Is it just me, or is Sting having fun?

[Deleted]

By being in this program with Darby and Team Taz.

It started off feeling weird and put together based solely on the fact that Darby and Sting both wear black and white face paint, but they're starting to develop this weird chemistry together that I genuinely enjoy.

[Bad Moon]

If there's a scale of retired wrestlers coming back because of how bad they want the money, with Flair and Hogan topping the scale, I imagine Sting is at the very bottom.
Maybe it's just bleed-over from his eternal babyface character that he's been playing since literally before I was born, but I can't imagine Sting still wrestling in his 60s for any reason but the sheer joy of it. Like in my mind he was watching Dynamite on TV like any other fan, saw Darby, thought "damn that dude is cool, I wanna hang out with him" and then unlike any other fan he realises that he's Sting, so he can just give Tony Khan a call and make that happen.

[Mozenrath]

He does seem like he's enjoying himself, for sure, and that this is bringing Darby up rather than making it all about Sting. I do really hope that this street fight finishes things up between Taz and Darby, since it's been a good angle and all, but run its course.

Wouldn't shock me if afterwards, we might get more Sting and Cody, teased before but with Sting suggesting it wasn't yet time.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Can we also talk about how GOOD he looks in ring? What he has done is very limited, but that Stinger Splash and that Stinger Death Drop? Engraved in his damn DNA, he's lost nothing on them, they were crisp as f*** tonight.

I agree with one of the users who said it in the live thread, I want whatever they injected his spine with

[HMARK Center]

There's a story from late in WCW, how during an episode of Thunder (I think?) Sting had a match with one of the newer guys, maybe someone like O'Hare, Palumbo, or Stasiak, and he went all-out taking all kinds of tough moves like dives to the outside and other stuff that Sting normally wouldn't have to do in a main event spot. When he gets backstage, one of the other vets says something like "Why were you putting yourself out so much during that match? You didn't need to give the kid so much" and Sting basically shrugged and said "I really want the kid to get over."

End of the day, I think that's just kind of been how Sting's wired when it comes to wrestling; if he feels like he's in a situation where he can put on a decent show, but get someone younger/newer than him elevated in some way, then he's probably feeling most in his element. I imagine he was excited as hell at first for having a match with Rollins in WWE, you could always tell he liked working with AJ in TNA, and now he's getting to focus on that with Darby and the Team Taz guys...I mean, Brian Cage now gets to be "the guy who powerbombed Old Man Sting" and then got to take a Scorpion Death Drop, and that alone gets some shine on him.

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

We're seeing a lot of people go "wait a second, I love wrestling" with AEW. So many people have been revitalised and are clearly enjoying themselves and probably appreciate a boss that treats them like a person.

[Ryushinku]

MAGGLE!

But yeah, sure. I mean, as mixed as the WWE run was, Sting was smart with his money, doesn't need to do a WWE run, but simply wanted to. He's got the bug, and only didn't do more due to the injury.

And with TNA, while it paid well of course, it was just as much as letting him go be a pro wrestler again and I think he liked that whole helping out the underdog vibe. Maybe from his WCW time.

Feb 25, 2021 5:43:27 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

There's a story from late in WCW, how during an episode of Thunder (I think?) Sting had a match with one of the newer guys, maybe someone like O'Hare, Palumbo, or Stasiak, and he went all-out taking all kinds of tough moves like dives to the outside and other stuff that Sting normally wouldn't have to do in a main event spot. When he gets backstage, one of the other vets says something like "Why were you putting yourself out so much during that match? You didn't need to give the kid so much" and Sting basically shrugged and said "I really want the kid to get over."

End of the day, I think that's just kind of been how Sting's wired when it comes to wrestling; if he feels like he's in a situation where he can put on a decent show, but get someone younger/newer than him elevated in some way, then he's probably feeling most in his element. I imagine he was excited as hell at first for having a match with Rollins in WWE, you could always tell he liked working with AJ in TNA, and now he's getting to focus on that with Darby and the Team Taz guys...I mean, Brian Cage now gets to be "the guy who powerbombed Old Man Sting" and then got to take a Scorpion Death Drop, and that alone gets some shine on him.

Yes, true. I heard that story as well. It was about him taking the double biel in to the ring from Jindrak and O'Haire, and that freaked out Nash and Lance Storm that he was taking such a crazy bump for them.

Sting always gave props at any opportunity for Flair putting a fresh young kid like him over big. While Sting's way past Flair's age there and no-one says he has to do it, that does always seem to have rubbed off on him.

[Welfare Willis]

Feb 25, 2021 2:57:51 GMT -5 @hedm2005 said:

By being in this program with Darby and Team Taz.

