In today’s WrestleTalk News, WWE’s Monday Night Raw gets its lowest rating since 1997 – what could this mean for the company going forward? – and the fallout and online reaction continues forTNA’s Final Deletion match between Matt and Jeff Hardy – this time from Lucha Underground’sexecutive producer and The Young Bucks’ Matt Jackson.
TNA’S Final Deletion Fallout
Our top story today is the latest low point in Raw’s ratings crisis, but first, the fallout from TNA’s very divisive ‘Final Deletion’ match between Matt and Jeff Hardy on this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
If you haven’t yet seen the gifs and screenshots of drones being taken down with a guitar, Matt Hardy appearing via hologram and what happens when you let Jeff loose with a lawnmower – the culmination of the Hardy Boys’ feud in TNA was one of the strangest wrestling segments this side of Mae Young giving birth to a hand.
One person who didn’t like it was Eric Van Wagenen, the executive producer of Lucha Underground– a show that prides itself on presenting its wrestling with movie aesthetics, including special effects and shot/reverse shot cutting backstage; which is arguably what the Hardys were going for. He tweeted:
“Execution is everything…sorry guys, nice try. This is @ImpactWrestling creative right about now…” with a gif reading “I’m a f*****ing idiot”.
TNA’s Jeremy Borash then responded to Wagenen’s tweet with:
“Best of luck to you and everyone at LU! I hope to check it out when my cable system gets @Elreynetwork. I hear it’s great!”
Which caused Wagenen to apologise:
“Can’t we all just get along? Apologies to all affected by my very dickish tweet. I do respect TNA for thriving in a very tough business.”
On the pro-Brother Nero side, The Young Bucks’ Matt Jackson praised Final Deletion with:
“Matt Hardy could easily just cash-in on old success, but instead continues to reinvent himself over & over again. One of the best.”
Speaking of Broken Matt Hardy, you can’t fault him for commitment. Before Final Deletion aired on Tuesday, Matt stayed in character when speaking to TMZ Sports about CM Punk’s chances in his UFCdebut fight, saying:
“CM Punk may very well be deleted.”
If you want to imagine that in Matt Hardy’s character voice, awkwardly balance South African, Victorian English and American accents all at the same time.
To hear about today’s big story – WWE Monday Night Raw getting its lowest rating in almost 20 years – watch the WrestleTalk News above.
