Tag Archives: Impact Wrestling

High-flying Jeff Hardy looks for a new beginning in TNA at Turning Point

When Jeff Hardy made his Impact Wrestling return on Spike TV recently, there was an overwhelmingly positive response from the audience. Considering that his last outing with Total Nonstop Action was a 90-second loss to Sting in the main event at Victory Road last March (not to mention he had turned his back on the fans just months before by joining Immortal), the fact that he was welcomed back so quickly might be a bit of a surprise. But I suppose surprises come with the territory when talking about “The Charismatic Enigma.” As he heads into a marquee match against Jeff Jarrett this Sunday at Turning Point, Hardy takes a moment to talk to Wrestling with Pop Culture about his return, how he’s preparing for the pay-per-view and more.

Courtesy Impact Wrestling

I was at the Impact Wrestling TV tapings in Macon, Ga. a couple of weeks ago, where you got another very positive response from the crowd. What were your expectations coming back to TNA? Were you surprised to have gotten such a positive response?

Not at all. I’ve been fortunate to have such support from the fans, even going back to when I first came back in Knoxville. I’ve always been real fortunate with that and I think I’ve always given the fans a lot, so I always get a lot in return. I think people have respect for me. Macon was great. It’s really good to get out of the Impact Zone every now and then to get to these fresh, bigger crowds, especially for TV tapings, so I think it was phenomenal.

It looks like you haven’t missed a step, but how has it felt to be back in a TNA ring?

I’ve been doing really well. We just got back yesterday from doing four live events in Michigan, Dayton, Ohio and Canada and we had four great shows. Physically, I’m in really good shape. I run every morning, I work out more than I probably ever have in my whole life, so everything’s extremely positive and I think that’s playing a big part in the way I feel in the ring. I feel awesome. Each match I’ve had since I’ve been back has felt really good. I’m excited about my future.

Before you returned to the ring, it seemed like there was a lot of hesitation in the locker room to accept you back. Do you feel like the rest of the roster is being more supportive now that you’ve proven yourself in the ring again?

I think so. Naturally, it was questionable coming back to a lot of the guys. It takes a while. I had decided that for the next year, I’m going to do whatever it takes to prove myself to these guys. I think it’s happened faster because I’ve been feeling really good and I think I’ve proved myself to everybody. The shows are great, I’ve been feeling great and I think that forgiveness has pretty much happened. We’re on an extreme roll in TNA and, like I said, I’m very excited about the future.

Courtesy Impact Wrestling

Going into Turning Point this Sunday, you’re facing Jeff Jarrett. When you were last in TNA, you were part of Immortal with Jeff Jarrett. With all that’s gone on since then with you, Immortal and TNA, what do you think you have to prove in this match and how are you preparing for it?

I think that’s real simple. It’s going to be challenging out there in the ring with Karen at his side, that’s for sure. But I beat him and that’s pretty much it as far as I’m concerned. I think I’ll prove something to him by beating him in the middle of the ring in my first actual match back at a pay-per-view. So I’ll beat him in the middle and see what happens.

Anything can happen out there. I’ve been to a lot of live events preparing for this match, but the couple of loops I’ve been on Jeff Jarrett hasn’t been there. So I might be at a little bit of a disadvantage. I’ve been doing a few more shows while he’s been resting up, but I’m going in there confident and I’m going to do what I always do and hopefully get the 1-2-3. But I feel better than I have in a long time in the ring, so I’m just going to try not to injure myself, but at the same time be entertaining in beating Jeff Jarrett.

AJ Styles is ready to move up or move on in TNA

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By Jonathan Williams

Before he became a “Phenomenal” standout star in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, AJ Styles made an equally impressive debut at National Championship Wrestling and NWA Wildside, a Georgia-based National Wrestling Alliance promotion (now known as NWA Anarchy) that has been the breeding ground for numerous other professional wrestling talents such as Abyss, Gunner, R-Truth, New Jack, Evan Bourne and Jimmy Rave. With TNA returning to Georgia this Wednesday for an Impact Wrestling taping in Macon, I spoke to Styles last week in an interview for my new Georgia Wrestling History radio show, Georgia Wrestling Now.

