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Surprises, Speculation Spice Up Wrestling Wars

Posted: Feb 7th 2011 By: CMBurnham

It may have been the Scottish poet Robert Burns who wrote that the best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray.

But TNA president Dixie Carter surely must have felt the same way last weekend when Kevin Nash and Booker T, both reportedly slotted for roles in a major company storyline, showed up at WWE?s Royal Rumble.

And there could be more carnage to come.

Earlier in the week Sting, pro wrestling?s hottest free agent and the only modern wrestling legend never to have worked for Vince McMahon, appeared to have been a lock for Wrestlemania weekend. The tide, however, has since turned in TNA?s favor, according to sources behind the scenes, who now believe that TNA may have convinced the 51-year-old performer to re-sign with the Nashville-based company.

For weeks TNA has been teasing a group billed as ?They? and a possible return of The Main Event Mafia featuring Nash, Booker T, Sting, Scott Steiner and Kurt Angle. Now with only Steiner and Angle under contract to TNA, the promotion was forced to go in a different direction, and rewrote last week?s TV to reflect that change, building toward a Fortune-Immortal program instead.

Carter on the TNA website said that she would be disappointed if Sting (Steve Borden) decided to leave the company. She denied that Booker had been ?available for any angle.? Her comments concerning Nash were much more direct.

?Kevin Nash was under contract with TNA and was just recently released for reasons I will not disclose,? she said. ?From the beginning, if we did a MEM angle, it would not have been with the original group and it would have been a short-term story to get to something else.?

The rumor mill has been buzzing with reports of a potential dream match between Sting and The Undertaker. It?s possible that Sting, in lieu of a match against The Undertaker, could possibly join forces with him against a team such as Nexus. With Taker expected to be less than 100 percent as he returns from a rotator cuff injury, and Sting?s best days in the ring far behind him, a well-booked tag-team bout could disguise any possible deficiencies.

The induction of Sting into the WWE Hall of Fame also would cap a blockbuster ceremony that already includes Shawn Michaels, bringing to the grand stage two of wrestling?s top superstars of the modern era.

Sources, though, say WWE is requesting a schedule that doesn?t jibe with the preferred light workload that Sting has enjoyed in recent years in TNA.

The flip side is that this is most likely his last chance to perform on a WWE stage, something he has never done during his 25-year career. Timing is everything in the wrestling business, and his arrival in WWE might not ever come at a better time. This year?s Wrestlemania and Hall of Fame ceremony both take place in Atlanta, the former home base of WCW, the company in which the Stinger enjoyed his greatest success.

WWE Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross is among those not buying into Sting joining WWE.

?Cutting to the chase, I don?t see Sting in WWE any time soon and especially not in the ring vs. The Undertaker in the Georgia Dome,? Ross posted on jrsbarbq.com. ?I don?t see Sting wrestling in the WWE at all. Perhaps a Legends contract sometime down the road, but definitely not as an active wrestler. Sting is 51 years old and well beyond the great wrestler that he used to be. If this were 10 years ago then maybe there would be a chance.?

?Everyone?s been laying low on this one,? said a TNA source, ?but TNA believes they have won the battle. I think they have him back here, but God only knows what they gave him to get him back. They probably gave him the world to save face.?

It may have been the 51-year-old Nash, though, who pulled the biggest surprise when he opted for his final run in WWE. Many had considered his in-ring career to be coming to a close in TNA, although he said last week that he and his wife felt that he should end his career where it started.

The timing is also right for Nash. It?s only fitting that Nash be included in the festivities when Michaels, one of his closest friends, is inducted into the WWE Hall. WWE already has teased a possible Nash-Big Show clash at Mania, but the door also could be open for a possible pairing with good buddy Triple H, whose return appears imminent.

Nash last week thanked TNA co-founder Jeff Jarrett for inviting him back into the wrestling world, the Carter family for keeping the TNA dream alive, and the company?s performers.

He didn?t mince words, however, shortly after making his surprise return as a contestant in Sunday night?s Royal Rumble in Boston.

?It?s been so long since I walked out in front of that many people,? Nash said on the Pro Wrestling Report radio show in Milwaukee. ?I just took my time. I sat there and savored it. I said, ?This is nice. This is very nice.??

He recalled Booker T saying that he was so surprised by the crowd?s reaction that he almost turned around to see if someone was coming out behind him.

Nash, who is now back to his old WWE moniker of Diesel, also couldn?t pass up making some sarcastic cracks when asked what TNA management may have been thinking when the WWE crowd delivered a huge pop for his entrance.

?I?m sure that they (TNA) realized they were right that they shouldn?t have signed me after the October pay-per-view, they should have tried to cut my pay, and I think they were dead-on. I think that mindset has proven to be effective and I think to them it solidifies they?re on top of their game.?

He also joked that it appeared The Main Event Mafia might be coming together in WWE instead of TNA.

?Kurt?s up in August ... and I don?t think it would take too many Scotty Steiner explosions to get him thrown out of there (TNA).?

As for Sting: ?If the option were there, he?d be a damn fool not to (go to WWE),? he said.

Angle last week floated the idea of returning to WWE when his TNA contract expires.

?My contract?s up in August. I?m going to keep the option open,? Angle told the Fight Show satellite radio show on Thursday. ?I like TNA. I like being there. I like that the company has built the last four-and-a-half years since I?ve been there. I don?t have any plans of leaving, but I don?t think Kevin Nash and Booker T had plans of jumping either.?

?They were actually, until a couple days before the (Royal) Rumble, signed with TNA,? added Angle. ?In essence, they asked for their release at the last second and TNA gave them their wish. I?m going to do what?s best for Kurt Angle, and they?ve treated me well here.?

Booker T, who has said in the past that he would not want to return to the ring full-time, is replacing Matt Striker on the Smackdown broadcast team. He also will serve as a trainer on the upcoming Tough Enough series and will wrestle on a limited basis.

-- Sixteen-time world champ Ric Flair?s match with Doug Williams stole the show in London during TNA?s recent tour of Europe. But Flair didn?t escape the bout unscathed. He injured his shoulder when pushing off during a slam off the top rope. He refused to spend the night in a London hospital. ?I wasn?t going to start whining and crying about it,? he said.

But upon his return to Charlotte on Monday, Flair learned that he had suffered a torn rotator cuff, the same type of injury that has sidelined The Undertaker in recent months.

Flair, who turns 62 later this month, plans to have surgery Wednesday but will continue in his managerial role until his injury heals.

-- Our thoughts and prayers go out to one of the finest men in the wrestling business, John ?Sir Oliver Humperdink? Sutton, who revealed last week that he has been diagnosed with kidney cancer.

Doctors are currently mapping out a strategy to deal with the disease, says Humperdink, who will remain hospitalized until a course of treatment is determined.

Humperdink, 62, was one of the top managers in the business during the ?70s and ?80s, directing an array of heels that included The Hollywood Blonds, Abdullah The Butcher, Bruiser Brody, Greg Valentine, Kevin Sullivan, Ivan Koloff, One Man Gang, Bam Bam Bigelow, Ox Baker, Terry Funk, Paul Orndorff, The Wild Samoans and The Freebirds, and is perhaps best known for a stable called The House of Humperdink.

As Hump himself might say, this isn?t his first rodeo, and if anybody can beat the disease, it?s Sir Oliver, who has overcome his share of challenging situations over the years. He survived a serious accident in the late ?60s when a ring truck he was driving hit a snow bank in Minnesota. Ten years ago he underwent emergency surgery to replace an aortic valve and had a pacemaker installed. Two years ago he was hospitalized after developing pneumonia due to complications from congestive heart failure.