Jmare007 Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 How injured is Jeff Hardy and can he get a WWE deal? I think I remember reading he wasn't under contract with TNA anymore but maybe I'm just mixing him up with Angle. Last time Jeff came back he was treated by fans like a way bigger deal than when he left. I wonder if he can still be seen as a star and really mean something for Mania. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert S Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Considering the reason Angle left in the first place was Vince didn't want an Olympic hero dying on their watch, I doubt he'd be offered a deal. I don't think he would pass a physical, and nothing he's done since leaving suggests he changed his lifestyle at all. There were several times he would be on TNA TV looking pilled out of his gourd and there were the multiple times he was pulled over for suspected DUIs. I did not follow TNA at all but in the last two years or so I cannot remember any Angle scandals so either ( a ) he has become more careful when and how to do drugs or ( b ) he cleaned up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Are the Hardys clean now? As far as we know, I mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Grimmas that would work on an NXT special. Not for mania. Angle and Taker have a long history. Angle is considered a WWE legend by a lot of fans. No way they could make Joe that viable. It would be so much easier to make it work with Angle. Easier, but you could take a LOT of guys and make a match that adds as many buys and has as much volume in the stadium that night. You just need good booking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Grimmas that would work on an NXT special. Not for mania. Angle and Taker have a long history. Angle is considered a WWE legend by a lot of fans. No way they could make Joe that viable. It would be so much easier to make it work with Angle. Easier, but you could take a LOT of guys and make a match that adds as many buys and has as much volume in the stadium that night. You just need good booking. For the most part they don't have good booking. So your idea of Joe probably won't work in the current enviroment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 The hope is and generally it's true that they figure it out around the build to Mania. To be honest with their current booking I wouldn't be confident they could make anybody want to see an Angle-Taker match either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Angle though has history and a name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Hahaha, now there's a poll -- what is more likely to happen? WWE signs Kurt Angle, or WWE books a new star well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Angle though has history and a name. In theory it should be easy. I have no desire at all to see it, but I think Angle is pretty awful. However there are lots of things that are easy to book that they fuck up every time, so I'm not confident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Are the Hardys clean now? As far as we know, I mean? Jeff just said on podcasts that he needs surgery and won't be doing anything in 2016 but Matt is ready to go any day. Matt has said in the past that his back can't take a WWE schedule. Who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alucard Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 How injured is Jeff Hardy and can he get a WWE deal? I think I remember reading he wasn't under contract with TNA anymore but maybe I'm just mixing him up with Angle. Last time Jeff came back he was treated by fans like a way bigger deal than when he left. I wonder if he can still be seen as a star and really mean something for Mania. Jeff's currently testing out wrestling a few light matches with a big knee brace before undergoing another leg surgery that will keep him out for most of the year. Both Hardys contracts come up next month. Jeff said recently that he's very open to an eventual WWE return and would like to end his career there as the two things he never got to do but still wants to are headline Mania and work a Hell in a Cell match. I absolutely loved Jeff's last WWE run from 06-09 and thought he became a massive star by the time he left. Lots of great matches with various opponents and his WWE title win felt like a real star moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parties Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Matt is at least talking up the game of "family man" in saying that he's trying to turn babyface IRL as well, by being a father/husband who can make TNA better as a role model/company ace. Dude looked pretty rough on the poster for POP TV, but I haven't seen him wrestle in a couple years now. I'm the last person to lobby for Angle, as people have always said there's no way he can pass a WWE physical, but I imagine that test suddenly gets a lot easier to pass when Mania's nine weeks away and the Wade Barretts of the world are walking into Vince's office to pitch themselves as Taker's opponent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlk23 Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 I don't think that "family man" face Matt Hardy is going to last much longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 How injured is Jeff Hardy and can he get a WWE deal? I think I remember reading he wasn't under contract with TNA anymore but maybe I'm just mixing him up with Angle. Last time Jeff came back he was treated by fans like a way bigger deal than when he left. I wonder if he can still be seen as a star and really mean something for Mania. Jeff's currently testing out wrestling a few light matches with a big knee brace before undergoing another leg surgery that will keep him out for most of the year. Both Hardys contracts come up next month. Jeff said recently that he's very open to an eventual WWE return and would like to end his career there as the two things he never got to do but still wants to are headline Mania and work a Hell in a Cell match. I absolutely loved Jeff's last WWE run from 06-09 and thought he became a massive star by the time he left. Lots of great matches with various opponents and his WWE title win felt like a real star moment. Ahh, I see. Great post man, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomethingSavage Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Would Goldberg be an option to face Taker or work a program with someone? I know there's been talk and rumors of TNA expressing interest in getting him signed to a deal, but I don't know how realistic that is or if he'd even consider working with such a low-profile company when he could likely strike a short-term deal with WWE instead. Admittedly, Goldberg isn't a "WWE legend", but he's recognizable enough. It wouldn't take much to reintroduce him and put him over huge via video packages. He's beaten a Who's Who list of top guys in WWE canon. Run clips of that, run clips of his WCW dominance, and bring up the fact that he beat Brock in his last match there. Boom. Done deal. Off to the races. