Did WWE squander Sting?

[Zen411]

Seeing Sting show up in AEW also announcing a multi year deal made me sad in a way. He avoided WWE for so long and there was always talk of how he would have done had he signed sooner. As a longtime WWE guy I hoped they would prove him wrong and make the most of him once signed.

Well he lost to hhh in essentially a dx vs nwo (or WWE vs wcw) match, had a career ending injury against Rollins, inducted into the hall of fame and thats about it. I know vince hates what hw didn't create and probably held a grudge for him representing the enemy. I know no one planned the injury against Rollins but its a shame they didn't do more with him. Zero interaction with the fiend, the undertaker, no classic scenes where he interacted with old foes like hogan or flair in a memorable way. No attempt to have him as a regular character on TV to add to the product or give back to the next generation of stars.

I'm just disappointed it went the way it went. Seeing him appear on aew and have cool moments with Cody and Darby made me want more of that in wwe.

[Deleted]

Yeah they used him horribly. I mean there's no other answer. It didn't feel like Sting, it felt like a midcarder wearing Sting's clothing.

Mind you I'm talking about prior to that injury against Seth. After it there's nothing else they could have done well, he was outty 5000. No need for it. Also why would he wanna do something angle-wise at that point? I'd be against it if I were him.

Prior to that tho, yeah they used him horribly.

[mistery]

I mean I don't know what you expected WWE to do after he suffered that neck injury that likely ended his career in the ring. If AEW has him wrestle or take bumps, then they deserve all the hell they should catch for it.

[fw91]

Yes and no. He shouldn’t have lost to HHH, but the neck injury really ruined everything after.

[häšhtå.gdālėÿ]

Probably? At least to most people. I wasn’t a fan when Sting was in his prime, so he’s never moved the needle for me at all. Didn’t care about him in TNA, WWE, or now in AEW.

I read his deal is multi-year full time? That seems kind of crazy with his age and injury history. Was his WWE injury less severe than let on and more “We just don’t want to use you anymore?” Or is it simply an on-screen role?

[Bang Bang Bart]

Sting’s initial WWE appearance to help Dolph Ziggler squash the Authority was well done. It’s too bad they pretty much rendered that moot a month later. And don’t get me started on the WM match with Triple H...

[mistery]

Dec 3, 2020 11:24:21 GMT -5 häšhtå.gdālėÿ said:

Probably? At least to most people. I wasn’t a fan when Sting was in his prime, so he’s never moved the needle for me at all. Didn’t care about him in TNA, WWE, or now in AEW.

I read his deal is multi-year full time? That seems kind of crazy with his age and injury history. Was his WWE injury less severe than let on and more “We just don’t want to use you anymore?” Or is it simply an on-screen role?

It was widely reported to be career ending. So unless things magically got better, he shouldn't be taking bumps, which limits his role severely, at least on screen.

If they have him take bumps, they better make sure the bump is actually safe, but considering one thing that almost everyone can agree on with AEW is that their medical protocols are a complete joke, I have zero confidence there.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

Yes, they clearly didn't have a plan because if you're going to have him challenge for the WWE Title out of nowhere, you don't have him lose at Mania while reconciling with the dude running the group that he'll be feuding with that summer.

[sfvega]

Yes, they wasted him, but it was almost worth it. His debut was awesome. Then they squandered the Sting/Taker possibility to have just a shit-fest with him and Trips. It was a one-off reaction that had diminishing returns in how they booked him. But the main thing that I took out of it was that Vince was never going to book Sting like he was a big deal because of his WCW bias. Which we mostly knew before, but he left no doubt now. So we don't have to deal with the What Ifs anymore from 01 or 05 or any time. Sting was right to not sign with them all along, which is the biggest takeaway from his stint.

[PKO]

Yes.

He lost to HHH at Wrestlemania, which is flat out ridiculous booking. Here is a legend of the business who has finally signed with the company after over a decade, and agreed to come in for some matches. YOU DON’T HAVE HIM LOSE HIS FIRST BIG MATCH. I’d say it’s inept, but most of us know it’s WWE being petty.

His injury against Rollins put an end to the chapter, so we can’t say where he was going to go and what he was going to do after that point. But for the simple fact of him losing at Wrestlemania; yes. They squandered him.

[häšhtå.gdālėÿ]

Even with me not caring about him; if lame ass can’t wrestle at all anymore Goldberg can win the title multiple times, Sting should have gotten at least a short run.

[Alyce: Old Media Enthusiast]

Yup.

His initial return all just led to another excuse for Vince to crow about how he killed WCW. And even if the injury hadn't happened, I don't know what they'd have done with him other than have him be a perennial loser in most feuds. And given that Vince and Taker seemed like they never saw value in Sting vs Undertaker at Wrestlemania, I doubt we'd have ever gotten it.

[Instant Classic]

His debut was great, it was cool to see him tag with Cena and wrestle on Raw. Him helping out Orton was a cool visual. He got to wrestle for the WWE championship, ending was what it was though. didn’t mind his match with Triple H but him losing sucked big time. If I could change it I’d have swapped Triple H vs Sting and Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt so we could get Sting vs Undertaker. So basically to me I liked his WWE run I just wished at best he could have had a face to face moment with Undertaker.

[Deleted]

Even the joke threads don't have a LOFL title like this one....

[sungod2020]

TBF, I feel they signed him way too late as it was. Part of his legacy was him being the greatest star to never wrestle in the WWF/E, so him doing so tremendously watered it down. Even as someone who was raised mostly on WWF, I respected the Stinger and his refusing to sign with the company. It should be no surprise once he did something like this would happen. If anything, he was dead on arrival the minute he joined.

[Lupin the Third]

I felt like they pretty much squandered him from the word go.

He's brought him at Survivor Series, helping Dolph end the Authority. Then the Authority is brought back a month later, which could have led Sting to ending the Authority at Wrestlemania.

But that didn't happen, and then they hug it out after the match, which included the nWo and DX for no real reason other than WCW vs. WWF, and having them remind us that they beat WCW, which we're all like, "Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."

And then he comes back to feud with Rollins, who's with the Authority. So it made the Wrestlemania match completely pointless, because Trips and Sting shook hands and hugged and all that crap.

Even if he didn't have the injury, I don't see him staying long after that. He would've had a few more feuds, then probably would've been like, "I'm out."

[Cyno]

His WWE run was a complete waste. Would've been that way without the injury, too. Only thing it really accomplished was a nice nostalgia pop when he first showed up and seeing him honored by the WWEHOF. Otherwise, it just felt like they brought him in solely to feed to Triple H and also put the final nail in the WCW coffin.

[Deleted]

They squandered him as far as having him job to HHH in his first and only Mania match.

Other than that honestly apart from sporadic appearances to shore up the babyface side of things occasionally there really wasn't much to do with him in the first place.

[Bang Bang Bart]

If Stinger became the on-screen GM figure after helping to end The Authority at Survivor Series, that would’ve been a good use for him.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Yes and No

I think the HHH match gets a ton more hate then it should. I was heavy in favor of him winning the WWE title for one night against Rollins to add that to his legacy but the neck injury took him out

Sting deserves some blame on his end. To his credit he told everyone and their mother he wanted a match with Taker at Mania. You should have come to WWE at least 3-4 years sooner then you did

In terms of usage tho i'm fine with where he was. He was on a legends deal. Unless you was going to use him as a GM figure, he had no reason to be on TV