Although 2/21/2011 marked the return of one of the most popular WWE superstars of all time, some people saw it as a letdown. As I mentioned previously, this is largely due to the speculation that the payoff would include the WWE debut of Sting. Clearly, that was not the case.
Enter TNA. This company with LBS (little brother syndrome) saw the hoopla surrounding the 2/21 video and donned the evil grin. While fans hoped and prayed for a WWE debut from the Stinger, TNA was actually the ones closing in on signing him.
As far as when Sting signed, we are unaware of those details. What we do know is that after the mystery of 2/21 was revealed on Monday Night Raw, a vignette was taped to add to the 2/24 Impact broadcast. This vignette was similar in nature (read: essentially the same freakin thing!) to the 2/21 videos, except it gave a different date at the end: 3/3/11.
I'm going out on the assumption that my readers are pretty smart people, so without knowing any spoilers, we can safely assume that this promo was done to promote the return of Sting to TNA. Yes, where WWE failed, TNA succeeded.
Now, back to reality. While Sting has become TNA's Undertaker in a sense (a veteran with a weird gimmick that is too old to put on good matches consistently but draws due to reputation), was it necessary to promote his return the exact same way? I know that they were both out essentially the same amount of time, but this seemed unneccesary.
What TNA was trying to do was present a giant slap in the face to the WWE. However, there attempt was a bit misguided.
You see, the WWE wouldn't understand such a slap. From the beginning, they were promoting the return of their superstar, the Undertaker. Just because some fans created a conspiracy on the internet that the promo was actually for Sting doesn't mean that it ever was. A small percentage of people bought into the conspiracy and were convinced that Sting was WWE bound, but that doesn't mean WWE ever hyped it or even hinted at it. Thus, you aren't slapping WWE, you are slapping the fans in the face.
With a much smaller audience than WWE, TNA can ill afford to take shots at fans, but that's essentially what they did. The only people that the video they made shoots at are wrestling fans who thought WWE's video was about Sting. To those fans, TNA's video says "HA! you thought 2/21 was Sting but you were WRONG! WE HAVE STING!!!"
The problem with this theory is that poking at fans makes no sense. The video SHOULD be directed at the WWE for promoting Sting and not delivering whereas TNA is promoting him and WILL deliver. Problem is, WWE NEVER promoted Sting. The whole thing was a fallacy and rumor derived from the minds of certain fans. Thus, the video TNA made comes off looking kind of lame.
The other problem with this promotion is that there was promotion for the promotion. Yes, TNA as per their m.o. posted on their site before Thursday's show "tune in tonight for the biggest surprise of the year GUARANTEED!" That surprise was a vignette shown in the last moments of Impact. I dunno about you, but I feel like a surprise is better IF YOU AREN'T TOLD IT'S COMING!
Then again, if the big surprise was a 30 second video, I'm not all that impressed by the surprise anyway.
I have included the video below. Judge for yourself whether it was a genius ploy by TNA and a major blow to WWE or whether TNA's video is an attempt to parody WWE and deliver what they couldn't when WWE never really tried to deliver this guy in the first place.
Before I go, I want to clarify one thing. I watch TNA Impact every week pending other plans. I am fully invested in the product just like every other fan. I know it comes off like I hate them, but the truth isn't so clear. There are aspects of the show that I like, but watching it for me is like a father watching his non-athletic son play baseball. You want so bad to see a hit, but no matter how much you may want it, the success just won't seem to come.
For me, TNA is that kid. The potential may be there, but there are simply too many mistakes each week for me to take it completely seriously. It is the second biggest promotion in America with a talent roster comparable to WWE's in some ways, but they can't seem to get out of their own way. This video is just the latest on a long list of things that make them come off as minor league.
I sincerely hope that this video, along with the appearances of Bart Scott, Angelina Pivarnick, and the return of Hulk Hogan bring in the ratings boom they desire. If the show delivers, I will be the first one to applaud it. However, having a quality product takes more than one good show. When I start seeing that on a weekly basis, maybe then my tone will start to change.
For now, I'll let you be the judge of the video below and tune in to TNA Impact tomorrow night at 9 on Spike TV to see the big reveal that I basically ruined for you due to having a brain!
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