By Shane McKinley, PWTorch Specialist

SMACKDOWN: September 12, 2008

The Jeff Hardy Saga And A Whole Lot Of Observations

What a weird show. It was the type of show that after the end I was not sure how I felt. But let us start with the big news of the night Jeff Hardy is the new #1 contender for the WWE title. The opening of the show was something that I did not know where the hell WWE was going. There was a sign in the audience that said Triple H vs. Warrior at Wrestlemania. I have seen Warrior matches, and man, did he ever stink in the ring. No wonder why Andre the Giant once lost to Warrior in about 20 seconds. Warrior in an actual match would expose him as all hype and no substance. Warrior was the definition of overhype.

Triple H comes out and it turns out to be comedy hour. "That scramble match was one of the most difficult matches I have ever been in my life" states Triple H. Even though he was the last guy in. And had to wrestle a grand total of five minutes. It was one of those hyperbole statements that even Triple H did not believe but he said it anyway. They knew that what they were pointing out was false but they did not care, because the crowd cheered all the same. It does not matter what he said, as long as it got over. The smugness was coming off in waves. Maybe it was said to piss people off. Who knows. I do know that when wrestlers stop caring about their craft and are so flippant with the remarks, it only hurts the business, not wrestling fans. So I say the more absurd the statements, the better. It makes me smile.

Then Jeff Hardy came out and they both started to talk about how each one respected the other. Sickening, I know. The sarcasm was coming in massive tidal waves. Triple H says that Jeff Hardy "dances to the beat of his own drum". Which means "you are a freak". You thought that Joe and Nash were awkward? The writers mostly believe that fans hold a grudge against Triple H because of DX, married to Stephanie, etc. I do not hold it against him and frankly do not agree with people who hate on him because of these things. Triple H is one of the best damn wrestlers in the world. There is no denying that.

But when I pointed out that Triple H was the Prince of Pricks last week, that was an observation from what I witnessed. As a fan I felt that his promos were largely counter-productive and put himself cooler and bigger than all of the other guys. Wrestling fans harp on Cena, Triple H, JBL, Mike Adalme, Kevin Nash, and others because there have been too many examples of one guy ruing the wrestling experience for everybody. Three letters: WCW. This is only a modern day example. There have been countless examples of one guy, one group, one faction destroying the experience of wrestling for fans and wrestlers alike. As wrestling fans we need to sound off on a wrestler if we do not like their character, their wrestling style, or their promos. We do this in hope that the wrestling company will take a step back, look of what is not working, and re-tune it so that fans can enjoy the product once again. Writers can write all of the darn material they think is gold, but if the fans cannot connect with it, then it is just a waste.

When I write that Triple H looked like a prick, I do not say "Paul looked like a prick tonight". It would make no sense for me to say that RVD is a horrible person because he got busted for carrying weed in real life or that MVP is a degenerate because he spent time in prison in real life. Does it anger and depress me when a wrestler commits a horrible act in real life? Or when backstage rumors swirl around of the person being reckless and irresponsible? Yes. But I try my best to not hold it against them, or take away what they do/did in the ring. I thought that Kevin Nash was great on Impact, even though I know there are stories about his bad attitude, past and present. It is when both the wrestler and the person playing the wrestler are a bad apple that they need to go. What I am trying to point out is that fans know that there is a difference between a person and his/her wrestling character. What I can question and criticize is how the wrestler is presented. I sure hate the character of Mike Adalme, but do I really hate the real Mike Adalme? Of course not. Do I think it is pretty sad that he still has a job? Yep. But I do not hate the real life Mike Adalme. Wrestlers have to sacrifice a massive amount to entertain fans around the world. I do not really know the people behind the wrestlers, and when fans criticize or praise a wrestler, in large part it is nothing personal. It is business. It is simply replying to the product presented. The characters are presented in a certain way and fans react to the character in a positive or negative light. Of course, we are talking about the majority of fans here.

You know why people are sounding off against Joe and Sting? Because there are parts of their characters that do not make any sense and frankly do not work. As wrestling fans giving our opinion is something that we cannot really do in the NFL or the NBA. Fans can almost fully understand the entire machine that is the NFL, NBA, MMA, or any other major sport. Wrestling is one of those things that for fans (and wrestlers alike, in my opinion) that you can spend your whole life emotionally invested in and study it till death and you will still not know all of the inner workings. Because it is one of those things that has layers upon layers. Fans can give predictions, observations, rants, praises and complaints, but no fan in their right mind can claim to know everything about wrestling. Of what is the absolute right way to do things. However, fans can give observations of feuds/angles/wrestlers/writing/execution by using previous examples of what worked, common sense, and gauging how much they can connect with the product. Of what they would like to see and what might work. I chide TNA for those beauty pageant bits on Impact, but if they do well in the ratings, were they really a failure? Actually yes they would, but you get my point. Often wrestling fans will not look at the big picture and instead focus solely on the present.

It is my opinion that no wrestler is above criticism. It is true that nothing is ever good enough for wrestling fans. That we spend all of our time complaining and moaning. However, do wrestling companies know that wrestling fans have witnessed more disasters and blunders than all of the Hollywood flops? That for one excellent match that entertains and motivates us unlike anything us in the world, there are at least ten cruddy matches that are embarrassing to watch? That my friends say that I should have stopped watching wrestling when I was older than 12? And that wrestler's egos can be hugely massive and detrimental to the business?

