now.
I think we all see the point of his jump, wanting to be closer to his long time girlfriend, but was it too soon? The answer to that question is yes, Matt was having great success, he even put Zach Gowen over and helped him put on a fairly decent match! Where was the point where Matt Hardy’s career went on the low ramp to wrestling limbo? The point where losing to the One-Legged Wonder was considered beneath him, but it wasn’t. Matt knows that more than anybody, he’s always been willing to give everyone a chance; that’s the type of person Matt Hardy is, read the book, read the magazine articles, he’ll tell ya. Having the knowledge of seeing where his career is headed, don’t you think it’s time to give Matt the ball again and run with it? That answer can be answered with a resounding yes, give Matt Hardy and his fans what he truly deserves. Why isn’t Matt in the hunt for the Intercontinental title? There are only two words: Randy Orton, to give us that answer. Send Matt back to Smackdown, maybe even have him take Lita with him, he had good matches with John Cena, and he could do it again; he could even have good matches with Mark Jindrak, Eddie Guerrero, Rene Dupree, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Rey Mysterio, his old friend Shannon Moore, Mordecai and the list goes on. Sometimes you have to sacrifice and Matt Hardy did that, he sacrificed everything to get that WWE contract. Matt Hardy sacrificed his career for love, which people will never understand, but he did it. Matt Hardy is in control of his own destiny, it doesn’t take Vince McMahon or a storyline to prove that to us, Matt Hardy has done that. When you think about it, Kurt Angle’s 3 I’s, Intensity, Integrity and Intelligence, sum up Matt Hardy Version 1 perfectly, don’t ya think?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you liked my column or even if you didn't, your feedback is greatly appreciated. You can email me at hardyfan_2@hotmail.com or post here. Check out my new column that will be opening soon at wrestlingintensity.com in which I discuss why I hate the Lita pregnancy angle before it's even off the ground. Until then, good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.
~Rachel