Hardy on Raw - a work?

[Chris]

Well, you saw or heard about what happened on RAW.

Is this all a work, you ask?

I think it's a yes-and-no situation.

Yes, some of this was obviously planned beforehand. I seriously doubt that Hardy would agree to get in the ring and fight Edge in-character if it wasn't pre-arranged.

But I still do believe Hardy was released from his contract, and that the Lita situation was real. But not to the extent that Hardy has made it out to be.

This has really confused me though. Meanie on SmackDown! wasn't as confusing, since the pair appeared to have made up beforehand and agreed to get in the ring purely to make some money.

I think it's down to WWE using Russo's tactics from WCW. Russo used to make numerous backstage situations seem more severe than they were as an attempt to attract more public interest to the company. This, teamed with making Dave Arquette WCW Champion and predictable storylines (DDP was betrayed by someone in three consecutive PPVs) ensured WCW survived Vince McMahon and went onto running top qua...what? It closed?

 

[onlytrevorhere]

I don't even know what to think now…most sources say it was all planned but Hardy is playing it as if it wasn’t planned.

It starts to make you think that the whole thing…from affair to now was staged. WWE would do anything for ratings…and this whole thing would bring in a **** lot of ratings. Hardy may have just played all his fans in my opinion.

 

[Chris]

Two things which struck me though.

1. Hardy got access to a microphone, and he wasn't restrained wheras Edge was. In reality, it should've been the other way around.

2. Instead of taking Hardy out through a side door, they took him up the ramp and to the backstage area. Again, I doubt they'd take a normal person to the backstage area.

Some could argue the interference itself would've been hard to accomplish, had it not been planned. But there have been times before, like when a fan pushed a ladder over in Benoit's return match a while ago.

 

[Owen]

If it was a work just get ratings (the whole thing I mean) it didn't work in my case.

I stopped watching WWE the moment they fired Hardy and bringing him back isn't what's needed to win me back.

If it was a work then I don't want to watch because it WAS a work and I'm disappointed in McMahon and the wrestlers involved. If it wasn't a work then I don't want to watch it WASN'T a work and i'm disappointed in the company for exploiting it and in Matt/Lita/Edge for their part in exploiting it.

 

[John Doe]

I say...**** 'em **** the WWE, **** Hardy, it's all stupid and gay. Not like FWC! HOOAH!

 

[TH]

It's a work. He's under WWE contract, and it's debatable whether he was even ever released.

Besides, if it wasn't, do you really think he would have been able to attack Edge on camera, or have those couple of minutes with a live microphone?

 

[EpyonMarx]

This part is definitely a work. Whilst he might have been able to attack Edge in a shoot, he wouldn't have been able to do it a second time in the same night. And he'd've been arrested for the assault. Him being taken backstage isn't that much of an indication - at these events the security office and holding area is backstage, and they'd rather get them there the quickest way possible than trying to drag them through the crowd.

The sad part about this whole thing is it was so predictable. As soon as I heard he'd been released, I thought something was going to happen, and when they played his music at the wedding, it made it clear what they were going to do. I've seen alot of columns which say Vince played the internet and fooled everyone, but it was so obvious I'm suprised they went through with this. Matt may have been released initially, but this... definitely very predictable, IMO.

 

[GARTHIsTheLaw]

I don't know about the predictability of it. I'll grant you that Matt Hardy getting re-signed right as his no-compete clause ran out is a bit sketchy, but for me personally, a lot of the stuff you mentioned (Lita joining forces with Edge, playing Matt's music at the wedding) just came off as WWE trying to get Edge over as a heel and, at the same time, tell the rabid Internet Whining Community to go fornicate with itself.

No matter which theory is right, though, this comes off as an experiment on WWE's part to test the mettle of the IWC. Will the people who constantly complain about WWE's programming actually follow through on their promises to stop watching? Will the people who do stop watching stick to their guns if/when Matt comes back? And (if this all HAS been a work) can the almighty IWC be fooled?

 

[Chris]

After hearing about a recent article with a comment from AJ Styles, I'm confused.

If Matt Hardy had resigned with the WWE, why would he take so many independant bookings? And why would he take them up until December?

It's debatable that WWE could just be letting Hardy work selected indepenant shows in order to play the angle. Recently, WWE's been trying to serve as an "insider" for apparent shoot situations (Blue Meanie/JBL, Brock Lesnar's return). To be honest though, resigning Hardy and allowing him to do six months worth of indy shows isn't a good idea, especially if they're doing it to play the situation off as a shoot.

Why? Well, for one thing alot of the momentum will have died down by November. Meaning a return for Hardy to WWE programming won't exactly boost the ratings.