The Triple Threat 8.28.11: The 248th Edition – Matt Hardy, WWE Tag Teams, Jeff Hardy, More

David Martell: It looks like Matt Hardy is starting to take the Jeff Hardy route. It’s really sad to see the demise of a wrestler that I use to be a big fan of. At this point Matt seems to have burned all his bridges. WWE and TNA don’t want him and I am pretty sure RoH doesn’t want anything to do with him. The best option for Matt would be to go Japan and really reinvent himself. He needs to get out of whatever type of environment that he is in and try to save his career and possibly his life. I like how Matt tried to act like he was reborn after this debacle but does anyone really believe his shit? I certainly don’t. Not long after, he was brought to the ER and it just makes me believe that Matt is on some serious stuff. Maybe he wasn’t drinking and driving but he was definitely on something. A picture is worth a thousand words and the first word I thought of was drugs. I don’t like Matt Hardy but I do hope he can clean up.

Jacob San Antonio: Alright, it’s past the point of being funny for me. The Hardys need to go to rehab, and they need to go now. Now, before anyone thinks of commenting “well Jacob what about THIS wrestler and this one and this one,” I’ll just go on record saying that anybody with a track record even half as long as the Hardy brothers needs to get serious help. Jeff seems like he just doesn’t care anymore, and Matt has been kinda crazy as far back as the Lita/Edge fiasco. They both have issues they need to address, and they just need to let go of some of their vices. Matt’s got absolutely nothing going for him right now, professionally, and I really doubt he’ll see any action until he cleans up his act and can act sane for once. It’s sad, really, seeing these guys reach these lows. I may have been pretty critical about the brothers in the past, but their situation right now isn’t one I’d wish on anyone. They’re both talented, they both know how to get the crowd worked up, and their name is recognizable the world over. Neither of them deserves to fall apart this way, and at this point I just want someone to step in and get them back on the right track. I foresee someone calling me way too judgmental over this, and if that’s what happens when you grow concerned for someone’s mental and physical well-being, so be it.

Zach Brown: The brothers that go to court together, stay together! Seriously though, this is just embarrassing. Matt Hardy makes it very difficult for his fans to support him. He wrecked into a tree after being messed up on who knows what, and his mug shot is just a disgrace. He’s lucky he didn’t kill anyone. And his twitter account is hilarious these days with all these ramblings about being reborn and about the blood from the wreck making him feel angelic. I mean what is all that crap? Has he lost his mind? How about just fessing up completely about what he did and going to rehab or something? The few fans he still has probably want him to do just that. I just don’t know who Matt Hardy is trying to fool here. Now that he’s done this, I don’t think any big wrestling organization will want to hire him. WWE certainly won’t take him and now TNA released him. I seriously doubt that ROH would take him back either, knowing what he’s been up to lately. I mean the guy is just not reliable at this point, and unless he goes to Japan, Mexico or some hungry indy promotion, he is going to be out of a job for some time. After Matt Hardy was released from WWE, I was actually somewhat interested in how Matt was talking about reinventing his character, and actually having the freedom that he’s always wanted. That was until he started posting the most bizarre videos about eating grapes, his lackluster run in TNA, and now this. Some reinvention, Matt. He used to be the respectable Hardy brother that never got his just due. Now, he’s just a joke and it sucks for his fans, plain and simple.

Topic # 2 Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston won the WWE Tag Team belts on raw this past week. Your thoughts?

David Martell: Thank God Otunga and McGillicutty lost those belts. McGillitunga could quite possibly be one of the worst tag team champions ever. Both guys are still extremely green and bland. Its good to see Kofi and Bourne get the straps because they have been floundering in the midcard for far too long. This is also Bourne’s first title in the WWE. The best part about it is that the WWE are is making them into a legit tag team. Even on twitter they are letting people make up a tag team name for these guys. This is definitely an improvement in my book and it’s going to be interesting to see where they go with the belts.

Jacob San Antonio: This is one way to keep these two relevant, I suppose. It’s awesome to see Bourne carrying any gold, and I’m
interested to see what Kofi’ll do in this tag team. I worry that this team will simply be a spot fest, which seems the most likely route for the duo, and that the gimmick will eventually wear off. I want this team to be a legitimate tag team, so I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to the new name they give themselves. As dumb as this sounds, I feel like the name of their team could really be the biggest clue into whether or not we should take this title reign seriously. “Altitude Era” is a name I’m unsure about. I think it could stick and actually work for the group, but I could also totally see it falling flat and watching them lose the belts after a month. This is by far one of the dumbest things I’ve ever said, I know, but it’s just this feeling I have. A name can make or break a wrester (Ringmaster, anyone?), so I feel the same can apply to tag teams.

