10 People Most Responsible For TNA's Failure
6. Jeff Hardy
Though still employed by the company today, Jeff Hardy’s TNA run started as a complete bust. He first joined TNA after leaving WWE in 2004, and as one of the country’s most marketable stars, his signing should’ve been a catalyst towards great success. Jeff’s early run saw him put his head down and work towards title contention, but it didn’t take long for things to hit the fan.
After 11 months with the company, Jeff was suspended from TNA for no-showing Hard Justice 2005. It was lifted in August ‘05, but this troubles continued, and he no-showed his second TNA PPV that December. Again, Hardy was suspended, but he wasn’t seen on television at all until his June ‘06 release.
Despite all this, Hardy was brought back to TNA in 2010, and again failed to live up to the hype surrounding his name. Phoning in a series of lifeless, uninspired performances, Hardy’s woes culminated at Victory Road 2011. Set to wrestle Sting for the for the TNA World Heavyweight Title, Hardy shambled down to the ring a drunken mess. He was defeated in less than 90 seconds after allegedly being carried from his trailer to the gorilla position, and it remains one of the biggest embarrassments in TNA history.
Jeff has since got his life back on track to start producing the level of performances expected of him, but Victory Road ‘11 dealt immeasurable damage to the company’s name. He was supposed to be the signing that kickstarted TNA’s journey to competing with WWE: instead, Hardy has regularly disgraced both himself and the company.