Hard(y) to Say Goodbye

Wrestlemania 22.  I'm the only one still with WWE. :D

Sorry for the title, it' all I could come up with.  Also, sorry for the delay in this posting.  I was on vacation when Matt Hardy was finally released from the WWE.

I don't think many people were surprised by this firing.  He had basically been asking for it for some time now.  Was he justified in his actions leading up to his release?  You know, the erratic behavior, the bizarre Youtube videos, and tweets complaining.  I say yes.  If you're going to gripe publicly about your employer, then they're justified in firing you.  Of course it's something he wanted.

Matt Hardy didn't seem happy in the WWE.  At least not lately.  Of course in his heyday with brother Jeff, he was one of the most popular stars.  Or at least a member of one of the most popular teams.  Remember when the Hardy's were jobbers getting beat up on Sunday Night Heat by the APA?  They really did develop and became one of the tandems during the Attitude era.  Some might even argue of all time.

I liked the Hardy Boyz, but I always liked Edge and Christian better.  They reeked of awesomeness.  Just like me.  Ha.  Anyway, back to the Hardy's.  They held the tag team titles 7 times.  They had some classic matches with Edge and Christian and the Dudley Boys.  

After the team finally broke up, as all good teams do in the WWE, Matt clearly became the "Marty Jannetty" of the duo.  He enjoyed some independent success, like a run as U.S. champion and ECW champion, but it was nothing compared to Jeff.  The younger brother won the Intercontinental title four times, the World heavyweight title twice, the light heavyweight title and European champion one time each and Hardcore title four times.  

Matt had some memorable feuds.   He run against Kane, Edge, and MVP come to mind.  But he was usually on the losing end against Kane and Edge.  The series with MVP was more even contested.  But Matt won a lot of those confrontations.

His recent feud with Drew McIntyre was less than stellar.  I think by that point it was clear he was just going to be putting over the younger talent.  I think Matt had a hard time with that.  He never won the big title.  His little brother did.  Twice.  And I think that probably stung a little.  Again, as the blog name suggests, these are just my opinions, so feel free to rebut.

Now that Matt is gone from the WWE, many are assuming he'll show up in TNA.  Most likely he will.  And he'll fit in.  Many of TNA's guys are ex-WWE wrestlers.  How much of a push will he receive while there though?  

I really don't see Matt as a main event player, even in TNA.  Then there's talk of another Hardy Boyz reunion.  Jeff is the champ right now, and doing well as a singles star.  Would teaming up with his older brother again hurt his career?  

Matt accomplished a lot in the WWE in his 12 years with the company.  He should be proud of that.  What's next for him?  Only time will tell.  (cue the Nelson music)