Various: Jeff Hardy Update, Ed Nordholm on Talent Trademarks, Indies

Update on Jeff Hardy’s Injury Status

As previously reported, Jeff Hardy suffered both a torn rotator cuff and torn labrum during an episode of RAW last October.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that Jeff Hardy was in Birmingham, Alabama last Tuesday to evaluate the progress of his rehab. Jeff is currently within the early range for a possible return to WWE and is hoping to be able to be back in time to participate in Wrestlemania 34.

Ed Nordholm on Allowing Impact Talent to Own Their Trademarks

Metro Sports held an interview with Ed Nordholm, Don Callis, and Scott D’Amore and one of the topics discussed included Impact Wrestling allowing their talent to own the trademarks to their characters.

Nordholm said that the decision was due to wanting to help out their talent in the indies and as a way for their talent to have a safety net for their careers. He also said that the lessons learned from the Hardys “Broken” trademark situation played a big role in the decision.

Not that hard. I came in, I’m new to the business, trying to understand the roster and what we do, how we market them and how they work. I start seeing Rosemary, a wonderful talent, wonderful gimmick, great gal, and I find out that she doesn’t market herself as Rosemary when she’s not doing IMPACT.

So, how does that work? We’ve got our talent, who don’t have enough confidence in their characters that they feel like they should be developing a safety net. They’re developing the safety net because they don’t want to be starting all over again creating a new identity. It was a pretty tough process of getting guys to buy into the idea, that you know, this is kind of silly to be trying to control people in this way. The fact the Hardy thing was going on in the meantime was sort of creating a whole dynamic within which I was sort of trying to evaluate this.

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Trent Barreta is reported to have recently suffered a torn triceps injury, according to the Wrestling Observer. The Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that the injury occurred last week at an event for Pro Wrestling Guerilla but is not serious enough to prevent Barreta from competing in this weekend’s Honor Rising shows in Japan.

Major League Wrestling announced a new match for the card of their March 8th show in Orlando, Florida. This will be a tag team match of The Dirty Blondes with manager Col. Rob Parker versus Jason Cade & Jimmy Yuta.

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that MVP will not be appearing for Defy Wrestling’s April 13th show and Tommy Dreamer to be his replacement on the card.