TNA News: The Icon Sting Makes His TNA House Show Return

TNA announced via their website, that "The Icon" Sting will be a part of their BaseBrawl show in Memphis, TN. To most fans this would not be a huge deal, as BaseBrawl sounds like it could be a name for an upcoming TNA pay-per-view.

However, it is not. Instead it is the name of TNA's house show on June 11th, at AutoZone Park, home to the minor league baseball team Memphis Redbirds.

This is significant for not only fans, but to Stinger himself, as Memphis was where "The Icon" began his career some 20-plus years ago.

Sting has made house show appearances for TNA in the past. However, they were extremely rare occasions, as his contract really only requires him to do pay-per-views and TV appearances.

The site also mentions that Sting will be doing a special meet-and-greet and will be signing special edition Louisville Sluggers for fans who are able to drop $200 bucks. Keep in mind, the $200 dollars does include your ticket to the show and gains you pre-show access to other TNA wrestlers.

So it may seem pricey, but for hardcore wrestling fans it's not really that bad. I realize that meeting the fans has been TNA's, routine for quite some time. However, one has to believe that having Sting at a house show has to do with not having Jeff Hardy.

Hardy wrestled at a ton of these non-televised events, even while he was TNA champ. So losing that kind of star power has to take its toll. Granted, they have Kurt Angle, Mr. Anderson, and several other big names, but Jeff Hardy was a huge draw for the company and utilizing Sting on a limited house show basis is a smart move.

Don't forget LockDown is just around the corner, so moves like this are going to garner some respect from the wrestling community.

Maybe not pay-per-view buys, but respect.