While Sting’s antics last week made his attempt to emulate the comic book character The Joker apparent, his change in face paint made it blatantly obvious. Essentially an exact copy of Heath Ledger’s costume in “The Dark Knight,” Sting’s change in persona has him treading in scary waters.

Not quite a face, not quite a heel, fans will find themselves in a rough spot. Do they cheer him? The fact that some of the fans in the Impact Zone cheered Hogan during an excessively long interaction to open the show only proves that.

The bottom line is, this character is an icon and is being tampered with in a way that could change his legacy.

TNA creative has to play this smart.

Judging from what they’ve done with the careers of other legends over the years, fans of the Stinger should be worried.

On a more positive note, it appears not only will Low-Ki will be on the next pay per view, but Jerry Lynn as well. The four corners match that was announced for next week between AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Lynn and Rob Van Dam also looks interesting.

Nevertheless, in spite of the solid wrestling action on the show, the limited commercial interruptions made all of the promos run entirely too long. If TNA cut every promo down by a minute, they could have easily got one more match in.

Small things like this continue to hurt TNA’s overall appeal and ability to develop its audience.

Matches:

Devon vs. Joe: Why TNA continues to waste Samoa Joe’s ability to beyond words. After a front standing sidewalk slam, Devon got the win, further tarnishing Joe’s role in the company. While Joe was in charge most of the match, he was unable to put Devon away. Overall, this character needs some wins and fast or might go down as the biggest waste of potential in the company’s history.

Matt Bentley vs. Low-Ki vs. Jimmy Yang for a TNA contract for Destination X: Best match of the night that saw Low-Ki get the win with the warrior’s way foot stomp. Bentley and Yang both performed well too. The match had a ton of high-impact offense and a nice pace that continues to tease the Destination X pay per view. This is a match that should be on every Impact card in one form or another.

Madison Rayne, Angelina Love and Winter vs. Miss Tessmacher, Tara and Mickie James: Aside from Love miraculously being awoken from her zombie state, this match was nothing special. Sure, the action was solid, but forgive us for not being interested in Winter getting a title shot. Although she continues to get better every time she gets in the ring, she’s still incredibly green.

AJ Styles vs. Gunner: These guys continue to prove they are capable of a long-term program. At this point, Styles continues to put Gunner over, who got the win in this contest. It’s getting a bit boring though. Hopefully, these two can have a heck of a match at Destination X, with a clean winner being declared.

Sting vs. Scott Steiner: A shoddy Main Event that saw Sting win with the reverse DDT after five minutes of routine action from both stars. Afterward, Mr. Anderson and Bully Ray came to the ring and helped Steiner beat up on Sting. Soon after, Hulk Hogan joined the party, before Kurt Angle hit the ring to help Sting.

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