By Jon Cudo, PWTorch specialist

TRUE: HULK HOGAN IS GOING TO TAKE THE BALL TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Actually, I am taking most of what the Hulkster says at face value, since I can't decode his gibberish about taking balls to and fro, raising bars, and young guys taking things to a whole 'nother level. If this "icon" takes the time to put all of these random phrases together to make a point, then I am buying. Which is exactly what Dixie Carter must be thinking during their meetings.

FALSE: THE INSANE ICON IS BACK

Thursday's Impact Wrestling episode featured Sting's return for a special tag team match. I will give them a pass for not promoting the return of one of their top veteran stars to point out the murkiness of how they presented Sting.

Sting has been a fixture of Impact Wrestling for most of their nine-year existence, and his career seemed to crescendo in a major storyline last year where he became "insane" in order to make Hulk Hogan see the light and turn babyface again. (And, of course, give power back to Dixie Carter.) After Hogan finally saw the light, Sting left the "Insane Icon" act behind to become the authority figure in TNA.

My summary is somewhat gracious, and overlooks a lot of storyline inconsistency and a lot of half-hearted acting by Sting. However, I think it would meet TNA's explanation of the Sting character.

This week, Sting interjected himself into the James Storm and Bobby Roode storyline and wrestled again at Wembley Arena in London. The problem was it was inexplicably the "Insane Icon" version of Sting.

While the announce crew seemed unclear of how to refer to him (Jeremy Borash introduced Sting, and Taz and Mike Tenay seemed to refer to the "Insane Icon" character), Sting seemed to float between the sane and insane, with only the facepaint remaining consistent.

The story could have been told either way (I assume), but this highlighted a problem with both the storytelling and the characters on Impact, which is no attention to detail.

The Insane Icon is a part of Sting that had a beginning, middle, and end. It ran its course and Sting revealed it was a means to an end. So, TNA can't bring it back to pop a rating or for nostalgia. If
they do, it's either inconsistent and dumb, ignores the story previously told (making TNA look dumb), or makes all of their storytelling seem pointless. And, that's just what they did on Thursday.

The Insane Icon wasn't back, Sting just messed up his facepaint.

TBD: ECW IN THE HALL OF FAME

There was an interesting call this week on the PWTorch Livecast asking if any ECW performers would be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame. The best solution offered was putting ECW in as a group, with former ECW performers like Shane Douglas, Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Rob Van Dam, and Raven on-stage in a moment that pays tribute to a transformative force in wrestling history. It is incontrovertible that ECW changed wrestling and advanced the business even if the company wasn't a long-term success or profitable, and it has a place in one of professional wrestling's Halls of Fame.

If honoring the group wasn't politically acceptable for whatever reason, then I would chose one wrestler to honor and acknowledge his connection to ECW as part of his Hall credentials. That wrestler is Sabu.

Sabu's crazed act and maniacal personality seems to capture ECW, with its over-the-top, yet non-cartoonish characters. He combined a traditional wrestling lineage with a uniquely modern style. Sabu, in so many ways, personified what ECW was. Innovative, gritty, edgy, and more than the sum of its parts.

Sabu also highlighted the engine, Paul Heyman, who highlighted the strengths and minimized the weaknesses of the talent he had to work with. Undersized? Heyman put together Tajiri, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, and Eddie Guerrero. Have a limited move set? Heyman featured short matches (see 911) or teamed them with a better worker (see Johnny Grunge). Sabu isn't a great talker, so Heyman highlighted him in a role where he never spoke, and it perfectly set him up for success.

Sabu would be the perfect embodiment of ECW and a great fit for the WWE Hall of Fame (assuming they want to put anything with the ECW name in the Hall). Whether WWE ever entertains such a induction or acknowledgement of ECW remains to be determined.

[Torch photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch.com]

We suggest these recent related articles...

TRUE - FALSE - TBD 5/3: Cena's place among top performers in history, Lesnar's schedule, impact of WWE's worked shoots

TRUE - FALSE - TBD 4/27: Open Fight Night could be a winner, ROH's lesson from WM28 biz, Int'l boost to WM28 buys

TRUE - FALSE - TBD 4/20: Funkasauras's limitations, Tensai's tattoos, Laurinaitis's introduction of Lesnar, FCW call-ups can spark business