For all the things that Jeff Hardy has done in his Hall of Fame career and for all the things good and bad TNA has done, Victory Road 2011 will likely go down as the first thing most fans remember about both when all is said and done. For those who don’t know the story, Hardy was set to challenge Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Victory Road, having lost the title to Sting just a few weeks before. But as the match was about to main event, it became clear that Hardy, who has battled drug and alcohol addiction throughout his wrestling career, was in no shape to compete. After some stalling from Eric Bischoff, the match started, Sting Scorpion Death Dropped Hardy and held him down (as Hardy attempted to kick out) for the three count. Fans were stunned and irate, and so was Sting, who loudly agreed with a fan who stated “this is b******t” as the show went off the air.

In the years since, plenty of discussion has continued around the match, with Hardy expressing remorse for his actions, while others questioned how Hardy was allowed to perform by TNA higher ups. In a way, some have put more of the blame on those people than Hardy himself; in fact, Hardy’s popularity has largely remained unchanged since, with fans continuing to support him when he made his TNA comeback later that year, and during subsequent runs in WWE, AEW, and TNA, despite having several DUI arrests during that time. As such, one could argue that fans never did turn on Hardy, even if some felt they should’ve. But even if that didn’t exactly happen, Victory Road 2011 did change the way fans looked at Hardy for the rest of is career. Many still loved him, many still supported him, but those same fans also no longer could completely trust him. The same could be said for promotions too, even if they did continue to give Hardy more chances.