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Would Goldberg be an option to face Taker or work a program with someone? I know there's been talk and rumors of TNA expressing interest in getting him signed to a deal, but I don't know how realistic that is or if he'd even consider working with such a low-profile company when he could likely strike a short-term deal with WWE instead. Admittedly, Goldberg isn't a "WWE legend", but he's recognizable enough. It wouldn't take much to reintroduce him and put him over huge via video packages. He's beaten a Who's Who list of top guys in WWE canon. Run clips of that, run clips of his WCW dominance, and bring up the fact that he beat Brock in his last match there. Boom. Done deal. Off to the races. This line of thinking is something that is really hurting the WWE longterm. When Shawn got hurt and Bret left in 97/98 the WWF did not look to bring back legends to work dream matches, not they pushed Foley, Rock, Austin, etc.. new guys. It's time to move on and make the current guys the stars not the former guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 I don't disagree but I do think they need a bandaid this time and to rebuild from a place of strength, not weakness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCS1988 Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 True, that they need to make new stars, but with crappy booking, people won't care. With good booking with making new stars, people will care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 The WWF didn't bring back legends in '97/'98 because everyone they thought they could make money with were under contract to WCW. Does anyone seriously think making new stars the hard way was their first choice then? After WCW died (and Time-Warner's contracts had run their course) they were happy to bring back Hogan, Hall, Nash, Piper. They brought back Backlund after Hogan and company had left despite him being a kind of unseen entitiy in the business for a decade and stuck the belt on him. This has always been on the table and if they see it as the path of least resistance, they are going to take it. Yes, they do it more now. But they've never had a period where they were opposed to it. I don't disagree that the over-reliance on legends is hurting them, mind you. I'm not going to lie, Rock coming out of nowhere and being put in a top slot at Wrestlemania didn't exactly make me want to watch more. I'm fine with them being involved in sort of their own self contained thing (it's a main reason I'm least offended by Triple H as a possible opponent for an Undertaker match), but I don't like them going into big slots that should be going to other people. I think they have plenty of talent and they really shouldn't need to do this sort of thing, but as long as it's seen as the easiest path to making a short term buck I'm not sure how you convince them to change. This is one of the biggest problems with them having no competition. Nobody can force them to change and take a different path. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Also, I get that Angle is no better than any other old timer at this point because I realize I'm walking both sides of the fence here. But at least he's a new-old timer. So I mean, that's something, I guess. And no matter what he does in the ring I have a hard time believing the crowd would turn on him in three months the way they did, say, with the big Bautista return push. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slasher Posted January 9, 2016 Report Share Posted January 9, 2016 Why are people bringing up Angle again? He is on Triple H's shit list. If he wields the amount of power people seem to think he has, you can bank on Angle never getting anywhere close to a WWE ring without buying a ticket. Kurt Angle tried to go around Triple H directly to Vince aftwr Hunter turned him down. Triple H never got over that. So add that to the typical concerns about his health and drug issues and you've got a guy the WWE isn't going anywhere close to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 Vince still owns and runs the company. If Vince wanted or needed him, he would hire him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakeplastictrees Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 Does WM 33 do better or worse business if WM32 has no 'legends' apart of the showcase? We can pretty much put money on Taker, Jericho, Rock, and HHH most likely being in matches at WM 32. Everyone else is a crap shoot (Booker, Goldberg, Angle, etc.). Do people really believe that come WM33, people will feel like WM 'isn't what it use to be' based off the WM32 card and will sit it out unless some big names appear (which will be even slimmer as the people everyone wants to see (The Hardys, RVD, etc.) will be much older/retired/dead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 They will have to sacrifice a Wrestlemania or three at some point built entirely around current talent to make bigger Wrestlemanias down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmmnx Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 They had a chance to make guys like Bray, Rusev, and Reigns last year at Mania and didn't. That left them with no real stars to build their product around for 2015. They had better use these legend appearances to get the young guys over or they'll continue to headline their shows with people the fans don't see as real stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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