Hardy costs himself Wrestlemania slot

Talk about throwing it all away, Jeff Hardy has caused his own twist of fate in the midst of what was a monster push to the top of his profession, getting suspended for 60 days for his second violation of the WWE substance abuse policy which could leave his career as a literal whisper in the wind.

Hardy was forced to drop the Intercontinental Championship, which he had held for several months, to Chris Jericho Monday night before starting his two-month punishment. The drug suspension will also mean he will not be in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at Wrestlemania later this month, a match many suspect he was going to win and then immediately cash in his title shot the same night against the winner of the WWE Championship three-way between John Cena, Triple H and Randy Orton. So much for that.

With one dirty drug test Hardy has again managed to derail his career and kill his push to what was surely going to be his first singles WWE Championship (He and his brother Matt Hardy won the WWE tag titles six times as the Hardy Boyz). For those who have been watching RAW regularly, nobody was getting a bigger push to the top than Jeff Hardy as the 30-year-old high flyer was being groomed, I believe, to hold one of the world titles.

However, in the aftermath of the Chris Benoit steroids tragedy and congressional oversight of drug testing in sports entertainment, violations of the WWE drug policy aren’t taken lightly. Just ask Ken Kennedy who was implicated in the Signature Pharmacies on-line scandal a while back. Even after he sat out a 30-day suspension, he is still paying the price. He was on the fast track to the top, just like Hardy, but the humiliation he caused WWE has left him languishing in the midcard and jobbing to the top wrestlers.

For Hardy, this is just the most recent in a string of setbacks caused by drug issues and attitude problems. Hardy parted ways with WWE back in 2003 following a history of drug issues and no-shows at events. He was then given a chance with TNA, even getting a couple of world title shots, before being suspended a pair of times, allegedly for drug issues and no-showing events.

However, since April 2006, when Hardy returned to WWE, there had not been any apparent trouble as he had worked himself up to main event status, finally shedding his reputation as a tag team wrestler and making himself a legit single’s contender.

But, just like Scott Hall, who has thrown away chance after chance to return to action, Hardy has again made the same mistake. And, this mistake will cost him as I doubt there’s any way he returns to the same push he was getting when he was suspended. It’s just disheartening to see someone with so much talent throw his career away. After all, you only get so many chances before people give up on you, no matter how talented you are. Sure, I’ll miss seeing him throw himself off a 20-foot ladder at ‘Mania, but hey, it gives someone else a chance to shine.

In brighter news, I went to a house show up in Cookeville Saturday night where one of our McMinnville boys got to challenge a wrestling legend at the IWF event. Local resident Jason Gilley took on the ‘Wild Eyed Southern Boy’ Tracy Smothers with another local resident, Jason Womack, refereeing the match. For you who do not know, Smothers had a successful career with WWE, ECW and WCW. He along with tag-team partner Steve Armstrong ruled Smokey Mountain Wrestling run by Jim Cornett for many years. The 45-year-old Nashville resident still competes on the independent circuit as he did Saturday night against Gilley, putting up his Southern Championship belt.

Smothers, who played the heel threatening to ‘slap each and every member of the audience,’ got the win when his cohort outside the ring distracted the ref long enough for him to hit a low blow on Gilley. Hey, if you know of any independant shows in the midstate, give me a call and I’ll try to check them out seeing you can find some real good shows in the small arenas, auction houses and armories.