Zach Brown: When Otunga and McGillicutty lost the tag belts, the only thing I could think was, “FINALLY!” I like David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty alright on their own, but they were one of the blandest tag teams in a long long time. They are probably two of the worst tag champions in the history of WWE, simply because they didn’t do much in the ring, and never showed an ounce of personality. I mean it seemed like they were finally trying in this match where they lost to Kofi and Bourne, but it seemed like too little, too late. So now Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston are champions. Not a huge improvement, but an improvement nonetheless. At least these guys are good wrestlers. But the thing that hasn’t improved are the mic skills. David Otunga is ok on the mic, but McGillicutty is awful. And Evan and Kofi aren’t much better. I wish the tag champions just had something exciting to say for once. But Evan and Kofi make a great team on paper. We’ll have to see where it goes from here. They each have a great high-flying move set, and that could be very exciting to watch. That being said, I can’t tell if Kofi and Evan will be champions for long because they may have only won the belts to trade them off to another newly formed tag team, which I’ll talk about below.

Topic # 3 With the newly made tag teams of Kofi Kingston/Evan Bourne and Miz/R-Truth, do you think the WWE is starting to care about the tag division?

David Martell: I think it’s a start but they have a long ways to go to make the tag division mean something again. Bourne and Kofi are big improvements to hold the tag straps right now. They should be a great high flying tag team, something we haven’t really seen in awhile. Honestly, I am more excited about the Miz and R-Truth. They by far had the best segment on RAW this past week. Truth has been on fire as of late and he cuts some of the best promos in wrestling right now. Miz hasn’t done much lately but this could be the jolt he was looking for to be relevant again. WWE also seems to be looking for outside talent to bring into the company to add tag teams to the roster. With the rumors of the WWE signing The Kings of Wrestling and the recent try out matches for the Young Bucks, we could possibly have a decent sized tag division on our hands. WWE should continue making teams with the guys they already have on their roster. Why not put Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins back together. Hawkins hasn’t done anything in awhile and I know everyone wants Ryder to have more TV time. Why not pair William Regal up with Wade Barrett. They would be perfect with each other and could be legit tag champs if given the opportunity. There is a lot of option here for the WWE but unfortunately the tag division wont be fixed over night.

Jacob San Antonio: Sorry, I’ll buy into this idea when I see a lot more legitimate tag action taking place. It wasn’t that long ago that you’d have competitive tag matches with Cryme Tyme and the Hart Dynasty, and regardless of how often you saw them they were wrestled like tag matches should be. More often than not I see two singles wrestlers going about their business with the occasional hot tag, and calling it a tag team effort. If I’m to believe in the Altitude Era or Truth/Miz, they’ll have to alter how they handle themselves in the ring. If WWE will allow for the actual tag team style in the ring, I don’t see a problem with this attempt at bringing the division back. My one stipulation for the division would be a hefty one, though: no Santinos allowed. I like the guy, I still get a chuckle out of his antics, but his presence in tag matches is a joke and it insults the match itself. I don’t mind the occasional surprise Cobra here and there, but don’t shoot the tag division in the foot before it even takes off. We don’t want the division to be a joke.

Zach Brown: Well, it may be a little too early to tell if WWE cares more about tag teams already, but this past Raw was at least exciting for this nearly-dead division. R-Truth and Miz is a team that makes perfect sense. Their promo was great. They spent a good portion of time explaining why they are teaming up and how they feel equally mistreated. Their gimmicks are wildly different, but for some reason, it already works. Miz and R-Truth have each been cutting fantastic promos, and for some reason, these same promos work wonderfully when paired together. I immediately wanted them to face Kofi and Evan Bourne for the belts. Because as happy as I was that there were new tag champions, this pairing was above and beyond anything that I could imagine. They are each recent main eventers with nothing to do right now, and it makes perfect sense to pair them up. Honestly, I got chills, and I immediately thought that this team alone could make the tag division important again. The last time the tag division was important was JeriShow, and it was because those guys could talk and were main event level talent. This feels remarkably similar to that, and I can’t wait to see where this goes. WWE rarely gets this kind of team, and they need to make this effort more often. What they need to do is to take guys that are main eventers or occasional main eventers, and put them in a tag team when they have nothing better to do. That’s how a lot of the greatest tag teams have been formed. I’ll give you another two heels that are doing a whole lot of nothing and could benefit from each other: Sheamus and Wade Barrett. I mean yeah sure, maybe the Irish don’t like the British all the time, but this team could be phenomenal. Two guys that have been in the main event, are great on the mic, and are hard hitting, great wrestlers. Why the heck not!? That could be a team that could go down in history as one of the best if done correctly, and it can literally be put together next week. But anyway, I hope WWE keeps up this newfound interest in the tag division, because it can be great television if it’s just done the right way.

