The Best Of The Rest 12.17.08: Volume 69 – Jeff Hardy’s Title Win… Wow.

Hello all and welcome back to “The Best Of The Rest!” Hope all is well with everyone. Anyone else stoked as shit for the holidays? It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Well I was set to do one of my usual columns but sometimes material presents itself. At Armageddon John Cena won and Randy Orton lost so it was already a bad night, and then my favorite wrestler in the whole world won the WWE title… Jeff Hardy!!!! YAY!!! I’m sure his after party was something straight out of Motley Crue’s ’87/’88 tour. But anyway, anyone who knows me/reads my shit knows how I feel about Jeff Hardy but I’ll be damned he has earned himself an entire column. This week’s BOTR is all about Hardy’s road to the title, the title win, and why it won’t be worth two fucks and shit. So with that being said… LET’S GET DOWN TO IT!!!

First off I want to congratulate Jeff Hardy. Yes, it may come as a surprise to some but Jeff deserves some sort of props for reaching the title. Any man who sets out to achieve a goal and finally reaches it deserves some sort of pat on the back right? Well it was Jeff Hardy’s goal to reach the WWE title and by some grace of God he did. He set out to do it and never gave up, never let anything stand in his way. Did he give up when he got in hot water with the E due to bad behavior? No. Did he give up when he was fired from the E due to erratic behavior, drug use, refusal to go to rehab, poor ring performance, constant tardiness, and no-showing events? No. Did he give up when he received the worst reception an ROH audience has ever given someone? No. Did he give up after doing nothing more than piddling around in the 2nd string company(TNA)? No. Did he give up when not even TNA would give him a world title? No. Did he give up the first time TNA suspended him for no-showing? No. Did he give up the second time TNA suspended him for no-showing? No. Did he quit after the E gave him a second chance and he violated the “wellness” policy? No. Did he quit when he was in the middle of a huge push, set to win the MITB match at WrestleMania, and violated the “wellness” policy again? Fuck No! That’s not the Jeff Hardy way! The dude had a goal and let nothing stand in his way.

Now the fact that Jeff Hardy won the WWE title doesn’t speak poorly of the individual, but the company. Jeff deserves recognition because the company thought that he was the best person to put their stock in. That’s good for Jeff. But for Christ’s sake what does that say about the E? I don’t know of any wrestler that has been given more chances or been more unpredictable than Jeff Hardy and they fuckin’ reward the guy by putting the world title on him. If that belt still had prestige I would be more pissed, but the last ounce of prestige that title had was tossed out when they turned it into a fuckin’ spinner-whatever. Prestige would mean Hardy won the belt due to his ability, the honor he carries, and the respect he has not that he pushes merch and kids/teenage girls love him. The fact is the E is rewarding a guy who has blew his spot in the company before, blew his spot in the 2nd string company, and fucked up so bad everywhere else that he has rendered himself unless in the 3rd string company. I don’t know of any wrestler who was in the same situation before, then rewarded by the number one professional wrestling company in the world. The E is showing some serious balls by putting faith in someone less predictable than Axl Rose circa ’87. And yes I’ve made two hair-band references in one column.

So what is Jeff Hardy’s title reign going to be like? Well did you see AJ Styles’ title run in TNA or when Homicide won the ROH title? Well if you did you should know what you are in for. AJ, ‘Cide, Jeff it’s all the same (minus the fact that AJ and Homicide are great professional wrestlers). The fans love them and buy into them especially while their in the title hunt but when they reach the top the fans don’t really buy into anything anymore; they see no point in it. And if AJ and ‘Cide’s title reigns have taught us anything it’s that this won’t last long. If fact if Jeff makes it to the Rumble with the belt I will be shocked. I still, unfortunately, see an Edge-Hardy title match on tap for ‘Mania but with Edge going in as champ.

In conclusion, some people today compare Jeff to Mick Foley in regards to their style, career, and now their title wins. Well those people are wrong on the basis that Foley could actually tell a fuckin’ story. Some may see both as “spot monkeys” or what-have-you but Foley’s spots meant something and weren’t just for the sake of “wow.” Plain and simple Hardy doesn’t deserve the title, doesn’t deserve his push, his spot in the company, he doesn’t deserve to be in the top professional wrestling company in the world. What kind of message does this send about professional wrestling today? You have to wonder what Trips and Edge felt losing in this match seeing as how they have never done anything to jeopardize their spot yet the guy who won has been fired before and is one strike away from goodbye. This idea of this title reign is ridonkulous but no need to worry too much, it should last too long.

Well, that’s all for me this week.

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Take care and I’ll see you right back here next week.

-Alex