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ROH Classic Feuds: Matt Hardy vs. the ROH fans

One of the most memorable wrestling backstage news stories of 2005 was the Matt Hardy-Lita-Edge affair. WWE released Hardy in April 2005 - while he was off the road with an injury - shortly after word got out that WWE women's wrestler Lita, Hardy's long-time real-life girlfriend, had been involved in a real-life affair with Edge (himself married at the time). Hardy publicized the sordid situation on his website and in numerous interviews. This drew fan attention to the situation and, three months later, Hardy got his job back with WWE to return and feud with Edge.

Hardy the Pirate Broadcaster

Before it was apparent that Hardy would be returning to WWE, ROH booked him to work three dates in summer 2005. I have long wondered what then-ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky planned to do with Hardy had Hardy not returned to WWE.

In the DVDs for the shows leading up to Hardy's debut, ROH ran short clips of him that he was supposedly beaming into the shows against ROH's will with some kind of pirate broadcasting technology. This had "Wrestlecrap" written all over it since Sapolsky apparently expected fans to believe that Hardy was cutting live into DVD releases when ROH could obviously edit out anything unwanted. However, we never got to see where this was actually going because Hardy re-signed with WWE before his first ROH appearance and ROH dropped the angle.

WWE allowed Hardy to fulfill his outside bookings after re-signing, so ROH went ahead with Hardy's three scheduled matches that summer with no further elaboration on the pirate broadcasts.

Hardy Mentions ROH on RAW

Hardy re-debuted on RAW on July 11, 2005, a few days before his first ROH date. WWE tried to portray the angle as a shoot, as though Hardy was not a WWE performer and was trespassing at Raw to attack Edge, but the execution was so choreographed that it was obviously an angle.

On the July 11 Raw, Hardy came through the crowd and attacked Edge in the ring after a bad match with Kane. After the two were separated, Hardy grabbed the ringside mic and cut a promo on Edge and Lita. One of the many logic holes in WWE's portrayal of this angle as a shoot was why the WWE television producers broadcasted a close-up of Hardy and did not cut his microphone during the promo.

WWE officials conveniently caught up to Hardy just after he finished his promo and, as they were dragging him away, he yelled into the mic: "Come see me in Ring of Honor, ROH!" I suppose this was meant to reinforce that the angle was a shoot, but nothing was going to save it at this point.

Hardy's ROH Debut

The following weekend, Hardy faced Christopher Daniels at ROH's Fate of an Angel event in Woodbridge, Connecticut. The match was the semi-main event before C.M. Punk's World Title defense against James Gibson (this was the middle of the red hot Summer of Punk angle, which I covered in this column.

Hardy got a great babyface reaction from the crowd, which he solidified by cutting a good basic promo putting over ROH. Since he was facing another babyface (Daniels had recently turned face), the crowd reaction during the match was split. The match itself was good, but not a classic by ROH's extremely high standards for in-ring work. Nevertheless, it was a good performance from Hardy considering he was just returning after a long injury layoff.

Amazingly, Sapolsky on commentary went along with the ridiculous WWE storyline by saying that Hardy was not a member of the WWE roster when he jumped Edge on Raw. Hardy got the win over Daniels when C.M. Punk interfered and hit Daniels with a chain while Hardy and the referee were not looking. The fans were not happy with the tainted finish, but still gave Hardy a respectful ovation.

The Fans Turn on Hardy

A month would go by before Hardy's final two ROH appearances, a weekend swing through Dayton, Ohio, and Chicago for Redemption and Punk: The Final Chapter. During that month, WWE kept trying to sell the ridiculous notion that the Hardy-Edge angle was a shoot. Hardy ruined his credibility with many fans by continuing to work the angle through his personal website. When this did not get over, WWE shifted gears and brought Hardy into Raw as a normal member of the roster to set up a Summerslam match with Edge.

By the time Hardy arrived in Dayton for Redemption, most of the ROH fanbase had turned on him. Sapolsky tried to manipulate the Dayton fans into giving Hardy a babyface reaction by putting him against Homicide (a top ROH heel at the time), having Hardy save babyface Jay Lethal from a beat down by Homicide and Low Ki, and having Hardy cut a babyface promo before the match. This got Hardy a few cheers at first, but most of the crowd quickly got behind Homicide with chants for him to "F- up" Hardy.

Like the Daniels match, the Hardy-Homicide match was good but not great. Hardy got another tainted win when Low Ki tried to throw Homicide a chain, but Jay Lethal came to ringside and got into a tug-of-war with Homicide over the chain. This distraction allowed Hardy to roll-up Homicide from behind for the win. The fans hated the finish and booed Hardy out of the building.

Hardy Puts Over Roderick Strong

The next night at Punk: The Final Chapter in Chicago, the fans were overwhelmingly anti-Hardy and greeted him with an array of hostile and vulgar chants. To his credit, Hardy dealt with it like a pro and gave the fans an excellent 20-plus-minute match against Roderick Strong that put over Strong very well. Hardy played off the heat from the crowd very effectively and made Strong look like a million bucks.

I have seen a lot of Hardy's work in the WWF/WWE and I rate this match against Strong as the best real wrestling match I have ever seen Hardy have (his classic gimmick matches in the 1990s are another category). It is the one match of Hardy's ROH run that reaches the level of a great ROH match.

Analysis

Sapolsky used Hardy well to put over Roderick Strong as a rising star. Giving Hardy tainted wins over Daniels and Homicide in his first two matches protected his opponents while giving Hardy enough momentum and credibility to make Strong's win in the end meaningful. Strong was just coming off a breakout singles match against C.M. Punk, and Hardy putting him over was a great way to continue his rise to main event status. By the end of the year, Strong would be headlining ROH shows in feuds against The Embassy and "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson.

I am convinced it was mostly the insulting angle with Edge that turned the ROH fans against Hardy, and not his actual performances. Hardy did ROH a great service the way he put over Strong and gave the fans a classic match in the process.

Show Recommendations

The Hardy-Strong match at Punk: The Final Chapter was excellent and well-worth buying. Only buy Hardy's other two appearances, Fate of an Angel and Redemption, if you are a huge Matt Hardy fan and seeing him outside the WWE intrigues you.

Footage of Hardy's re-debut on RAW is available on dailymotion.com. Hardy mentions ROH at the 2:07 mark.

PWTorch VIP members have first-look access to all of Torch ROH specialist Mike DeRosenroll's ROH-related blogs in the VIP Forum. His blogs are posted under the M2_Jay screenname.

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