WWE SmackDown Smacks and Downs: Dawn of Bayley-2-Belts!

Down: still not sold on using Hardy’s sobriety issues in yet another angle

Down: who else but Sheamus?

I’m not going to belabor the point too much after last week, but just no: why even have the fans think for a moment that Hardy may have relapsed after spending a month building his return, including a video about his battles with sobriety and substance abuse?

To the promo, look, Hardy has never been a good promo even with that “it” factor that caused Jim Ross to name him “The Charismatic Enigma.” I guess he’s an enigma on the mic, and though he was trying to stress that he was anguished, the up-and-down tone of his promo last night made for a difficult listen.

Also, we all pretty much knew who the actual culprit was while the segment played out last week, but they’re still trying to swerve us a bit. I know Tom Colohue isn’t sold on Sheamus being the attacker (and pointing the finger at a certain “Monster among Men”), but most of us are; how many red-haired and red-bearded men are in WWE?

(My immediate guess was the dastardly twin brother of the released Erick Rowan, Merick Rowan! Then I remembered he’s entirely fictional.)

The only other men’s wrestler on the brand that might fit the description is Kane if they mistook his fiery aura and literal fire emanating from “The Big Red Machine” as hair and a beard.

Maybe they end up re-signing Rowan (the real one, not Merick) and have him be the attacker, but why? If anything, wouldn’t he want to gain some revenge on Bryan for dismissing him like a principal to a lectured student (minus the face slapping)? He actually made Bryan’s path easier…let’s just forget Bryan still ended up wrestling and putting his spot in the finals on the line.

Back to the feud, and Sheamus is also still acting like he didn’t cause the scene from last week. He should be acting this way though, since he’s a heel and he setup what appeared to have been attempted vehicular homicide. His line about Hardy’s family was definitely a heel line, but again, why use Hardy’s issues to draw heat? It’s astounding at the same time it’s infuriating.

I’m not an addict, but I have heard passionate and rightfully angry comments directed at this angle. I can’t imagine what it feels like to have your own substance issues thrust into your face while watching something you don’t expect to be reminded of your issues. Hearing from people with substance abuse issues helped me contextualize it more, and I was already upset at the angle beforehand.

With Hardy vs. Sheamus announced for Backlash, I hope we can put this story and Hardy’s substance issues-as-wrestling angle behind us, and move forward into the twilight of Hardy’s career focusing on the wrestler.

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