What Next For Sting?

[IronSheik]

Just watched the Post-Raw Sting piece. He gets a good reaction from the crowd, cuts a nice promo about grabbing any opportunity that the WWE Universe afford him, then Death Drops some jobber who trash talks him.

 

This is STING we're talking about here!? Surely he wouldn't hold off signing for decades on the grounds of them killing him, then sign up and get devalued?!

 

What do you think Vince/Levesque will do with him?

 

I hope they keep him off TV for most of the year building towards a hyped Mania match with Taker or some other high profile guy.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

This is STING we're talking about here!? Surely he wouldn't hold off signing for decades on the grounds of them killing him, then sign up and get devalued?!

That sounds like exactly something Sting would do.

[AnotherCrapUsername]

Stings already massively devalued. The years spent slumming it in TNA and in the eyes of the casual fan he's the guy who turned up for no particular reason and lost a high profile Mania match.

[IronSheik]

Yeah, but TNA is viewed by such a tiny audience world wide, I'm not so sure it made that much of a dent.

 

The match at Mania (in my eyes) wasn't a loss that weakened him.

 

He seems to have gotten over pretty well with the audiences so far. I fuckin love his charisma, and hope they do something positive with him.

[LWOLeN]

Devalued? Sting has not been so relevant since 1998. He got upgraded again.

 

From the Impact zone to 77.000 fans.

From Dixie Carter to Stephanie Mcmahon.

From EC3 to Triple H.

 

From wrestling in a shirt to having a Mania moment.

 

From Tna Hof in a barn to getting celebrated after a sold out Raw.

 

He made more merchandising in one day @Mania, than hé did in Tna in the last 10 Years.

 

Sting vs Taker @ SummerSlam.

[Undefeated Steak]

That Wrestlemania match was perfect. Every move and reaction turned up to 11. Sting no selling the knee and thumping his chest; Trips looking like Taker had kicked out of the tombstone when Sting whacked the sledge hammer in half.

 

That's worlds apart from what he was doing in TNA. His career peaked in 99. It's all downhill for him now. He'd have been better off disappearing after the Wrestlemania hand shake for a year.

 

I like him as much as anybody but he's not Austin or Rock. And Vince is never gonna push him a top dog. Nor should he. WCW closed before a lot of WWE fans were even born. Expecting a top draw run from him is like us wanting Nick Bockwinkel to turn up and make Cena go heel.

 

He's got some name value, history and charisma, but he's past his sell by date by at least 5 years.

[IronSheik]

I just hope WWE keep his value as an attraction. Bring him out once or twice a year until he decides to call it a day for one of the big four PPVs.

 

I'd hate to see him on Smackdown! passing the torch to some dickhead NXT mark.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Sting probably needs to go home and then do the Hall of Fame next year. He's no Icon in WWE. In the next few years, he'll be showing up in Ron Simmons skits at Fast Lane. TNA probably did more for Sting's standing in the business than anyone in this thread will give them credit for. Sting in 2001 had way less value than he has in 2015. If it wasn't for that TNA run, Sting would probably be like Lex Luger by now. Just some old relic from the 90s who nobody wants to see anymore, with a reputation of phoning it in. Sting's TNA run is the reason for his reputation as a good talker and this "icon" he is these days. I remember Sting in 2002, doing those shitty WWA dates and it was like "look at this wanker." He put no effort it, the houses weren't pulling the numbers that Bret Hart had pulled the year before and he'd do 5 minutes with Luger and put his jeans back on. He certainly didnt look like a big WrestleMania main eventer before that TNA run. The one thing TNA has done right over the years was establish Sting as "The Icon." Which nobody was calling him in early 2000.

 

Its hard to feel sympathy for Sting. Just like a lot of people dont have sympathy for what Hogan did to him at Starrcade. He showed up in WWE because TNA's money ran dry. Nothing more. Its a business to him, so if that's how he's going to play it, he's going to be treated in turn. At least we finally got the answer to the question "how would they have handled Sting." If you think it was bad at WrestleMania, imagine if he'd have came into the WWE in 2003? It would have been much worse. Sting's destiny in WWE was always this. to take a loss as the announcers spout off about some wrestling war from years ago, sadly.

 

As far as what is next for Sting: fuck knows. You can do whatever you want really, but that Undertaker match is pure nostalgia now. If Sting would have won against HHH, you'd at least have Sting as this force who had won the previous year. Now you dont even have that. Its Kane vs Undertaker from 2004 levels of interest. All that is now is Sting and Undertaker arranging their schedules around a feud and then Sting taking a tombstone and getting beat.

[IronSheik]

He'll surely have at least one win on his WWE run before he hangs up his paint?

[LWOLeN]

Everyone seems to forget one important thing: Wwe is PG.