These thoughts were running through my mind as Triple H and Jeff Hardy took their inside shots at each other: "When you get to No Mercy, you will prove me right". The nice thing about WWE is that they will not just hand off the championship to anyone. Last week I felt that Triple H was pushing himself and making his four buddies look like chumps. That is how I saw things. Tonight was interesting to say the least because it might as well been WWE saying to Jeff, "Why should we trust you with the gold? You jumped ship to TNA. You got busted once and made us look bad. You said in one of our magazines, 'Give me the damn cup. I will gladly fill it'. We set you up with Randy Orton at Royal Rumble. And then you messed up again. Why should we trust you? Prove to us that you will not screw up again". I can say with honesty that this interaction between Triple H and Jeff made perfect sense. But man, was it ever awkward.

So how hard is the road going to be for Jeff to get heavyweight gold? I think it will damn be near impossible. Shelton Benjamin could have easily been the #1 contender instead, given the amount of love he is getting from WWE lately (he is the only wrestler I know in both WWE and TNA today that gets a camera promo before every one of his matches). Is Jeff Hardy going to win the title at No Mercy? Are you kidding me? There is no way in hell. I am of the opinion that I am not ready to believe him as champion. Compare Jeff's Royal Rumble hype, coming back about three months ago, add in the fact that Punk before becoming world champion was having great matches night in and night out, and it is still too early. But man, if he did one day become world champion, what a story it would be. Because in my mind that would define what a world champion is. There would be so many obstacles to overcome and people to prove wrong for Jeff. I am rooting for him immensely because I have seen this man take suicidal and daring risks. Hell, just contrast the characters of Triple H and Jeff Hardy. They both present a different view of what a wrestler is.

Though I do not know why the hell Kozlov was attacking Jeff Hardy at the end of the show. If it is just a separate incident meant to push Kozlov, then I am really confused. Kozlov here looked bigger than Jeff, and that is bad. If this was meant just to have Kozlov and Jeff fight for next week, then it would be both sad and depressing. However if it goes the normal wrestling route (i.e. Triple H becomes a heel) then it would make sense. One angle could be that Triple H sent Kozlov to test Jeff. WWE could use the energy and emotion that fans feel for both Triple H and Jeff to their advantage. One could argue that the seeds have been already planted for such a heel turn. However I simply do not know what route WWE will take.

The opening promo was filled with so many inside references that it did not feel like a standard wrestling promo. It was uncomfortable yet at the same time riveting. Smackdown's main storyline right now is Jeff Hardy vs. the WWE. How much is the WWE going to push Jeff? In what direction? What will they throw his way? How will his character be portrayed? When the show ended I was left with a lot of questions. A lot of my questions are inside related, and I am curious just to see what direction they will go with in the following weeks. I really hope that Jeff does make it, but it is going to be a long, hard road.

Pushing New Faces and MVP Says The Same Old Thing

Because the Edge-Vickie storyline has really died off quickly, I am starting to think that the pendulum is beginning to shift over to Raw. I think the aura of Edge and Vickie was so great that it sort of blinded me from the truth: Triple H has no real contenders for the title other than Undertaker, and Undertaker is involved now with Big Show. So I do like what they are starting to do now, which is pushing other guys. Brain Kendrick is getting over with the fans. Shelton Benjamin is looking huge right now. Kozlov got some love as well as Kenny Dysterka.

I like what they did with Carlito as well. I was a pretty loud drummer for hoping to never see Carlito wrestle a match on Raw again, but it was good to see him back. Maybe it was because he shaved his goat goatee, or actually looked motivated to be in the ring. Good move also to put Primo Colon aside him. Face it, the tag team champions Ryder and Hawkins are a joke. They are pretty horrendous in the ring (rookies in a sense) so good move in making the near worthless tag team title belts a bit more important.

Sadly MVP's character suddenly got stale quickly. I'm the highest paid person in Smackdown history blah blah blah. He says that tired line like it was going out of style. But you do not win matches, dude. And WWE suddenly dropped the MVP-Hardy feud like it was rotten fish. I did like what they did with Triple H, with him going around to his other three buddies and making chit-chat. I understand that they did this for ratings, but one could argue that these three guys (Benjamin, Kendrick, MVP) got some hype by just being shown talking to Triple H. Triple H was better handled tonight, though I must admit that his hyperboles about the PPV at the start of the show was tough to digest.

SMACKDOWN'S FINAL VERDICT: Very Absurd

The most engaging (and troubling) bit of the night was the "Brass Ring" promo by Triple H and Jeff. R-Truth is either going to be a hit or miss in the WWE. There has just not been a lot for me to make a judgment about him. Big Show's heel turn interview was good and concise. Kenny Dysterka is now in the basement of Festus or something. Kozlov got some love here (indeed he looks brutal). Ryder and Hawkins looked real bad. The main event was nonstop clunky action. It was even worse than a usual ECW or TNA main event. Kozlov attacking Jeff at the end of the show left me confused, yet somewhat intrigued into what road WWE decides to go down.

LEAVING YOU WITH MY ABSURD THOUGHT: You think Chris Jericho is going to listen to Metallica's new album that is out? Who was bigger in WWE, Cyndi Lauper or Limp Bizkit? And to repeat, who the hell is Frank Trigg?

"The Absurdity of it All" will appear every Wednesday and Saturday. Email is mckinley.torch@gmail.com.

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