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Other Voices: Thoughts on Jeff Hardy's WWE suspension, plus last night's Raw theme disappointment Mar 11, 2008 - 8:29:21 PM
I was very disappointed to read this morning that Jeff Hardy is being suspended from the WWE for 60 days, due to a second wellness violation. However, I understand. WWE cannot play favorites. But I have to say I cannot be upset at Jeff Hardy, and I am guessing in some way Jeff is going to welcome the rest to his body. It's just so close to WrestleMania 24 and that's the shame.
Personally, I am one of the rare few that actually still watch the WWE for the wrestling. I don't care about Hornswoggle, I don't care about the latest diva in Playboy (unless Melina poses), and I get bored with Vince always ruining the show. For most of 2006 and part of 2007 I didn't even watch. But I did keep a close eye by reading the torch, so I was reading about Hardy's slow rise to the upper tier.
I was always a Hardy fan, I equate him to an HBK. His style is so different that it's hard to see him in a bad match. However, that comes with a price. And I can see where Jeff might turn to pain-killers or weed to take the edge off. This guy for at least six months has been going nonstop. Being a fan favorite on top of being a good wrestler, takes its toll Hardy has always taken bumps and lot of them. We need not reflect any further back then two weeks before the Royal Rumble when Jeff dove off the stage. He wrestled seemingly every week, and always looked in pain. In fact, I was happy for him last week when he did the Highlight Reel with Chris Jericho and didn't have to wrestle. He must have enjoyed the time off.
John Cena is an anomaly; the guy has an incredible work ethic and never shows signs of being tired. I hope he's not killing is body to be in the spotlight, but Jeff on the otherhand looks like he could use a break and, sadly, it had to come during the worst possible time. I wish they would start the suspension after WrestleMania and give him the 60 days once he wins the MITB match. Then he could resurface at the April or May PPV and begin his reign as champion.
I wish Jeff a healthy recovery and I hope he can lay off the drugs.
Mark DiNatale
Los Angles, Calif.
***
We expect so much out of Jeff Hardy every time he steps into the ring or flies out of it. It can only be expected that such stunts and athleticism would take a toll on his health and body. Because he would have original moves and material in every match.
My assumption at this point is that he felt he needed to take drugs to ease the increasing pain from such maneuvers. I am not shocked, but I am disappointed. I thought, somehow, he had come clean after past drug trials and was somehow working through injuries legitimately.
I hope when he comes back, he will take care of himself so that others relying on him will be taken care of when it comes time for a signature match.
A.A. Norman
Tulsa, Okla.
***
I have to agree with you, WWE really dropped the ball big time with this one. I don't blame WWE entirely for the rampant online speculation, but the show just wasn't very entertaining. I expected the screwjob finishes; this wasn't a PPV but, so I thought, a vehicle to promote and build WrestleMania. I thought WrestleMania's buildup benefited little from this show. This show should have slowly built to a fever pitch, but instead it sucked the lifeforce out of you. By hour three I fast-forwarded (thank you DVR) through all of Punk vs. Edge and most of HBK vs. Cena when it became clear that little of consequence was going to happen. I'm glad WWE had the Y2J vs. Hardy match because it was the highlight of the show.
I also liked the Big Show-Mayweather segment. I hope you didn't really believe WWE wanted the fans to cheer Mayweather; the reversal of roles was intentional and appropriate. I was upset at first when I thought WWE actually allowed Mayweather to get injured, not because I care about him, but I just thought that would be pathetic if they let that happen after he agreed to do the spot. It seems the injury may have been a work and might even result in the match being changed so I'm okay with it.
The Undertaker vs. Henry casket match was a great idea, but only if Taker ended up in the casket courtesy of Edge. They really need to build some heat for this match.
You kind of set yourself up for failure if you want great matches AND no screwjob finishes. That's why you got Triple H vs. Kane, Trips had to win and they weren't going to have Batista do the clean job and Y2J was too busy stealing the show with Jeff Hardy. Still, they could have done more. When Edge hit the ring I expected Foley, when C.M. Punk came out I hit fast-forward. Did they really think this match would hold viewers in the third hour after Punk has been straight jobbing to Chavo for weeks? Cena vs. HBK was also a mistake; I still haven't recovered from last year when they killed a whole hour of Raw with this match. They had a good match at Mania last year and they should have left it at that.
Now that I really think about it, they couldn't really have done a lot of big matches and kept everybody looking strong going into 'Mania without screwjob finishes. So I'd rather have seen the big matches with the screwjobs. We would have at least seen some interesting confrontation and some build for Mania? I don't know why Edge and Taker never got near each other. I didn't really get this show; the simple fact that it was three hours implied it would be something special, it just didn't work out that way.
Rob S.
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