Impact Wrestling: TNA, Sting Make the Transition from "Destination X"

I will admit, I was wrong. It doesn’t happen often, but I was wrong about last night’s Impact program.

I passed judgment before I even had a chance to watch the show. And after watching the shenanigans that went on with Sting, his Joker Posse and the connection between himself and Kurt Angle, I have to say I was impressed.

Sting has been working on this Joker persona for weeks. And while it has aggravated me and made me laugh at the same time, I thought it was a little off kilter. Then, when I heard he was going to win the world title from Mr. Anderson again, I was miffed and wanted to see what angles the TNA writers were taking to assure me that they were still moving toward survival level.

Rest assured, they are and did so last night in a way that hearkened back to the days of the old NWA and WCW. This really wasn’t about an Insane Clown Posse or some other Halloween act, it was a statement where Sting proved he could still be “The Man” and, with a little help from Fortune, show that wrestling and wrestling stables still matter.

I was worried about three things going into last night’s program: (1) How Impact would bridge the gap from "Destination X" to the show, (2) how they would take a night that was supposed to be dramatic on all accounts and have a world heavyweight title match, and (3) what would happen to A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels.

There was no real connection between the PPV and the program—other than a match between Shannon Moore and Austin Aires, a vignette where Eric Bischoff accused Abyss of dropping the ball against Brian Kendrick and an overview of the events that happened.

So, last night was more of a new beginning with better feuds and angles.

And it worked well.

When the clowns removed their masks to reveal they were members of Fortune (sans Bobby Roode), it highlighted for me that Fortune can still be viable in this program and will fight with Immortal to keep the balance of power. I still would have liked to see some fallout between Daniels and Styles, but this worked well with the occasion. Sting masterfully showed he can still rouse the crowd and get into the heads of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff.

And let’s face it, Anderson is a great SOB and plays the part well, but he is not the guy you want to carry this company right now while it is treading water. Sting can do that.

The fact that Kurt Angle gave a great promo about his upcoming world title match with either Anderson or Sting was brilliant leading up to the final segment of the show.

Angle and Sting have met, but Angle has never beaten Sting; in some way, that means something. Not on the same level as a Shawn Michaels/Ric Flair match, but for two of the best ever in the business to face off more in an Undertaker/Triple H-type match for veteran supremacy and the gold around Sting’s waist.

When Sting was fighting the good fight in WCW and walked alone in his “Crow” character, he never spoke and carried a black bat with him. He still carried the black bat, as did the other “clowns” last night—the last clown being Angle, who helped Sting regain the title. The only way he garnered support was by pointing that bat at WCW superstars (if you remember, Randy Savage was the first to accept Sting’s invitation).

Sting talks plenty and makes his feelings known, but the story lines allow him to gain support from others who have the same problems with Bischoff, Hogan and Immortal because (1) the company is such that the transition will not take long to resolve and (2) we have seen this before. It needs a fresh angle.

This is not Ricky Steamboat/Ric Flair in 1978 and 1987, or Hogan vs. Warrior first in WWE and then in WCW.

The best thing about the program is that if there is now a true battle-line drawn, Sting, Fortune and Angle are in a position to even the score, with the possibility of Gunner and Abyss making a face chance. I think it would be Gunner more so than Abyss, mainly because his character is more believable and Bully Ray is playing the role of a true bully and heel on the program.

As for the rest of the night, kudos to the writers who are working the "Bound For Glory" series matches. The three-way dance with Samoa Joe, The Pope and Bobby Roode was pretty good, but I am still wondering what will happen with Joe’s character. He is too good for mid-card status. Could he be the guy who is the fly in the ointment with all the chaos with Immortal and Fortune? He would replace either Abyss or Gunner.

Bobby Roode finally gets a win and can now focus on singles matches until he and James Storm have to face Mexican America, who won their match against The British Invasion.

I like The British Invasion in the same role, as a new form of the British Bulldogs with more edge to them. They could make some more noise as tag-team champions in the future and prove to be fan favorites.

Austin Aires will prove to be a great addition to the roster. Aires is the classic villain who can turn up the heat at any time. His match with Moore, although a tainted victory and aided afterward by the run-in from Alex Shelley, was good to see. A feud between Shelley and Aires would be awesome.

There has to be some bridge between The Pope and Devon. It is stalling. The words are one thing, but there has to be a connection. Would a “You are my daddy or brother!” angle work in this situation? I don’t see it going anywhere.

And finally, Tara winning was pretty cool. Actually, the red streaks in her long brunette hair were the best part of the match. I would love to see a BFG series involving the Knockouts. Let’s see these women wrestle more than just once in the program.