Post by The Booty Disciple on Jan 1, 2016 1:23:00 GMT -5
Rose colored glasses for the slow build for Sting. Could have been done worse, but REALLY could have been done better. Hogan dropping the belt to Luger and getting it back in Sturgis cheapened the buildup, and then, ya know, StarrCade '97. Like, I was at Road Wild, and we, the fans, the ones who buy PPVs (but didn't pay gate that day), were baffled by this aside of Flexy Lexy getting the strap, and the celebration on Nitro that SHOULD have been for Sting at StarrCade. Utterly bizarre, and indicative of how it would be cocked up (I'm imitating James May right now) in December.
I get that, for sure. I enjoyed the title win on Nitro as well, but going into Sturgis, I knew damn well there was no way Luger was leaving with the strap. The live crowd was wise to it as well, so when Scott Hall came out in the Sting mask, it was fait accompli.
It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where the car salesman and Kramer took off to see how far the car could go on a single tank of gas. They get past the E on the fuel tank, and they're left with this moment of "Uh...what'd we just do? What's next?" after the elation. That's what it felt like with Luger's 5 day reign...elation for a change of pace, and then a "Well...piss...this doesn't really ADD anything."
To be fair, I'd probably be less critical of it had Sting v. Hogan paid off. It didn't. So the Luger thing just always struck me as another example of "Uh...fill time! I dunno, send Elegante out there!" I'm no Luger hater, and agree that he was a primary face at the time, but...even then, I just couldn't get behind that title change.