Views From The Turnbuckle: Here Comes Sting

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Although nothing has been made official, it has become very obvious that Sting is now a part of WWE, or is very close. So if Sting is finally within WWE, what does that mean?

For starters, this is a pretty significant moment in wrestling history. In the 1990s, when WCW was filled with former WWF stars, Sting was the lone standout. Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, the Steiners, Roddy Piper, all the major players seemed to have been in the WWF at one time or another. Sting was the only guy who really seemed like true WCW guy through and through. Part of the reason Sting vs The NWO worked so well was because the fans really felt like Sting WAS the lone hope. The NWO really were invaders from another company, guys who didn't fully understand what WCW really was. Sting was the guy who the fans knew would rather die than let WCW burn, and that was the main reason why the angle was so successful.

Even after WCW shut its doors for good, Sting continued to portray the image that he was a WCW guy, and that he would never go to WWE. Slowly, all the WCW stars found their way into WWE. Hogan and the rest of the NWO, Ric Flair, Scott Steiner, even Goldberg all showed up on WWE TV over the next few years. Sting remained away from all of that, hanging back and eventually working in relative obscurity with a smaller outfit in TNA.

In a way, the value of Sting's legacy actually increased because he never appeared in WWE. We always wondered what it would be like if we saw Nash, Goldberg, Hogan, Steiner and others in "dream" matches against WWE talent. When we finally got them, it ended up being mostly disappointing. Sting never went to WWE, so we never got any letdown; his potential still remains a mystery. Fans wondered about what a Sting vs The Undertaker match would be like in 1996, and we are STILL waiting for it.

So why is Sting finally in WWE? Who knows? Sting, perhaps because he never ended up in WWE, has remained kind of distant from the normal hustle and bustle of interviews and rumors that typically circulate around wrestlers of his magnitude. Outside of the ring, Sting has always been very quiet and professional away from the ring, rarely making any waves for anything other than whatever storyline he is involved in.

My best guess and that is all that it is, a guess, is that Sting wanted to get the star treatment before it was too late. At 55 years old, Sting has openly admitted that he only has one match left in him. TNA was very good to Sting, and gave him an outlet to wrestle in and even awarded him numerous championships and put him as the leading face in many major storylines. But TNA just couldn't supply the same fantastic treatment that WWE can do. WWE can have the whole HOF ceremony in front of 10,000 people, they can release a big collection of his greatest WCW matches on DVD, hell, they can even have him wrestle one final time in front of 70,000 people at Wrestlemania. Maybe he will finally have that dream match against The Undertaker? All that stuff is just something that is completely unique to WWE, and that is why I think Sting is finally coming.

The main idea is for Sting to come into WWE, and hopefully challenge The Undertaker and they can have their long awaited match that everyone seems to want at Wrestlemania 31. However, there is still a long way to go. Nobody seems to know the status of The Undertaker after his shocking loss to Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 30, and it wouldn't surprise me if we never saw The Undertaker wrestle again. Even still, if The Undertaker can wrestle one more match, a rematch against Brock Lesnar might actually be a bigger match that him facing Sting at Wrestlemania.

Personally, I don't see Sting vs The Undertaker happening, there are just too many question marks right now. If Sting is going to wrestle in WWE, I think it will be against someone else. Triple H is the other Attitude Era name that was prominent during Sting's peak in WCW, and since Triple H is accustomed to facing other part-timers in feuds, I think a heel HHH vs a face Sting would be a pretty strong backup plan if things fall through with The Undertaker.

Sting's reception from the general WWE audience should be interesting. Because he never wrestled in WWE, he hasn't been marketed nearly as much as contemporaries like Hogan and Bret Hart. Fans who didn't grow up with Sting, whether it was the face-paint wearing surfer punk, or the dark and mysterious figure who descended from the rafters, might not be very familiar with him. The good news is that The Ultimate Warrior was also not heavily marketed by WWE (although he did have a DVD made), but the fans responded to him pretty well.

My biggest issue with Sting is physically, he is pretty much spent. Never a great technical performer, Sting got by in his prime thanks to his charisma and his athleticism. At 55, that athleticism is pretty much gone, and Sting isn't even close to the physical figure that he was in his prime. We haven't seen him work in a while, but if his last year or so in TNA was any indicator, Sting probably has passed his expiration date as an in-ring performer. Sting wrestling at Wrestlemania will certainly be a big moment, but anyone expecting a great match will likely be disappointed.

Sting in WWE was something that many fans never expected to see, and while nothing has been confirmed, all indicators point to Sting wrestling one final match, likely at Wrestlemania. WWE has a lot of work to do if they want to handle Sting correctly, as Sting is putting a lot of trust in their hands in handing his legacy back over to them.