It's not hard to tell we are approaching the Christmas season, as the annual "Sting to WWE" rumors have begun again. The Royal Rumble and the Road to Wrestlemania must be right around the corner. Here we go again.
Except it feels a little different to me this time. Most years, when the annual rumor mill kicks into high gear, I'm pretty skeptical. A couple of years ago, when WWE aired those mystery vignettes which turned out to be the returning Undertaker (again), the first one in the series had me intrigued and thinking that Sting might be on his way up. The rest of the videos quickly made me feel otherwise, and no other rumors any other year have made me feel that Sting had finally grown a pair. Until this year.
TNA appears to be in at least some sort of financial peril. Now before Zeven or some other TNA zealot gets their nose out of joint, no, I am not privy to the financial statements of the company, and no, I am not predicting the apocalypse of the company. However, with ongoing rumors of the company being on the market, with consistent rumors of difficulty paying their "talent", and with the retreat back to pretaped shows no longer on the road, it doesn't take too much of a stretch to speculate that money may be an issue for the company. Hulk Hogan was (allegedly) allowed to leave; one can only surmise that finances were a significant part of this parting of ways, likely from both sides. Other talent has left as well. So it doesn't take too much of a leap of faith to surmise that TNA may have reached the point where they feel they can no longer afford to maintain Sting and his assumed larger contract, where they feel he doesn't provide them enough "bang for their buck" anymore. And simultaneously, Sting may have reached the point in his life and in his career where is no longer prepared to toil in obscurity and for a minimized payday. If he is planning to call it quits in the near future anyway (which you would have to assume is the case, wherever he elects to finish things up), you couldn't fault the guy for wanting to go out on the biggest stage possible for a monumental payday. A 6-12 month run, commencing with the Royal Rumble running through the better part of 2014, for big bucks, seems to me to be a mutually beneficial situation for Sting and the WWE. And he has always been a classy guy who could easily do so with no disrespect to the folks at TNA, without throwing them under the bus whatsoever in the process. Likewise, there need be no ill will from TNA directed at him either; they simply may not be able to afford him, and can truly and sincerely wish the best in this ultimate future endeavor.
Sting/Undertaker at WM30? I'm by no means holding my breath. But I do feel that it is a distinct possibility. A surprise appearance, and victory, at the Royal Rumble. But he uses his victory not to challenge for the gold, but rather, for a shot at the Undertaker and "the streak" (sorry Dagger, but I think that is both plausible and awesome). And he faces off against the Undertaker on the grandest stage of them all, and a milestone one at that. My brain has no interest whatsoever in that match. But I know in my heart, I'd be marking out like a child if that all played out in this manner. Of course he will lose, he will never be the one to end the streak. But that can happen without him looking bad at all, and he can still enjoy some degree of individual success later in his short run in WWE, possibly even against the Undertaker at a later, non-Wrestlemania event (such as in a retirement match at the Survivor Series
).