The focus of TNA's first episode of Impact in its new Monday time slot was largely on Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair, but it was another iconic wrestler who made the biggest impact in helping make the show a success.
With the Internet Wrestling Community buzzing in the days leading up to Monday night's show about the likely appearances of Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy, the news that Sting was making his return after being off TV for two months was barely a blip on the radar.
Of course, everyone was assuming that we were going to see the same old babyface Sting, or, at best, a brooding tweener viewing the proceedings from his perch in the rafters. Instead, we got a Sting that we've never really seen before – a sadistic, nasty, heel Sting. It was such a departure from what fans were used to that it was like TNA had introduced another new character.
TNA had made it known over the weekend through a viral campaign that something big was going to happen during the first five minutes of the show. In the opening segment, it was announced that the main event – Hogan and Abyss versus Flair and A.J. Styles – was going to be on first rather than last. My initial reaction was, "That's it?" A few minutes into the match, however, the lights went out, Sting's music played, and he was standing in the ring alongside the babyfaces when the lights came back on. Nothing we haven't seen hundreds of times.
Sting suddenly attacked Hogan and Abyss with the bat and left the ring. There was no ambiguity in his actions, as he never threatened the heels and had a sneer on his face before heading to the back. That's where things got even more interesting.
A shaken TNA president Dixie Carter confronted Sting, who responded by putting his hand near her throat, pushing her up against the wall and saying, "I owe you nothing." Wow.
It was at that moment that it became crystal clear that Steve Borden had finally embraced the idea of playing a heel. Trust me, if he wasn't comfortable doing it, he wouldn't be doing it. This is the character he should have been playing when he was in The Main Event Mafia instead of the "babyface heel" that he became. I'll say it again: Good guys vs. bad guys almost always works better than "shades of gray" characters.
As it turned out, Sting was just getting started. Carter booked him in a match against a surprise opponent – the debuting Rob Van Dam – although it wasn't very surprising since TNA had all but announced that it was RVD (the crowd was chanting "R-V-D" before he came out for the match). RVD made a splash – literally – by attacking Sting from behind and pinning him with Rolling Thunder in about 10 seconds. Sting, however, jumped RVD after the match and delivered a long beat-down with his bat. He also took out several members of security and a couple referees before getting in a few shots on Hogan, who had come out to confront him. Sting got massive heat from the crowd. Really good stuff.
The other big moment on the show occurred when Hardy did a run-in at the end during a brawl involving Hogan and Flair – who both bled all over the place, especially Flair – Abyss, Styles, Desmond Wolfe and "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero.
Other thoughts on Monday's show:
Impact wasn't perfect, but, overall, this was a very promising start for TNA on Monday nights. The show was paced well and there weren't quite as many backstage segments as usual – at least that's how it seemed to me. ...
As expected, Hardy got a huge pop when he appeared. He is easily the biggest signing of the Hogan-Eric Bischoff Era in TNA. When he left WWE last year, he was – with the possible exception of John Cena – the most popular wrestler in the business. Given his legal issues and track record, he obviously comes with a degree of risk, but it's a risk that TNA needed to take. ..
It was frustrating that the show went off the air just as Hardy was about to deliver a Swanton Bomb. If that was by design in an attempt to get fans to tune in next week to see what happened, I don't think that tactic will work, but in the big scheme of things, it's not a big deal. ...
With Hogan, Flair, Sting, Kevin Nash, Jeff Jarrett, Eric Bischoff, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Mike Tenay and Jeremy Borash on the show, it definitely had a bit of a WCW reunion tour feel to it, but at least TNA seems to be making at attempt to have the older stars give a rub to the younger guys. Abyss, Styles, Wolfe and Dinero are all linked to Hogan and Flair; Eric Young is aligned with Nash against Hall and Waltman; and Jarrett wrestled against Beer Money (on Bischoff's orders) in a handicap match. ...
Despite the physical limitations of Hogan and Flair (especially Hogan), the tag match – which was thrown out at the beginning of the show and re-started at the end – had a lot of heat, due in large part to the excessive blood. I'm going to try to refrain from voicing my opinion anymore on Flair coming out of retirement. I've made it clear that I'm highly disappointed by it, but what's done is done and there's no use beating a dead horse. As for Hogan, he can barely move, but I don't have a problem with him making a couple appearances in the ring per year (but no more than that). ...
The story line of Hogan being the former superhero who has become a physically broken-down old man fighting on grit and determination was well done. However, his daughter Brooke's acting was pretty bad, although not as bad as Abyss' when he was throwing a tantrum backstage and screaming, "Why, Sting?!" ...
The annoying shock jock hanger-on – I don't feel like typing out his long moniker anymore, so from this point forward I will refer to him as "Chubba" (a combination of chump and Bubba) – was in two segments, which was two too many. The over-the-top manner in which he was showing concern for his best friend Hogan makes me think that Chubba might be turning heel, but who would really care if he did? ...
Abyss and Hogan both took chair shots to the head. Styles delivered a stiff shot to Abyss, while Flair at least eased up a bit on his shot to Hogan. At this point, if these guys don't care about bashing their brains in, why should I? The beat-down that Batista gave Cena last week on Raw got just as much heat with chair shots to the back, which are a heck of a lot safer. ...
The crowd started a "Hall is wasted" chant. I think they meant to say "Hall is a waste." ...
Young and Waltman had a brief but heated brawl. I think Waltman – if he can keep it together – would be a nice addition to the X Division if TNA decided to go that route with him. ...
Kurt Angle bringing out members of the Army to lend him a hand during his beat-down of Mr. Anderson – which was punctuated by Angle spitting in his face and then waving an American flag as the Army guys hoisted him on their shoulders – got heat, but it seemed like Anderson got his comeuppance too early in the feud. Hopefully he does something next week to get his heat back. ...
Beer Money did a heel turn, which I'm fine with. It was probably time. Plus, James Storm is a good heel and Robert Roode has the potential to be a great one. ...
Jarrett told Storm that he was the one who "put you and Bobby together as a team." I didnt like that line. Within the context of a scripted show, why make it clear that tag teams are created by bookers and management rather than the circumstances depicted in the story line? ...
I also didn't care for Bischoff once again saying that he and Hogan were there to "turn the company around." Knock it off, already. ...
No Nasty Boys on the show = good; no Matt Morgan on the show = bad. ...
I wish the three-way tag match in which The Beautiful People defeated Tara and Angelina Love and Sarita and Taylor Wilde to win the TNA Knockouts tag team title would have gone a little longer. ...
I don't know if Daffney was ever more "zombie hot" than she was Monday night. ...
It was nice to see some emphasis placed on the X Division, and I was especially glad to see Daniels back in the mix. The three-way match that saw X Division champ Doug Williams defeat Kazarian and Daniels was the best match on the show. I just wish Williams wouldn't have been squashed last week by Big Rob Terry in about a minute. ...
Kazarian cut a promo saying that he came back to TNA to re-ignite the X Division, and he was better on the mic that I remember him being. He came off like a dork when called Daniels "bub," but then he got his street cred back when he said that Daniels was a "selfish pr**k." ...
I've always been impressed with Shannon Moore as a worker, but he's always been somewhat deficient when it comes to charisma.
Note: Thoughts on Monday's Raw are forthcoming.