9 Old-Timers That Won Wrestling Gold (And Shouldn't Have)

One of TNA's many attempts to recreate the nWo, right down to its infallibility and terrible booking, the Main Event Mafia was also a turning point for Sting. It was almost the exact moment Sting went from being the savior of a fledgling promotion to being a part of an overly dominant faction that squashed every babyface in their path.

Essentially, it was his arc in WCW played out in a different brand, with a lot of familiar faces circling around.

But it was his drastic gimmick change in 2011 -- in which he aped yet another popular comic book movie character, this time Heath Ledger's version of The Joker -- and subsequent World Championship reign that really hurt The Stinger's image.

It was possible for Sting's rebranding to work so long as it played out along the periphery, much like his transformation from surfer dude to trench coated brooder in WCW. But they just couldn't keep "the Insane Icon" out of the title hunt, which was a problem for a 50-year-old wrestler anyhow.

And when he promptly recaptured the TNA World Heavyweight Championship his new gimmick came on too fast. It just didn't have enough time to breathe.