It's not about you!

Coffee Table Thoughts 19: It’s not about you!

Like a Phoenix bird.

Sometimes in life, we have to endure those incidents and moments which define us. Sometimes those moments can be so damaging that we can’t forget them for rest of our lives. I am specifically talking about the bad moments when we embarrass ourselves by our deeds for the whole world to see.

I know I have had them. And those memories will remain with me for the rest of my life.

There is one wrestler in particular who had that embarrassing moment not a long while ago. He fell down when he was on the top of the world, with all the spotlights on him. He became the talk of the town. I am sure what hurt him more were not the words that berated him but the silence that disapproved of him.

I am talking about one Jeff Hardy. At Victory Road 2011 pay per view offering by TNA, Jeff Hardy was involved in a match for TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Sting. And from the moment his theme music started to play for the first time in the night up until the time the show ended, he embarrassed himself. He had come to the ring intoxicated seemingly unable to walk properly let alone to wrestle properly. Those 3-4 minutes will stay in his mind forever and most probably in the memory of us wrestling fans too.

In hindsight, though, I think there couldn’t have been a better thing to happen to Jeff Hardy.

See, it wasn’t for the first time that Jeff Hardy was intoxicated. He had his issues with the alcohol and the substance abuse before too. He was even suspended from WWE for a Wellness Policy violation and speculation was running rampant that he had left WWE because he didn’t want another Wellness Policy violation.

Jeff Hardy had probably been in the similar physical state before this incident in TNA as well. But those incidents remained far removed from the public eye. But what Victory Road 2011 did to him was to throw him down to the very rock bottom. He didn’t have an option after that night. The whole world was disappointed by him and there were no more excuses left.

As CM Punk would say, he was naked in the middle of the ring for the whole world to see.

He could have either stayed with his demons or continued on with life wrestling for smaller organisations. There are many such examples in the wrestling profession. Or, he could have made an effort to better his life and fight these substance abuse issues.

For a while, it seemed that Jeff Hardy had gained control over himself and his issues and was on way to being normal again. He was, therefore, brought back to TNA.

I liked how TNA had handled Jeff Hardy’s return. He wasn’t thrust down in the ring directly. He wasn’t inserted into a high profile storyline. He wasn’t thrown into the World Title scene. He came out in the ring, told everyone that he had made a fool out of himself and he had disappointed everyone. He said that he was sorry and asked for forgiveness and another chance.

For weeks, Jeff Hardy kept meeting the other members of the roster and personally apologised to each one of them. Some handled it well, some not. He took everything on the chin. AJ Styles made one apt comment that as long as he and Hardy goes, there will never be a right time to talk. This comment actually reflected most of the sentiment felt by us wrestling fans that Jeff Hardy had been given too many opportunities in this industry and simply doubted his efforts this time around. We were not sure whether he had turned his life around for better or were the issues going to surface again.

Ever since his return, Jeff Hardy has worked hard and kept his head clean. It has been over a year that he has returned and none of the issues that were common for him in the early days have come to light in his latest stint with the company.

During this one year, sure he has been put in the high profile feuds. Sure, he has been given the shot at the World Heavyweight championship. But he hasn’t been trusted with the World Championship thus far.

But now, after over a year of presence in the TNA, at Bound for Glory, Jeff Hardy will challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship and on that night all the spotlight will be on him again. It can turn out to be a golden opportunity for him to regain everything that he lost on that fateful night and take a final step to redemption.

Yes sir, it’s all very beautiful. But you know what? It isn’t solely about Jeff Hardy.

It is also about one Austin Aries.

Here is the guy that has paid his dues for all his wrestling life. He is the only wrestler in the world to have obtained the ROH World Championship twice. He gets called the absolute best thing going in wrestling for quite some time. He has been lauded with praises for all the time he has been on the public eye. He is an IWC hero.

And yet, for all his accomplishments and accolades, he couldn’t even manage to get qualified for Tough enough of the WWE!

Austin Aries is a big fish in a small pond and that’s what he has been for most of his wrestling career. He had been the focal point of ROH for a long time and had even been a member of the TNA roster for some time capturing the X-Division championship on multiple occasions. But for all intents and purposes, he was still, just a small league player.  

It is only in his latest TNA run, for a little more than a year that he has truly achieved all the potential that he had. He started off with a heel run and an X-Division championship reign. He brought the prestige back to the X-Division when it needed and in comparison to him, the rest of the division felt like an Indy fed.

He constantly provided great matches and added so much to his character that he became the highlight of TNA programming. He wasn’t supposed to be anything more than a Veteran who was holding his position so that eventually he can give rub to some rookie wrestler.

But in this entire process, he became so good that people started liking him no matter what. He was turned face because of this and placed in some entertaining feuds to take benefit of his rising popularity. And the popularity kept rising, the performances kept getting better.

Eventually when the Bound for glory series began, and there was no one that could feud with the then reigning champion, Bobby Roode, he was presented with an opportunity. He was asked to give up his X-Division championship in order to get a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

It was a risky move. He could end up losing everything that he had earned and become nothing more than a Douglas Williams. He took on the risk and gave up his X-Division championship to fight against probably the greatest TNA World Heavyweight Champion of all time in the middle of the most epic TNA World Heavyweight Championship reign of all time.

Everyone assumed that the match was created just to pass the time. Bobby Roode was being kept busy for the time being, so as to keep him ready for whoever eventually wins the Bound for glory series.

And how wrong they were! Austin Aries not only beat Bobby Roode to finally win the real big one, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but he also successfully defended his Championship and removed Bobby Roode from the title contention.

But what now? How long is this reign expected to last? Does Austin Aries stand a chance against Jeff Hardy and his momentum? Is he even in the same league as Jeff Hardy?

To be exact, No, Austin Aries is not in the same league as Jeff Hardy.

You see, Austin Aries gets the cheers of the audience. The people love him. But people love Jeff Hardy even more. When they are both in the ring, it becomes absolutely clear that Jeff Hardy is their preferred choice. It all becomes very clear that Austin Aries was given a Thank You run with the World Heavyweight championship. Jeff Hardy would like to take the last step to his triumphant story and gain the ultimate prize, the World Heavyweight championship. Austin has with him what Jeff Hardy wants.

But at the same time, Austin Aries wants something that Jeff Hardy has with him. You see, even after winning the Big Gold, Austin Aries hasn’t reached that upper echelon of players. He is a star, but he is not a superstar. And if he loses the belt this October, he probably would never get a chance to regain that glory.

At bound for glory, every eye will be set on Jeff hardy. And if on that night, Austin is able to beat Jeff and retain the World Heavyweight Championship; his place will be cemented in the history. He will finally gain everything that he yearns for – the belt, the glory, the name, the respect, the money and the fans that never leave him and follow him like sheep.

Jeff needs this win to conclude a revival journey. But Austin needs this win to reach that spot that is called Main-Eventer.