It started off feeling weird and put together based solely on the fact that Darby and Sting both wear black and white face paint, but they're starting to develop this weird chemistry together that I genuinely enjoy.

Who would have thought pro wrestling could be entertaining instead of a slog?

[HMARK Center]

Feb 25, 2021 7:04:03 GMT -5 Welfare Willis said:

Feb 25, 2021 2:57:51 GMT -5 @hedm2005 said:

By being in this program with Darby and Team Taz.

It started off feeling weird and put together based solely on the fact that Darby and Sting both wear black and white face paint, but they're starting to develop this weird chemistry together that I genuinely enjoy.

Who would have thought pro wrestling could be entertaining instead of a slog?

I said it in another thread yesterday, but I think it applies to fans, too, at least with regards to mainstream US wrestling: so many years of "Oh God, don't do (whatever), that's what killed WCW/ECW!", or "Oh God, WWE is doing the same stuff AGAIN", or "Oh God, TNA is going to screw this up", etc., has a lot of people seemingly gun shy about just enjoying a show that, so far, is basically just well-done. AEW certainly isn't flawless, and if a person's a bigger fan of different styles of wrestling they shouldn't feel obligated to watch it religiously or anything, but mainstream US wrestling fans just seem to have a lot of hangups and bad memories that can be tough to file away, hence stuff like people seeing Paul Wight going to AEW as a sign that "they're doing what TNA did with ex-WWE guys!" or some other overreaction.

[Deleted]

Feb 25, 2021 7:25:02 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

I said it in another thread yesterday, but I think it applies to fans, too, at least with regards to mainstream US wrestling: so many years of "Oh God, don't do (whatever), that's what killed WCW/ECW!", or "Oh God, WWE is doing the same stuff AGAIN", or "Oh God, TNA is going to screw this up", etc., has a lot of people seemingly gun shy about just enjoying a show that, so far, is basically just well-done. AEW certainly isn't flawless, and if a person's a bigger fan of different styles of wrestling they shouldn't feel obligated to watch it religiously or anything, but mainstream US wrestling fans just seem to have a lot of hangups and bad memories that can be tough to file away, hence stuff like people seeing Paul Wight going to AEW as a sign that "they're doing what TNA did with ex-WWE guys!" or some other overreaction.

There's a lot of people who expect their wrestling to be at least somewhat shitty at any given time. Can't speak for others but that's part of what made NJPW, All In, and now AEW such revelations - I kept waiting for that other shoe to drop, for that feeling of "okay, the honeymoon is over, now things are getting stupid" to be validated and it just...didn't happen. Even stuff I've found really questionable, like NJPW having Jay beat Ibushi right after the G1, were ultimately paid off in very satisfying ways. 20 years of dedication to an increasingly bad product can make you a bit paranoid when other companies get it right.

[HMARK Center]

Feb 25, 2021 9:10:41 GMT -5 @tacticalsneakman said:

Feb 25, 2021 7:25:02 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

I said it in another thread yesterday, but I think it applies to fans, too, at least with regards to mainstream US wrestling: so many years of "Oh God, don't do (whatever), that's what killed WCW/ECW!", or "Oh God, WWE is doing the same stuff AGAIN", or "Oh God, TNA is going to screw this up", etc., has a lot of people seemingly gun shy about just enjoying a show that, so far, is basically just well-done. AEW certainly isn't flawless, and if a person's a bigger fan of different styles of wrestling they shouldn't feel obligated to watch it religiously or anything, but mainstream US wrestling fans just seem to have a lot of hangups and bad memories that can be tough to file away, hence stuff like people seeing Paul Wight going to AEW as a sign that "they're doing what TNA did with ex-WWE guys!" or some other overreaction.

There's a lot of people who expect their wrestling to be at least somewhat shitty at any given time. Can't speak for others but that's part of what made NJPW, All In, and now AEW such revelations - I kept waiting for that other shoe to drop, for that feeling of "okay, the honeymoon is over, now things are getting stupid" to be validated and it just...didn't happen. Even stuff I've found really questionable, like NJPW having Jay beat Ibushi right after the G1, were ultimately paid off in very satisfying ways. 20 years of dedication to an increasingly bad product can make you a bit paranoid when other companies get it right.

You're probably right; it's hard for me to relate to that since I've usually been quick to largely bail on pro wrestling when I felt what I was watching was getting crappy and would just become a casual fan who'd only peak in now and then: I did that as a kid with WWF circa late 1994, as a teen with both WWF and WCW around late '99 into 2000, and again with WWE when I tried watching full-time again in 2004 and quit by early 2005...hell, I did it multiple times with TNA, too.

