Austin Aries: "I Want What You Have Jeff Hardy"

Disclaimer: This week I will be talking about the story TNA has decided to tell with Aries and Hardy heading into Bound For Glory (most of what I’ll say is in kayfabe but some of it might be real-life aspects as well), I will talk about the alleged “bribing” of Jeff Hardy by TNA in order to keep him, I will talk about a certain member of the TNA roster who stunningly has been very entertaining on the mic in recent months and some other miscellaneous things.

“I Want What You Have Jeff Hardy”

            That in a nutshell is the story that TNA has decided to tell in the Aries vs. Hardy BFG buildup and it is pitch-perfect. Online fans for years have craved for simplistic but logical stories to be told and this is as logical as it gets. Jeff Hardy is one of the most popular and well-known wrestlers in the history of Pro Wrestling. Jeff Hardy is an icon in this industry (yes he is regardless of the personal problems just like Shawn Michaels is) and is a wrestler all the smaller high fliers on the Indy scene aspire to be. Jeff Hardy is probably number 2 on the depth chart for most successful cruiserweight wrestler in pro wrestling history. (Jeff might be number 1 on the depth chart in terms of popularity) This is how Jeff Hardy is viewed by a lot of people and it took Jeff 13 years to get there.

            Now let’s look at the other side of the coin: Austin Aries in-ring skills are top-notch, his mic skills are top notch, he carries himself like a star, he doesn’t take shit from anybody (both in kayfabe and real-life), he is the TNA World Champion, he is a man who has lost a total of 2 matches in his 14 month second tour of duty in TNA and he is a man who feels that he is “The Greatest Man Whom Ever Lived”.

Yet who do the fans go apeshit for? Jeff Hardy (not Austin Aries). If you ask 100 casual wrestling fans who Jeff Hardy is, at least 95 of them will know exactly who he is. (And that might be an underestimate) If you ask those same 100 casual wrestling fans who is Austin Aries, would even 50 of them know who Aries is? I don’t think so. Jeff Hardy is a mainstream star. Jeff Hardy is a box-office draw. Jeff Hardy can look at himself in the mirror and undoubtedly label his career a success. Austin Aries is not a mainstream star, he is an Indy hero. (Look for him to bring this up in the next few weeks) Austin Aries is not a box-office draw because no one has given him this opportunity yet on this kind of stage (Aries was the opening match in all 3 ppvs TNA has had on the road since he returned to TNA last July) to be a box-office draw. Austin Aries has spent his entire career outside of the past 14 months on the Indies (His first TNA run was during TNA’s transition from Indy to mainstream) so it is quite possible that Austin can’t look at himself in the mirror and consider himself a success in this business. He even said that in the Destination X 2012 Before the Bell video that he was tired of the way “the business” had treated him and he was ready to get out of it for good. Austin Aries might think beating Jeff Hardy on the grandest stage of them all (in TNA kayfabe) will begin Aries ascent into supplanting Hardy as …… well all the labels I gave Hardy in the first paragraph.

Austin Aries is on a path to glory and Crossfire predicts it will work out gloriously for Austin. This is not the uninspiring babyface white meat story they did with Roode last year. This is not a clear-cut heel story for Aries and it isn’t a clear-cut babyface story with Aries. This is a story where the FANS can choose which side they want to root for: Hardy’s redemption story or Aries wanting the recognition he feels he deserves story. Hell fans can side with Hardy just because they don’t like the new and jealous Austin Aries character. This is also a story/match where the outcome is up in the air as Hardy has a history of putting over an indy Hero transitioning into a mainstream talent (CM Punk in 2009) and TNA has a history of putting the big name talent over at BFG (the only exception being 2009 with Styles defeating Sting). Kudos TNA as you have peaked Crossfire’s interest in Hardy vs. Aries.

“Jeff Hardy Given a Main Event Push So He’ll Resign With The Company” Haven’t We Read This Exclusive Before?

            Does anybody remember the summer of 2009? I know as TNA fans that summer was a summer to forget but over on Smackdown the summer of 2009 was spectacular. Morrison, Jericho, Mysterio, Edge (till he got injured), Punk and Jeff Hardy was putting on a magnificent show on a weekly basis. As the summer wore on, it was said (on the internet) Jeff Hardy’s contract was nearing expiration. Dave Meltzer ran a number of stories talking about WWE booking Jeff as a main eventer the last few months of his run as a way to convince him to stay. Hell the only reason Hardy won at Night of Champions 2009 was so him and Punk could have a blow-off at Summerslam and Hardy only signed the short extension so WWE can have that feud end at a Big-4 show and to swerve the smark audience. (I still maintain WWE should’ve given Hardy another short contract and had the blow-off in an I Quit match at Breaking Point where the loser actually quits the WWE.)

Yet despite all those main event pushes to “convince” Jeff to stay with WWE, Jeff still left. So why would TNA “ruin” the BFG plans just to try and convince a man who has left a wrestling company when he was at the top of that fed before? Why would TNA have to bribe a man to stay in their fed when it is “certain” (well ask some dirtsheet writers and some TNAsylum posters) that the WWE wouldn’t have any interest in Jeffrey Nero Hardy? Oh I know why, they needed some website hits so they copy and pasted this old insider news and just switched some names around. That is some top-notch journalistic reporting by Wrestling Observer.

I Guess TNA Changed Their Plans, Right Dirtsheets

            Dirtsheets got another news story wrong as the TV Title is not dead but rather defunct for about a month since TV Champ left the company last month. TNA announced on Impact Thursday that a new champ will be crowned next Thursday night. It is quite sad how often they are wrong these days and it’s even sadder when you see certain people (on the site as well as the rest of the internet) still swear by these guys. I can only hope to have that loyalty from my clients who trust me to do their taxes even if I screw up often. (See Crossfire is an accountant outside the TNAsylum Universe)

Who Knew Kazarian Had This Character In It?

            Frankie “Kaz” Kazarian has always been described as a great wrestler but he was also described as duller than dull on the mic and a dull personality in general. That’s usually why every push he got in TNA eventually stalls out as he can’t keep the fans interested in him and his push gets stopped. In 2012, Kazarian turned heel and became allies with Christopher Daniels and my god this duo has been top-notch entertainment ever since. In the ring, they are excellent but the mic work has been exceptional and Kaz deserves a fair amount of credit for that.

Watch their TNA Today with JB on Youtube and you would be shocked at how outrageously funny Kazarian is. Watch the duo’s interaction with Sting and/or Hogan in backstage vignettes on Impact and Kazarian more than holds his own with 3 of the top mic workers in TNA. People have been praising Daniels and rightfully so but Kaz deserves praise and so this paragraph is dedicated to Kazarian’s awesomeness in 2012. He entered 2012 as a guy who was on Crossfire’s “Please Future Endeavor list” and he will be leaving 2012 on Crossfire’s “Please Push to the Main Event list” for 2013. Kudos to you Kazarian, you have shined in 2012 both as a wrestler and as a wrestling personality.