Does Jeff Hardy Deserve a Title Shot?

Andrew Sroka — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:34:05 -0400

You remember the exciting Jeff Hardy, the swanton off everything one? I miss him. Last year, building up to the Royal Rumble, I had never been so excited for one professional wrestler. Jeff Hardy was showing his true colors, he was decent on the mic, and every night on Raw for a month giving us jaw-dropping finishes to conclude the show.

He was obviously getting the push of his career and deserved it. WWE saw the support Hardy was gaining during his big push and ran with it. At the Rumble, Hardy lost but looked good and I thought a title had just been put into his future. Jeff Hardy then took his opportunity and killed it, so I thought.

Hardy was caught with marijuana and had to serve a 60-day suspension, second offense. Six months later, Hardy is in pursuit of his second major push. This time it looks like he has really impressed WWE officials enough to give him a belt.

I do believe he will get the WWE Championship at No Mercy but is it deserved?

For starters, I would like WWE to start building to this match like they did for Jeff in his last push. The build here has been pretty lame but there are more weeks to come so i'll give them the benefit of the doubt they will start that soon.

I think that Hardy is a completely different person than six months ago, even down to his entrance music. To me, Hardy is no longer a stuntman but a typical wrestler who may deserve a belt one way or the other. The excitement of the charismatic enigma has left me for reasons unknown.

I will cheer for Jeff if he does obtain his long awaited major championship but it will not be the same seeing as I've seen two different Jeff Hardy's in the last six months.

Don't get me wrong I would love to see Jeff with the belt, but I expected to see a match of the year contender with some non-stop action, I doubt we'll see that. Those weeks of Raw before the '08 Rumble were the most exciting I had seen in awhile, and I wish Hardy obtained the belt in a way that was deserving but it just seems like WWE is giving him the belt because the fans would love to see it.

Chris Jericho Steals Unforgiven With Surprising Scramble Victory

Andrew Sroka — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:36:13 -0400

Earlier that night at WWE's Unforgiven pay-per-view, Chris Jericho was absolutely taken care of by Shawn Michaels in an unsanctioned match. Jericho lost the match and was left in a bloody mess in the ring when it was all said and done.

Later that night, Randy Orton, who seemingly has a problem with CM Punk, legend kicked Punk to a concussion deeming him unable to compete and defend his title in the five-man World Heavyweight Championship Scramble match. Raw General Manager Mike Adamle was put into a situation where he had to replace CM Punk with a worthy combatant from Raw.

During the World Heavyweight Scramble match after the first four superstars entered the ring, Batista, Kane, JBL, and Rey Mysterio, the tension was building as no one knew who would be the fifth, and final, combatant. As Jericho's music hits everyone was stunned, but at the same time believed he had no chance as he limps to the ring.

Jericho enters the ring with adversity but is knocked out of the ring by the Animal, Batista. At this point in the match Batista is the current champion with 10 seconds to go. Batista gives Kane a signature spinebuster and is then distracted by the other superstars. Out of no where comes the injured Chris Jericho.

Five seconds remain on the clock as Jericho pins Kane with a one-two-three and two seconds remain as Batista can only watch Jericho become World Heavyweight Champion right in front of the Animal's eyes.

Chris Jericho had stolen the show and become champion and was not even a scramble competitor at the start of the night. The next day on Raw, Mike Adamle gave Batista a non-title match, Jericho in disgust argues that the match is unfair as he is not at full-health. Adamle hears Jericho and makes the match a two-on-one handicap match, Chris Jericho and Lance Cade will take on Batista.

During the match Jericho can hardly fight but when Cade hits Batista illegally, Jericho from behind, rolls up Batista for a pin, and a win. Before the match, Mike Adamle announced that CM Punk will get an oppourtunity to win back the World Heavyweight Championship in a steel-cage match next week on Raw, facing Chris Jericho.

It is good to see Chris Jericho back as champion, and the better news is he's a heel, and he is a phenomenal heel at that. It will be fun to see what WWE wants to do with Jericho's run because there are so many paths they can take. I truly am excited for this move though and will give me another reason to tune into Raw next week.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Andrew Sroka

Does Jeff Hardy Deserve a Title Shot?

Chris Jericho Steals Unforgiven With Surprising Scramble Victory