By ROB McNICHOL
Published: 29 Nov 2011

TNA star Ken Anderson has defended pal Jeff Hardy and insisted that the troubled star is back on the right track.
Hardy has fought addiction and faced serious problems with the law in a turbulent career but is universally recognised as one of the most gifted pro wrestlers of his generation.

After being fined $100,000 and jailed for 10 days following a series of drug-related offences, Hardy is now back in the TNA fold and appearing on Impact Wrestling on a regular basis.

Anderson told SunSport: “A guy like Jeff Hardy, regardless of what you think about him personally, is a tremendous entertainer. He loves this business and gives his all to this business.

“Everybody makes mistakes, everybody does stupid stuff. I’m not trying to make excuses for anybody, but when you’ve had the career that he’s had and done the things that he’s done, you’re bound to make mistakes.

“When you do make mistakes people are going to look at it with a magnifying glass and amplify it and make it bigger than it actually is.

“I think he’s done a great job of overcoming that and recognising ‘I did this. This is my problem. How do I fix it so that I don’t do it again? How do I move forward?’ He’s done all those things.

“I have no judgments about Jeff Hardy other than the fact that he is a great performer and a hell of a guy.”

Anderson himself has consistently been one of TNA’s leading performers and is sure to receive a rapturous reception when the company tours England in January.

Looking back on the last year, he rates his match with Bully Ray at Bound for Glory as his personal highlight.

He added: “It ranks right up there for me as one of my favourite matches so far in my career.

“I’ve never had a match which I’ve watched afterwards and said, ‘Oh my God that was awesome’.

“But that was about as close as I could get. That ranks up there for me with the match I had with Kurt Angle a few years ago at Lockdown.

“It feels good and that’s what we try to do. When you can actually deliver and live up to your own expectations to some degree, it’s a good feeling.

“I would have to agree that Ray could be regarded as one of the best heels in the business right now.

“Part of it is that he is himself. That’s kind of the way he is in real life — it’s not much of a stretch for him.

“He’s able to channel that and when I’m out there with him in the ring it feels like a real fight. Not in a bad way, not in an ‘oh my god this guy’s killing me’ way.

“He has a way of working that the punches are there and the chops are definitely there. It p****s you off to the degree that you are able to give it back to him. But not so much as ‘this guy’s being careless and reckless’.”

Another highlight of 2011 for the man from Green Bay was getting to work with Sting — even mimicking his previous gimmicks in memorable Impact Wrestling scenes.

Anderson said: “This is a guy I watched when I was a kid.

“To be able to get out there and act like him and wear his old gear — the stuff that I was wearing was actually the old Sting gear — was a cool experience.

“For him to give me that blessing and allow me to do that was an honour. I would say he is probably right up there with The Undertaker in protecting his gimmick and his legacy.

“I think it’s huge that Sting is coming on the UK Tour in January. He is one of the biggest names in the history of the business.

“To be on the tour and to be part this team — that’s what we are, we’re a team — it’s a huge thing.

“As for me, when I get to Britain, I’d love to get back in there with AJ Styles.

“He and I have had some brief encounters but we’ve never really done anything at length. I’d love to have that big, long, drawn-out feud that ends up having a great, great match at the end of it.

“I think we could definitely pull that off.”

Listen to the full interview on Rob McNichol’s One Sided Ring Podcast at www.robmcnichol.podbean.com.

TNA are coming to Nottingham (January 26), Manchester (Jan 27) and London (Jan 28). For more information go to www.facebook.com/tnawrestlinguk.