To make it work, TNA needs to prolong Sting giving any reason for turning. If he gives a reason at the next Impact taping, the whole storyline and heel turn will lose its mystique.
At the same time, keeping him "mysterious" and attacking random people for too long would make people stop caring after probably a couple of weeks at most. Next to the turn itself, the explanation is the biggest thing. In my mind, it's important to get the logic because otherwise, it's just unjustified actions.
As for how it was done, it was very Bash at the Beach-esque. Part 1 was good with my only complaint being how long Sting took to actually attack. Once he came out, anyone with half a brain knew who he was going to attack, so why stand there and think about it. If you are coming into a fight, you know who you are helping, so it loses a bit of realism by standing there and milking the moment. Once he pulled the turn, it was a sense of relief in that regard.
The choke didn't work for me. Not without an explanation at least. It seemed forced and desperate as I think the writers wanted to do so much to beg the audience to take him as a heel. Sting in the past has had no problems with Dixie, and to be honest, if his reason for turning is that he doesn't agree with Hogan and Bischoff running things, I'm going to cheer him as a face because I agree. We will see once we get the explanation though.
I'm sorry, but I have to be honest, the RVD segment was pretty bad to me. RVD is excitement personified, but having him come through the crowd? Very much a heel tactic or a tactic of men in a feud desperate to get their hands on each other. RVD was a hired gun in a sense so he wasn't desperate. Plus, I think him not coming out the entranceway takes away the moment he walks through the curtains and appears. That moment and the pointing RVD thing would have been a lot cooler. Then the thing that made me burst out laughing is Sting gets absolutely buried by losing to a rolling thunder in 5 seconds. This already makes him a weak heel despite the attack after. By the way, if you take any type of finisher and lay down WITHOUT MOVING for 3 seconds, shouldn't you milk it longer? Sting got up literally right after, almost like he wanted to lose just so he could beat up RVD after. I expect more from the veteran but the way he got right up told me he could have actually wrestled and I think a kick out and then Sting just beating the crap out of RVD until he got disqualified for excessive violence or using the bat would have been better. It wouldn't have lost RVD any credibility and it would have helped Sting a lot more than losing in 5 seconds just to beat someone up. And then of course the security holding a 58 year old man who is busted up and bleeding back while a man with a bat is assaulting another man is just comical. I get that they are trying to get Sting over as a heel, but security has to break that up, or at least try. Hogan shouldn't have come out, but he should have sent security out.
I know I'm being harsh, but I just found a lot of this whole thing to be a desperate plea from TNA saying "look at us! we're unpredictable!" and a deal of logic went out the window. I hope there's a good explanation behind the attacks though, because a good explanation furthers his heat but a bad one and he's back to square one and the turn means nothing. Unfortunately, it's sometimes hard to tell because there's no guarantee that the Impact Zone will react properly. I like Sting and I have confidence that with hard work, he can get over as a heel if that's the goal, but it has to be done right. It also might be good for him to win a match or two, even by DQ. He's 0-1 since he's back, and he lokst that match in 5 seconds. I will reserve judgement for this angle, because a lot hinges on where he goes from here. Thus, my feeling on the turn is incomplete. In a few weeks, I can better tell you my feelings on it as I'll know exactly where it's going and if there's a purpose. Until then, let's just hope for the best and hope this wasn't just a desperate "big things happen at TNA!" plea for their MNW debut that goes nowhere.
