The finishes to the Sting vs. Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle vs. Mick Foley matches at Sunday’s Victory Road pay-per-view were not scheduled to end in the same manner. According to those in TNA, Sting allegedly forgot the finish to his match.
While Sting was still scheduled to lose his match to Joe, it would have been via pinfall after a Muscle Buster rather than submission. Towards the conclusion of the match, Joe attempted to get Sting up on the top turnbuckle to setup his Muscle Buster finisher, but he dead weighted him. After two attempts at getting Sting up for his finisher, Joe called an audible and put Sting in the rear naked choke, calling for him to tap out.
Foley had done a promo building up the idea that he hadn’t tapped out in a match since 1991, and that while he may lose, he would never tap out. Foley did that promo to set up the shock of him tapping for the finish. Many backstage were unhappy with both Sting as Foley tapping out, as Foley’s tap out was diluted by the fact it had just been done in the prior match. It also made the babyfaces come off weak as top babyfaces rarely tap, and it’s only done to have huge impact or if they are somehow cheated on.
For those wondering, there isn’t really any heat on Sting over the mix up. Most wrestlers feel that even veterans are bound to have a couple screw-ups here and there, and anything can happen on live television.