Courtesy Impact Wrestling

In the interview, which will air in its entirety tonight, Styles seems frustrated by the direction his career (and TNA as a company) has been going as of late. Though he seemed poised to carry the company to new heights as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion early last year (as the Hulk Hogan/Eric Bischoff regime assumed power of TNA), he has since fallen to mid-card status while Fortune stablemates Robert Roode and James Storm have become title contenders.

Despite his victory over Christopher Daniels at Bound for Glory earlier this month, as well as Dixie Carter’s return to power in TNA (thanks to Sting‘s victory over Hogan at Bound for Glory) and Storm‘s TNA World Heavyweight Championship victory over Kurt Angle on last week’s Impact Wrestling, Styles does not seem optimistic about TNA right now.

For someone who has held every men’s title in TNA (many on multiple occasions), Styles says there is someone who “still says I don’t possess whatever ‘it’ is.” And whether he’s receiving the ire or accolades of the fans, Styles says his main goal is to entertain them as best he can.

Courtesy Impact Wrestling

“I prefer, first and foremost, that the fans are entertained by me,” he says. “I believe they like to watch me wrestle, so I guess that kind of makes me a good guy. But in the end it’s not me who decides what the fans want; it’s the fans who decide that. That’s the most important thing. That’s how it should be done and hopefully that’s how we’ll do it here in TNA. I’m sorry, Impact Wrestling. I don’t even know anymore. Do I say TNA Impact Wrestling or do I say Impact Wrestling TNA? I’m just going to say Impact Wrestling to go on the safe side.”

Tune in tonight at Blogtalkradio.com/psp to hear the entire interview. And catch Styles at the Macon Coliseum this Wednesday and on Spike TV on Thursday.

For more information, go to www.ajstyles.org or www.impactwrestling.com.

“Enigma” highlights the charisma and chaos of TNA’s Jeff Hardy

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Prior to his recent return to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Jeff Hardy‘s last appearance in a TNA ring was in the main event of Victory Road last March. Considering that he didn’t come anywhere close to defeating Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and, instead, was pinned in less than two minutes in what will likely always be considered one of the company’s most embarrassing moments, it might seem unwise for TNA to release a two-disc set celebrating Hardy’s most recent stint with the company.

Enigma: The Best of Jeff Hardy, Volume 2, however, is actually a good reminder of Hardy’s accomplishments prior to Victory Road. From interviews with childhood friends and peers such as Kurt Angle, Sting and brother Matt Hardy to footage of Jeff at home with his artwork, dirt bike and baby daughter, Enigma shows the seemingly down-to-earth guy behind the makeup and mishaps. More importantly, the DVD set features some of Hardy’s best matches in TNA, as well as footage of his 2004 debut at the Asylum against AJ Styles, his return on the Jan. 4, 2010 and his first match back with the company last March (again against Styles in an impressive non-title victory over the then-TNA Champion).

Enigma chronicles Hardy’s climb to the top of TNA’s ladder (literally, in some instances) as he teams, then feuds, with Mr. Anderson, has a great series with Angle that includes some incredible matches with awful endings, reunites with Matt and becomes the TNA Champion after his ultimate heel turn at last year’s Bound for Glory. Though his inclusion in Immortal (like so many other things about that faction) seems a bit nonsensical, the fact that he was actually able to achieve his greatest success since returning to TNA despite the egos of Immortal’s other members (and that horrendous custom title belt) says a lot about Hardy’s charisma in and out of the ring.

The DVD concludes with two of his best TNA matches to date; a ladder match against Anderson at Against All Odds where Hardy regained the TNA title and the March 3 Impact! match against the returning Sting, in which Sting defeated Hardy for the title. Both of these matches happened just weeks before that other match against Sting at Victory Road, which makes Hardy’s inevitable fall from grace that much harder to accept. Of course, this being a “Best of” DVD, that match is not included. And as evidenced by what is included in this collection, including an amusing episode of his Internet-based The Hardy Show (as well as the positive fan reaction Hardy has received since his return to TNA in recent weeks), Hardy clearly has plenty more to offer as long as his self-destructive risks are limited to athletic displays rather than reckless ones. Let’s just hope his current run results in a third volume rather than another public spectacle.