Why TNA Blurred Out Referee For Hardys Match On Impact Wrestling
On last night's Impact Wrestling, Matt and Jeff Hardy worked a match in Mexico (under the CRASH Wrestling promotion) as part of their "Expedition of Gold" storyline. As you can see in the video above, the referee is blurred out at all times throughout their match against Super Crazy and Psicosis.
The reason for this is the referee is (presumed to be) Marty Elias, who is currently under contract with Lucha Underground. Once Lucha Underground was aware of TNA's taping, they sent out a "cease and desist" letter to TNA to not show the match at all. Since Super Crazy and Psicosis are not under contract with Lucha Underground, TNA simply blurred out the referee.
This is not the first time these companies have bumped heads, back in 2015 Hernandez was under contract with Lucha Underground and ended up appearing on TNA. TNA signed him under the belief that he was a free agent as apparently Hernandez asked for his release from Lucha Underground, but it never went through. Once Lucha Underground came calling, TNA released him soon after.
Neither company has commented on the referee situation, although Impact Wrestling did retweet this photo from Matt Hardy's account.
And NEW Mexican Tag Team Champions of the World..
The #BROKEN Hardys
Muchas gracias, Tijuana! pic.twitter.com/xcu4kbpnG5
? #BROKEN Matt Hardy (@MATTHARDYBRAND) February 17, 2017