 

Meaning it is also aimed at families. The 12-20 year olds from 1998 now have Kids. The Kids wanna see John Cena. The parents, granddads and uncles want to see guys like Sting. That is how you fill 77.000 people.

 

The appreciation in that arena was real.

 

Overanalyzing smark wankers don't buy tickets. Not aimed at you guys. But the average smarks download the shows and complain. Wwe should never cater to them. Cater to the people Who buy your tickets.

 

I'm a 90's kid and my sons first gaming console is going to be the Super Nintendo. Screw that Ps4.

[IronSheik]

Everyone seems to forget one important thing: Wwe is PG.

 

Meaning it is also aimed at families. The 12-20 year olds from 1998 now have Kids. The Kids wanna see John Cena. The parents, granddads and uncles want to see guys like Sting. That is how you fill 77.000 people.

 

The appreciation in that arena was real.

 

Overanalyzing smark wankers don't buy tickets. They download the shows and complain. Wwe should never cater to them.

 

I'm a 90's kid and my sons first gaming console is going to be the Super Nintendo. Screw that Ps4.

Good point. If the audience was only 12 year olds Sting would have bombed in his appearances and he certainly didn't. There's a video on YouTube from the crowd of his first appearance at Survivor Series, and he blows the roof off the place. As you say, parents are in the house shows, at the TV tapings and PPVs, and buying merch.

[unfitfinlay]

Yeah, but TNA is viewed by such a tiny audience world wide, I'm not so sure it made that much of a dent.

 

The match at Mania (in my eyes) wasn't a loss that weakened him.

 

He seems to have gotten over pretty well with the audiences so far. I fuckin love his charisma, and hope they do something positive with him.

 

The loss wasn't but, for me, the handshake killed him. The "Vigilante" who came to the WWE with the sole mission of saving the company from Triple H, failed at the first attempt and then just simply gave up and shook hands? It's not even like it was one of those matches where both men earned the others respect, because Trips was heeling it up big time just a short while later!

 

Why would anybody be interested in seeing Sting again after that? Sure there's nostalgia, but how can you possibly build him up as a threat?

 

Ian's right - If Sting's smart, he'll stay gone until the Hall of Fame next year.

[ColinBollocks]

I love Sting more than any wrestler on Earth, but I hope he just does the HOF next year. As Ian said, we got to see Sting in WWE. It included his worst entrance song and them trying their hardest to bury the bloke on commentary. I honestly can't remember the last time Vince was so blatantly burying a talent on his own show - Wrestlemania no less!

 

Next year, if it's Undertaker, we'll get the same rubbish WWE v WCW stuff, only DX and the evergreen nWo won't be there to bump around. Not into that at all.

[drkopen]

I love Sting more than any wrestler on Earth, but I hope he just does the HOF next year. As Ian said, we got to see Sting in WWE. It included his worst entrance song and them trying their hardest to bury the bloke on commentary. I honestly can't remember the last time Vince was so blatantly burying a talent on his own show - Wrestlemania no less!

Next year, if it's Undertaker, we'll get the same rubbish WWE v WCW stuff, only DX and the evergreen nWo won't be there to bump around. Not into that at all.

If next year is takers final bow surely there's no chance in hell that they are going to let a wcw guy put him out to pasture. Takers a traditionalist he's going to do the job (either that or we will see some seriously overbooked russorific finish with him being placed in a casket or getting buried alive).

[bono]

It started off amazing really didnt it. When he came in at survivor series people lost their shit. The pop was huge and it probaly was the best moment in wwe in the year 2014.

 

Then his raw surprise appearance again was superb. At this stage the WWE were really building him up to be a legend and an icon.

 

His fastlane appearance and his raw appreance was again really well done i thought.HHH was ripping into him and WCW but i think he could get away doing it as he was feuding with him and needed to say something bad about him. He was never going to say , stings this stings that was he.

 

Sting was over 100% and getting the biggest reactions of the night by far

 

Then the week before mania when steph came out it seemed to go downhill. She is a mcmahon and some of the things she said to put Sting down seem to hit home abit more becasue she is a mcmahon and that bitterness towards Wcw is still there. Calling wcw a small pond,really?that company was a nats bollock away from putting the wwe out of business.

 

Sting was mega over,did the wwe like this?considering he was the face of wcw? Hbk got booed out of the stadium for kicking sting. Thats a wwe main stayer getting booed becasue of attacking "the" wcw guy.

 

The things JBL said during the commentary seemed abit more then just putting the good guy down,which lets face it is his job. But when cole got involved,who has put sting over massively something didnt sit right. They really made sting out to be nothing which is the complete opposite to what the people think and to what the wwe pushed at the start of stings run.

 

The raw segment on the network was a joke and made sting look even more small time. Even though the people think otherwise.

 

I really dont want sting to come back now, they ruined his run at the end for me. The blokes a legend. I think the wwe couldnt see past the wcw in him! Just the hall of fame please