Instant Internet Reactions to Hardy/Orton "Bomb"

[Kevin Hamilton]

evilmasterbetty said:

randomranter said:

EDIT: And yes, I agree with the belief that the original plan was for Hardy to be nothing more than fodder for Orton on his way to headlining WM24 with HHH. Basically, the match probably started at about the same level as Hardcore Holly/Lesnar from a few years back. I just hope Vince sees the writing on the wall and has changed the game plan to accomodate fan reaction. If this ends up being a throw-away match and Jeff is pushed back down to the mid card, I will immediately nominate that booking decision for the 2008 Gooker award.

If you want evidence, just look at Edge/Cena from before WM 22. That feud was HOT. Everyone wanted to see the two of them go at it. But they rushed it just so HHH could wrestle Cena. Sadly, the same thing will happen here. Orton will cheat to win/get DQed at Rumble, they will have a rematch on RAW where Orton goes over. HHH will win the Rumble, hence getting a title match at WM.

I wish Hardy would be involved at WM in a title match. He's really stepped up his game and is cementing himself as a main eventer. Too bad WWE won't give him his shot.

I hope you're wrong, but until they show us otherwise, that's totally likely.

[Shy Guy]

eff the internet. i thought it was awesome.

[Kevin Hamilton]

tmizzle521 said:

eff the internet. i thought it was awesome.

All of it? That could take awhile. I'm not doing it, have you seen some of the skeezy stuff on the 'net?

But yeah, it got a holy shit from me, so I concur.

[Deleted]

andrewisgood said:

The JBL/Jericho angle is really good, with JBL talking to Jericho's kids (does he even have kids?)

Jericho has three kids: a son and twin daughters.

[Kevin Hamilton]

So at least it wasn't a Lennox Lewis/Tyson situation.

Tyson: I want your heart, I'll eat your children

Lennox: um, I don't even have kids.

[randomranter]

evilmasterbetty said:

If you want evidence, just look at Edge/Cena from before WM 22. That feud was HOT.

Edge/Cena was hot, but it was hot because people wanted "anybody but cena" to win. No disrespect to Edge (I've been a big fan of his since his debut 10+ years ago), but you could have put Funaki in that spot and got a decent reaction due to all the Cena hate.

Further, as hot as Edge/Cena was, it's a matchstick compared to the raging wildfire that is Orton/Hardy. I cannot remember the last time a feud was so hot that the entire rest of the card (including the main event) of one of the WWE's big 4 events was considered by many to be little more than an afterthought.

Everyone wanted to see the two of them go at it. But they rushed it just so HHH could wrestle Cena. Sadly, the same thing will happen here. Orton will cheat to win/get DQed at Rumble, they will have a rematch on RAW where Orton goes over. HHH will win the Rumble, hence getting a title match at WM.

You're probably right, and that's what I'm afraid of. Given WWE's nonsensical booking decisions, I can very easily see them passing up a sure-fire moneymaker and building up a long-term main eventer in order to force-feed us what they insist that we "really" want to see.

I wish Hardy would be involved at WM in a title match. He's really stepped up his game and is cementing himself as a main eventer. Too bad WWE won't give him his shot.

Sad but true. Right now, the WWE has an opportunity to cash in on Hardy's new-found popularity. The problem is, if they don't strike soon, they may not have the chance to strike at all. Hardy may be the next big thing, or he may be the flavor of the week. There's a chance that fans could move on to supporting someone else, or they may just "give up" on hardy, believing that if WWE isn't going to give him the opportunity, why should they? Or Hardy could be the breakout star of 2008 and beyond.

The time to strike is now. Give him a short term run with the belt. If he ends up being just a flash in the pan, then fine. Have him drop the belt and move him back down to the mid card. But if he can even sustain half of the popularity he's been developing over the past few months, then you've just found a brand new main-eventer that you can freshen up the upper-card with.

Even if he does end up being a flash in the pan, at least they'll have made some money while going along for the ride. And last time I checked, that's better than letting the opportunity pass you by.

[Agent P]

It wasn't as big of a Holy Shit moment for me as when Jeff backdropped Orton off the stage. That I didn't see coming. When Jeff started to climb up, you knew he sure as hell wasn't going to just climb back down.

[randomranter]

krazyeman said:

It wasn't as big of a Holy crap moment for me as when Jeff backdropped Orton off the stage. That I didn't see coming. When Jeff started to climb up, you knew he sure as hell wasn't going to just climb back down.

Not necessarily.

I could see him making it to the top of the tron, with JR screaming "OH MY GOD. WHAT WILL JEFF HARDY DO TO TAKE OUT ORTON?" as they fade to black. No jump. Just the last moment being an exaggerated variant of what we saw last week with Hardy standing at the top of the cage and staring Orton down.

I could see the referees getting in his way and preventing Hardy from jumping.

I could see any number of possibilities.

I was actually surprised he did jump. Not because Jeff Hardy jumped from the top of the Titantron, but because he did it on free television. I expected them to tease something like that on raw and have the actual jump at the RR itself.

[Hiroshi Hase]

WWE probably should give him a brief run with the belt to see how it goes, but I still see Orton retaining it after a close match.

[Metalheadbanger Man]

Yeah I was wondering if they're gonna do an even crazier Rumble spot. Jeff could climb up the stage set and Swanton him through a stack of tables or something like that. Crazy how over he is.

[BRAINFADE]

I so don't want WWE to screw this up, but im so afraid that they will so that they can build up Orton, just to make Trips look even better.

Also, consider this for a future feud, although it will never happen. Think of how awesome it would be if turned Cena HEEL on his return, and have him feud with Hardy over the belt?

[jmac950]

To be honest, I thought Hardy's bump (though impressive) was very uneccessary. The way the refs moved in right away seemed a ltitle cheesy. Honestly, after what happened the week before, it kind of takes away the bump. Cool spot, meh timing. It also kind of forces Hardy to raise the bar even more at the PPV. If he doesn't, are the fans going to poo poo on the match?

[rra]

"Jeff’s feud with Randy Orton is starting to remind me of Mick Foley’s feud with the Rock in 1999. That wasn’t planned to be a big program, but rather a feud to last until Austin vs. Rock. However, that was the feud that finally put Foley over the top as a headliner. They have similar momentum with Jeff Hardy, whose push has taken off better than any new main event push in years.

As such, I think you put Jeff over at the Rumble. I know that wasn’t the original plan, and you can have Orton and Jeff trade the title if you really want Orton as champion at WrestleMania. But it would be a real shame to waste this opportunity with Jeff, and having him win the title would send the message to skeptical fans that Jeff should be taken seriously at that level. WWE has struggled to create new stars in recent years, so they need to take advantage of this opportunity.

One final note on Jeff Hardy. The success of this push once again goes to show that fans in 2008 react to talent more than physique. WWE pushed Bobby Lashley twice as hard for about four times as long last year, and it didn’t take at all. Jeff’s push is really working, because he has charisma and is an exciting performer. Vince McMahon still has the size fetish, but WWE would be in better shape if Vince were bringing in the wrestling industry’s best performers (read: the lighter weight stars of ROH and TNA) rather than muscleheads and gimmicks."

-- Todd Martin, Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON)


You know, I never thought about the Hardy/Foley comparison before......and dangit, he might be actually right!

[Steveweiser]

It's so legendary, others are trying it...