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Sting talks TNA, Angle and the Future of the Business

Posted: Oct 29th 2006 By: CMBurnham

October 27, 2006 - "Can you pump me up a bit?" Sting asks as the producers
of the TNA videogame take pictures of every muscle on his body. The way the
champ looks, though, it might be the videogame that needs to catch up to him.

At Bound for Glory, wrestling fans saw Sting perform in his best shape in years. As soon as he took off his robe in the ring, it was the first thing I noticed from my seat live in Detroit, and it even had his peers asking him about it the following Tuesday before the Impact tapings in Orlando. While I was walking with Sting backstage, Kevin Nash stopped to tell the new champ how great he looked, even wondering about Sting's keys to dropping the weight.

Forget the 7 Day Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, and the Fat Flush Plan, what
Sting did was watch his calorie count "to the calorie" and exercise extensively.

Now Sting is back on top, receiving a louder pop in Detroit than even the newly acquired Kurt Angle, and when the Stinger no-sold Jarrett's guitar shot and slapped on the Scorpion Death Lock, the capacity crowd was whipped into a
frenzy as they had just witnessed one of the best pay-per-views of the year.

When the cameras stopped flashing and before Sting made his return to
Impact, I had the chance to catch up with him and talk TNA.

Here's what the champ had to say:

IGN Sports: Did you think when you first started wrestling that in 2006 you'd not only still be in the ring, but carrying the belt?

Sting: No, and as a matter of fact, I used to look at guys who were five, ten years older than me when I first started, and I swore that I would never be in the ring at that age. [laughs] I'm way beyond that age now, and I never imagined that in 2006 I'd still be in the ring.

IGN Sports: The passion the talent had at Bound for Glory was incredible. It was almost like every act was trying to outdo the match before them. Is this passion something that helps differentiate TNA?

Sting: I definitely believe there is a passion here. There is a mix of guys here that drew me in. It reminds me of early WCW, but this is above and beyond, in terms of wrestling caliber. This is above and beyond anything I've ever seen. Some of the moves, some of the innovative things the guys are doing in the ring, I can't even comprehend half of it. There is an energy, a passion that these guys have in the ring that I haven't seen in years past.

IGN Sports: You mentioned WCW, and you saw the rise and fall of WCW firsthand. What do you think TNA needs to do to take the next step forward while
at the same time avoiding the pitfalls of future success?

Sting: We've made huge strides all year long. Our ratings continue to grow, our buy rates of our pay-per-views continue to improve, and now with the addition of Kurt Angle, and I know we'll add more talent along the way, that's a big piece of the puzzle right there. We also have a new timeslot coming up in primetime, and I believe that will be a huge stepping stone. I've been here before, I know what it's like to be a, I hate to say it, a second-class citizen, but I know what it's like to finally emerge and be the talk of the town, and I'm just glad that I can be a part of TNA and be associated with people who are moving the same direction. I just love this brand, it's a great brand.

IGN Sports: How important do you think the videogame deal with Midway is in
terms of bringing exposure to the brand?

Sting: It's a must. If you look at every single sport out there, baseball, basketball, football, even golf, you have videogames out there, and if you want to compete with the rest of the world, you need to have a successful videogame, there's no other way around it. My kids play the games, they love them, and it looks like they're going to play a lot of wrestling games in the future once our game comes out.

IGN Sports: What's the toughest thing about the sport of wrestling for Midway to try and capture in a videogame?


Sting: How about a metal chair cracking your skull? How about falling through tables? When you're falling in the ring on the mat, or when you're falling outside on cement: it's cement. The tables are wood, the chairs are metal, and when you're a human superball in the ring or on the cement, it does not tickle. [laughs]

IGN Sports: Sounds like I'll stick to my Xbox. Anyway, one thing gamers will
notice about TNA is the six-sided ring. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the extra angles?

Sting: It definitely took me a while to get used to. So many years in the squared-circle and then to come to this was a big change, bigger than people may realize. There are still some times when I need to put the brakes on in the middle of the chaos out there and realize that there are different angles and you need to rethink some of your attacks. I'm a lot more used to it now and I'm getting more accustomed to it.

IGN Sports: How much of a boost in morale and, of course talent level, is the acquisition of Kurt Angle?

Sting: I can say this, I was set to have a meeting in Nashville, Tennessee with Dixie Carter and a couple of other people and we were at a restaurant with a huge private room that was all blocked off. I just thought we were going to meet with a few people, but then they told me I was going to meet with somebody else. I wanted to know who it was, but they wouldn't tell me, they wanted to see the surprise on my face. First thing I thought was, oh no. If this was a wrestler that they are bringing in and they are really excited about it, but it's not a big name, I didn't want to have to put on a fake smile. But when Kurt Angle walked in, I can tell you this, there was no fake smile about it. You can't get bigger than that, and the addition of Kurt Angle has caused some serious momentum for this company.

IGN Sports: There are so many young guys on the TNA roster, who do you see
stepping up as the future of this business?

Sting: It's obvious that somebody like A. J. Styles, somebody like Samoa Joe,
Abyss, those are three guys there that have the ability to take it to the next
level, and that's superstardom.

IGN Sports: Back when you were at that point in your career, is there any advice you wish someone would've told you before you moved on to the main event?

Sting: Stay humble. Try never to let it get to your head. Always remember that we're entertainers...never lose sight of that fact.

Want to see the champ in action? Check out www.tnawrestling.com, then be
sure to watch TNA iMPACT every Thursday night at 11PM EST on Spike TV.