Sting Failed At Politicking For Big WWE Match

In the last several years of Sting's career before his retirement in 2016 — that he's since come back from — there was one dream match that wrestling fans wanted out of him: a match with Undertaker, preferably at WrestleMania. The demand built up organically, stemming from early 2011 WWE promo videos setting up Undertaker's return being misinterpreted by a large number of fans as better fitting Sting's aesthetic. 

It didn't happen, though rival TNA Wrestling (now Impact) capitalized by bringing back Sting with a very similar video. Rumors would heat up again a few years later, but the match never happened, and Sting explained why in a piece by D Magazine.

Sting's TNA contract expired in January 2014 and he knew he wanted the Undertaker match for WrestleMania as his big send-off. He sent a text message to Vince McMahon and Paul Levesque that read, "Have you turned the page on Sting yet?" McMahon replied almost immediately and they came to a deal within weeks, but Undertaker's WrestleMania opponent, Brock Lesnar, was already on the books. 

According to Sting, that was the only time he actually brought up the Undertaker match idea, which indirectly led to him being booked against Triple H for his WrestleMania debut the following year. "It was never going to happen," Sting said of the Undertaker match. "Never."

Instead, he lost his WWE debut — the Triple H match — and several months later, suffered a neck injury in his lone WWE main event against Seth Rollins at Night of Champions 2015. The company wouldn't clear him, so he announced his retirement during his acceptance speech at the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Sting last wrestled at AEW Full Gear on November 19, teaming with Darby Allin to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal in a no-disqualification match.