ORLANDO, FL — Hulk Hogan promised many surprises for his TNA debut this past Monday on Spike TV, but one of them apparently surprised Hogan himself.
When former WWE Champion Jeff Hardy appeared on-camera on the January 4th live broadcast, it was immediately assumed that this was another blockbuster free agent signing by Hogan and TNA President Dixie Carter.
However, the truth is far more dismaying.
STc has learned that Hardy was simply visiting good friend Shannon Moore, and had purchased a ticket for the show. However, he was seen arriving at the arena in an altered state and, as a result, simply could not find his seat.
The charismatic enigma eventually made his way to ringside – while an 8-man X-Division steel cage match was already in progress – and could be seen asking fans where his seat was. According to reports, someone jokingly responded that it was located on top of the cage. So that's where Hardy headed next.
"None of us knew what was going on," said Suicide, one of the participants inside the ring. "The guy just climbed the cage, sat down, and watched the show."
Forced to improvise, TNA cut to commercials and tried talking Hardy down off-camera.
"He just kept showing me his ticket," said Eric Salottolo, one of the security guards on hand. "When I informed him that this wasn't his seat, he appeared a bit embarrassed, and eventually climbed down to apologize for the mix-up."
According to Salottolo, Hardy was genuinely lost and did not appear to realize he was interrupting the broadcast.
"He's a good guy."
Once Hardy finally found his actual seat, the show went on as planned with no further incidents.
UPDATE : Two months later, there has been no sign or mention of Jeff Hardy in TNA since the incident.
