On July 13 at Victory Road, Booker T faced Samoa Joe for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. During the match, Sting tried to talk sense into Joe, as he was brutally beating Booker T, and was potentially heading towards a disqualification. Joe rebuked him, and Sting struck him with his trademark black baseball bat. Over the coming weeks, the feud between Joe and Booker intensified, with episodes ending with Booker T or Sharmell striking Samoa Joe with Sting's trademark bat as "Impact!" went off the air, leading to a question of whether Sting had turned on Samoa Joe and became a heel. Although still receiving a face reaction from the fans, Sting sided with Booker T. On August 10 at Hard Justice, Sting attacked A.J. Styles after he and Kurt Angle wrestled a Last Man Standing match.