Topic # 4 Jeff Hardy seems to be on his way back to TNA. How do you feel about this? SPOILERS

David Martell: Its quite odd to say that right now Jeff Hardy is more sane than Matt. Jeff has kind of been silent for the past few months and maybe, just maybe, he turned a new leaf or at least had some rehab. I do think its funny that TNA will fire Matt for a DUI but Jeff can be impaired during a match and just gets suspended. I get that Jeff is more of a draw then Matt but still, he should of got fired. With that said, Jeff is one of the biggest money makers TNA has so I can understand why they kept him around. If you read the results of the upcoming Impact tapings, then you know Jeff cut a promo apologizing for his actions. I think that’s a good step in the right direction but will Jeff stay clean this time? I wonder who he is going to feud with anyways. I do wish I could hear CM Punk rip into this guy now. That would be some great TV. This is really just a wait and see type of thing.

Jacob San Antonio: I wish there were a way to accurately express how disappointing his return is. The last thing Hardy needs is to come
back to a business that can’t or won’t keep him out of trouble. He needs to get a grip on himself and his life before he comes back to business. It’s irritating hearing the fans cheer for his return so happily. Not because of my overwhelming smarkiness (at least, not this time), but it just seems out of touch with the situation. If I were a Jeff Hardy fan, I’d be worried about where he is right now. Can he be trusted to stay clean enough to put on a decent match? The answer right now should be no, since we all haven’t forgotten his title match with Sting. I understand that the guy wants to bring in the money; he’s got a little girl to take care of now, and he can’t afford to stay away from the business for too long. But man, when your main event match at a PPV lasts a minute and a half because you were way too whacked out of your mind to wrestle, you have got to get some help. So I’m not excited about Jeff Hardy’s return, no. I’m far too worried about where he goes from here.

Zach Brown: Well at least one Hardy brother is doing better these days. I wonder how Jeff will screw up his second chance in TNA. Forgive me if I’m being a little mean and cynical. But Jeff Hardy single-handedly caused probably the most embarrassing event in TNA history, and one of the most talked about screw-ups in all of wrestling history. Why did TNA give him another chance at all? Because the guy draws money. Not a ton of money, because this is TNA we’re talking about. But at least some money. So apparently, Jeff comes out on the episode of Impact that airs in two weeks and cuts a heartfelt promo about how he let everyone down. He asks for a second chance, but honestly, Jeff has had so many second chances that it’s not even funny. If Jeff wants to get serious about his wrestling career, he needs to kick his drug habit for good. And at the very least, TNA needs to keep him out of the main event for a long time. They shouldn’t just throw him back in there because he lost the belt to Sting and was then absent for months. In my opinion, they should just move on from that, and keep him in the midcard for a long time. Honestly, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. The fans have let Jeff Hardy slide over and over again. He needs to get serious and never let his fans down again because I don’t think the wrestling world will take him seriously at all if he continues letting the drugs affect his career. This really is his last chance to make things right in my opinion.

Topic # 5 Who is the most overrated guy in TNA?

David Martell: I would have to go with Mr. Anderson. I use to be a fan of his actually, back when he was in the WWE. I thought he was good on the mic and ok in the ring. Over time it just grew on me that he really wasn’t anything special. He is a injury prone and a hazard in the ring. His mic skills were good but now it’s just the same thing over and over again. It gets old. He had opportunities after opportunities in the WWE and he just never lived up. He did get to become TNA World Champion but honestly who cared? His reign was short and forgotten. He just comes off as one of those guys who doesn’t try to improve his game.

Jacob San Antonio: Rob Van Dam. If there were ever a time to leave an angry comment, I guess now would be it. So…I realize RVD used to be a huge deal. Crazy athletic, ECW legend who managed to make a big splash in the WWE, all that jazz, etc. etc. The RVD currently residing in TNA, however, is not the RVD of legend. I realize he’s gotten older over the years, so maybe he’s not quite able to do everything quite as flashy anymore. That being said, I just don’t get as excited about his matches as I used to. Perhaps this reflects badly on me, but this is just how I call it. I don’t deny that RVD is a veteran talent, and he’s a fan favorite that can get a crowd hot at the drop of a hat, but in a wrestling world that’s already dominated by veterans with a ton of experience who’s to say RVD really stands out? Perhaps I’m a bit off the mark with overrated, but I still feel that RVD gets a lot more credit than he actually earns these days.

