by Brian Phelps
http://www.wrestlersway.blogspot.com
It's now 2011 and the winds of gimmick reinvention are in the air. Two weeks ago on Impact Wrestling, Sting snapped in Hulk Hogan's office, smearing paint on Hogan's face and laughing psychotically. Then on this past edition of Impact, Eric Bischoff called out the Stinger... but when Sting came out something had changed about him. His face paint was distorted, and resembled Heath Ledger's 'Joker' character from The Dark Knight. He got in Bischoff's face and even talked like Ledger's Joker before brutalizing Bischoff and smearing red paint on his face. Later that night, he continued his havoc as he butchered Abyss's face with a glove wrapped in barbed wire. So, it appears that we are watching the transformation of 'The Crow' Sting into 'The Joker' Sting, and I'm loving it. However, this isn't the first time Sting has changed...
In 1996, the man called Sting began what went on to become the greatest gimmick reinvention in pro wrestling history. At that time, the nWo were taking over and many of Sting's closest allies believed he had gone rogue. Feeling betrayed, Sting went into hiding. When he finally did reemerge from the shadows a few weeks later, gone was the colorful face paint and surfer persona that the Stinger was famous the world over for. In its place was a brooding avenger donning a trench coat and wielding an unforgiving black bat. The colorful face paint was replaced by black and white paint resembling author James O'Barr's character Eric Draven. In essence, Sting became the squared circles take on The Crow.
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