Add more pessimism to the prospect of Sting debuting with WWE–the wrestler is currently backstage at the TNA iMPACT! taping.
ProWrestling.net reports that Sting is backstage at the taping in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with sources believing his presence connects to a return to TNA Wrestling. The taping for next week’s show, which takes place Thursday evening, represents a rare departure from the iMPACT! Zone for the weekly TNA wrestling show.
Though confirmation is not available, ProWrestling.net speculates that TNA will officially announce Sting’s return for March 3 as its latest “surprise.”
Prior to this report, there had finally been a wave of optimism about the possibility of Sting signing with WWE. Always intended to hype the return of The Undertaker, the originally-ambiguous “2-21-11” video campaign led many to believe that WWE was actually promoting the forthcoming debut of Sting–some major media outlets even treated the Sting signing as fact.
In reality, there had been virtually no dialogue between Sting and WWE prior to the videos airing, and save for a degree of interest from both parties, nothing too significant transpired afterwards.