Zach Brown: Overrated…that’s a tough one. I was going to say Scott Steiner, but Steiner has had some entertaining periods back in WWE and TNA as well, and I can’t really fault him for slowing down with age. Sadly, I’d probably have to say Matt Morgan. I used to think there was something to this guy. Now that I’ve watched him for a few years, I really don’t think there ever has been. He’s a big guy with a great look, and that’s all there is to him. He could have been the next Brock Lesnar if he only had the talent. He has flirted with the main event several times and never proven why he belongs there. He’s been tag team champion, and that was probably one of the least exciting times in the history of the TNA Tag Team Championship. He had a long running feud with Hernandez that should have been a fantastic feud, and it just never was. In fact, those matches were typically full of botches and were some of the lowest rated matches on each card they were on. There are entire Botchamania segments devoted to those matches. I think TNA kept the feud going for so long because they kept wanting the matches to be good. And on paper it should have been! But nope, they never were. And I kind of don’t even like Matt Morgan’s style of wrestling. Each time I’ve watched him wrestle, I’m constantly getting the feeling that he thinks he is hot stuff and is doing the most physically impressive thing you’ve ever seen, when the fact of the matter is, it just isn’t. And is he good on the mic? Nope. Not hardly. Add that all up, and you get Matt Morgan; a wrestler that many people thought could be the future if he only got over his greenness in the ring. Unfortunately, that greenness is how he wrestles.

Our thoughts on Ted Dibiase Jr.

David Martell: Poor Ted. He is just having the hardest time trying to live up to his father. You know, I don’t hate Ted. In fact he is a pretty damn good wrestler. He is one of those guys you can count on to have a decent match most of the time. His problem is that he is bland. Incredibly bland. He cuts mundane promos and makes you not even care about what he is doing. They once gave him the million dollar belt and that didn’t even work for him. At this point, Cody has vastly become the better man. I don’t know what Ted can do to fix himself. Maybe get a different gimmick, pair him up with his father or have some sort of promo lessons. He needs to find charisma. If he could do that, I think he could be a big deal in the WWE. Maybe a possible face turn could help things out. With Cody attacking him on Smackdown this past week, that is very likely. It just goes to show you that although your father may be a legend, it doesn’t mean it will rub off on you.

Jacob San Antonio: This could be it, folks. We might finally be at that glorious moment when Ted turns face. With Rhodes’s recent swerve on Dibiase, it seems inevitable that Ted turns face. I hate to admit it, too, but I really can’t wait. Let’s be frank; Ted was great at being a Legacy henchman because being the henchman is super easy. Glare, look bad, cheat, smirk with the leader and you’re officially a great henchman. On his own, regardless of what creative threw at him, Ted did not work well as a heel. He simply doesn’t have the charisma to be the guy you love to hate. That’s okay, though. I think Ted could be a great babyface; when he’s allowed to properly show it off, he’s got a nice in ring style, with some nifty moves in the ring and a solid finisher. All he needs to do is start getting the crowd behind him, and I think he could see more coming his way. In a way, a face turn for Dibiase could work the same way as it has for Alex Riley. Properly utilized, he could experience a slowly building appreciation from the audience until everyone is going nuts for him to take out the heel of the week. Perhaps I’m putting the wagon before the horse, here; Dibiase hasn’t officially turned face quite yet, so there’s no telling where this angle with Rhodes will go. Still, I think it’s time the WWE gives him a chance to change things up.

Zach Brown: Ted DiBiase is one of the all-time greats who should have been a shoe-in to win a World Title with his great persona, but sadly never did. Wait, we are talking about The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase, right? No? Ted DiBiase Jr. you say? Oh, well, he’s nothing like his father at all. In fact, the Ted DiBiase on current WWE television is terrifically bland and boring by all accounts. Seriously though, I wish Ted would change up his gimmick or something. Ted DiBiase has a great look, and I like him in the ring as well. I don’t know why the guy can’t find his groove in WWE. Who would have thought that out of Legacy, Ted DiBiase would be the one lagging behind the most? Well, we aren’t counting Manu or SimSnuka of course. Ted really needs to take some promo lessons somehow, and he needs to get involved in some actually interesting and entertaining storylines for once. His whole storyline of buying everything, getting managed by Maryse , and everything else was all kind of a snoozefest. And now he is re-teaming with Cody, for what? Because Ted has nothing better to do, unfortunately. Hopefully, Ted can turn face and feud with Cody at some point, because what he’s been up to for the past year and a half is just not cutting it. I want to see Ted do great things in WWE; I really do. Hopefully he can turn things around in the next few months.

That is all for this week. Fell free to comment at the bottom of the page and have a great week in wrestling. CYA!

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