You do not seem to understand what 'shock' is. All shocks are surprises; not all surprises are shocks. Providing the dictionary definition would do absolutely shit to educate anyone here, so I'm going to paraphrase what they'll tell you in your first college literature or psychology class.
The human mind has a set of expectations. When these are met, it's called 'predictability'. The human mind also has a set of expectations for how those original expectations could be violated; this is called surprise. Then, there are events that can occur completely outside of either set of expectations. This is called "shock".
If anyone was shocked by Sting returning to TNA- and I don't mean you saying "you were obviously surprised because I read your mind earlier and know you thought Sting was joining WWE"- they are dumber then even I give them credit for.
Now- and this is for IDR too- is about "surprise".
Personally, I was not surprised, because anyone with half a fucking brain cell knew pretty quick that Sting wasn't the target of those vignettes. It is not "surprising" to me that Sting would end up back in TNA; it is what I have expected for some time now. A few very loud idiots on a message board do not sum up the beliefs of the entirety of wrestling fandom. I think I'm pretty jaded, but before we even get into the semantics of "biggest surprise of the year", I'd like to think that phrase would at least elict an eyebrow raise from me.
Now, onto the "well, you're just upset about the verbiage"- WORDING MATTERS. If you promise customers "the biggest surprise of the year", you are setting yourself a very precise and public goal. At the end of the year, is there room for wiggle room? Of course, how big a surprise is is subjective. But that's what you have- wiggle room. To consider this "the biggest surprise of the year" in December is going to take enough wiggle room to park a Greyhound. Thus far, it's not even the biggest surprise of the month to most eyes.
When it comes to trying to sell someone something, it's not about what you're offering- it's about what the buyer thinks you're offering. Professional wrestling is the business of managing perceptions. If you allow your buyer to believe that you're selling them a diamond ring, but the rock turns out to be glass, it doesn't matter if you never TOLD them they were getting glass. They're going to be upset when they find out, and telling them "well, I never SAID it was a diamond" doesn't make them any less upset. You were the one who allowed them to believe it was a diamond, and capitalized on the sale knowing full well it wasn't a diamond. This is all good when you're selling diamond rings and don't expect the customer to come back for a long time, if ever; however, TNA is expecting their customers to come back every single week.
You're under the false impression that something specific has to be offered to constitute a bait-and-switch; and that if that very specific test isn't met, then it can't constitute a bait-and-switch and thus people have no right to be upset. This is wrong. When you are selling someone something, it doesn't matter if they are upset for a good reason or a silly one; you want them to leave happy and wanting to come back and spend more money. Anyone who has ever worked in retail or food service understands this intimately.
Telling fans "well, technically, it could qualify as a surprise, and someone could consider this the biggest surprise of the year" reeks of cheapness. Should TNA be trying to manage their fan base through technicalities? "The biggest surprise of the year" is a weighty statement, as much as you're trying to reduce it down to bare elements. Fans should leave with some sense of satisfaction, and I mean more then Zev going "OMG LOL WWE SUCKS".
I'm glad that you enjoyed it, but I'm afraid my threshold for surprise is somewhat higher then a 51 year old man returning after a four-month break after a couple of idiots on the internet thought he had signed with the WWE.