The thing that kept me interested in wrestling, honestly, was finding Ring of Honor in 2004 and diving headlong into it; yes, there's quite a few things I can look back on with ROH from 2002-2005 or so that I would now regard as pretty or really shitty (e.g. literally opening up the promotion with beating down the Christopher Street Connection, Gabe trying to get Becky Bayless's role in Special K over on commentary by referring to her as "that slut" on at least one occasion, poorly chosen guest appearances in the early years, etc.), but the vast bulk of what I was following was a well-booked, well-wrestled product that never left me feeling like disappointment was just part of the package, that I could demand better of my wrestling and that such a product could be delivered. When my interest waned in ROH for awhile I eventually found myself gravitating toward puro, and again, the takeaway was "this is consistently good, and if it wasn't I wouldn't bother watching all the time."

Granted, I realize I was privileged to have that opportunity back in the day: following ROH back then wasn't easy unless you were willing to sink a whole lot of money into buying DVDs or tickets, and I was lucky enough to be a college student with a part time job and some scholarship money that meant I didn't have much in the way of major expenses. For a lot of people the mainstream wrestling options were the only readily accessible things, whether because they didn't require buying a bunch of physical media or because they were on widely available cable channels (e.g. even in recent years promotions like MLW or Lucha Underground are/were only on smaller scale channels), so it's hard to fault someone for sticking with what's easy to watch and just hoping it'll get better time and time again. But I do think the negative effects this has had on a lot of mainstream promotion fans over the years has been real, and it's contributed to a general air of cynicism that thankfully has started being punctured in recent years as more diverse, interesting, and consistently high quality wrestling promotions and shows have become easier and easier to find outside of the regular options.

[toodarkmark]

Sting doing the Stinger Splash brought me much happiness. I thought he looked as good as he did at least 10 years ago?

I've been a fan since he was teaming with Rick Steiner for Hot Stuff, International in UWF, and he's always been a guy who just got what was needed of the moment, and he's always been consistent. I've always had the feeling he doesn't love wrestling, but he does care about fans being entertained and being happy. He's more Dad about things, where like if the kids and wife are happy, he's happy. I think since things ended poorly before, AEW gives him a chance to work with some people he trusts, and to end his career on his terms. That's a special experience for someone wrapping up 35 years in a business.

Also, Darby coming out of the bodybag in the video and smiling, man that was amazing too. It was Darby's best smile, and he never smiles.

[Deleted]

I can't imagine why he'd be enjoying this run more than that absolutely wonderful, not at all bad time in WWE.

[EP 54 is banned from Collision]

Here's a question: Does anyone seem not to enjoy being in AEW?

Schiavone is having the time of his life, too.

[polarbearpete]

Feb 25, 2021 12:45:54 GMT -5 @deerock said:

I can't imagine why he'd be enjoying this run more than that absolutely wonderful, not at all bad time in WWE.

He had a great run with the E, it just ended prematurely due to injury before we could get that Taker-Sting match. But almost all of his appearances were treated as huge deals in his short time there.

[Fade is a CodyCryBaby]

I remember thinking it back when FTR was slugging about in WWE, and I think about it now in regards to Sting: Happiness doesn’t always come down to the money.

[Deleted]

Thats kinda Stings MO. I remember when he worked on of Million Dollar Man's christian wrestling shows, there was a spot where a bunch of masked men came out and put him threw a table. I was talking to one of the performers, and they said the table spot was Sting's idea.

He's always been taking questionable bumps for over the past 20 years, but seriously Sting hitting the greatest hits package still gives me goosebumps.

[markymark]

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

Feb 25, 2021 13:43:54 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

Feb 25, 2021 12:45:54 GMT -5 @deerock said:

I can't imagine why he'd be enjoying this run more than that absolutely wonderful, not at all bad time in WWE.

He had a great run with the E, it just ended prematurely due to injury before we could get that Taker-Sting match. But almost all of his appearances were treated as huge deals in his short time there.

I wouldn't call it great, yes they made it sound like a big deal but having him lose his first match shouldn't have happened.

[polarbearpete]

Feb 25, 2021 14:16:31 GMT -5 Can you afford to pay me, Gah said:

Feb 25, 2021 13:43:54 GMT -5 polarbearpete said:

He had a great run with the E, it just ended prematurely due to injury before we could get that Taker-Sting match. But almost all of his appearances were treated as huge deals in his short time there.

I wouldn't call it great, yes they made it sound like a big deal but having him lose his first match shouldn't have happened.

That was his idea because he thought it was his retirement match.