Sting got double screwed, but hopefully the money and the HOF headliner spot was worth it.

First, he didn't get the Undertaker match he wanted, even though Taker wrestled on the same card. I know they couldn't predict the Undertaker's schedule at the time, but Sting was a fool to accept the HHH feud knowing the history of guys like Booker T in The Rock feud.

Then, of course, by accepting a loss to HHH in his first WWE match at Mania and buying the whole "Well, we need to set up HHH-Rock at Mania next year" thing. It's ironic, because The Rock was no more locked in for 32 than Taker was for 31, so Sting lost out due to indefinite planning both times.

All Sting really wanted in the end was that one last big payday and to work a Mania show, so I guess that's that. Definitely too nice and too selfless for this business.

 

Nepotism running wild jack, and what is worse about it, they made the big 3 from NWO look like jay brones too

 

You know Vince was sitting in the back laughing the whole time. It was just one more chance for him to put WWF over WCW and DX over nWo.

I wish Sting never signed, but I get that he had no choice if he wanted to preserve his legacy. I will never believe he wanted to come in and job to people beneath him though. He wanted Taker but Taker didn't want the match.

 

This has nothing to do with Vince.

Sting stated that Triple H was his 2nd choice for WrestleMania 31 (Undertaker was his 1st choice).

As for him losing, well Sting was supposed to retire at WrestleMania 31 (hence his Hall of Fame induction soon after). With Sting scheduled to retire, him losing was the right call especially since Triple H was going to remain around. Sting later decided that he didn't want to retire, which is why he continued to wrestle. But the original plan was supposed to be a one and done for Sting.

Considering that WM 31 was supposed to be Sting's retirement match, the WWE did a good job protecting him. HHH's win over Sting was far from clean. He needed the assist of HBK, all of DX and a sledgehammer in order to put Sting down.

 

Theres no way Sting losing was the right choice any way you spin it, if it was gonna be his one and only match in WWE why the fuck would you have him lose and in dirty fashion? thats fucking idiotic.

Besides that its not like it would have hurt Triple H to lose to Sting, he's an icon and one of the top names in the industry, Triple H could have afforded to lose to him there and he would have been fine ffs, its not like Triple H is some up and coming wrestler who isn't established yet.

 

It was absolute bullshit. Sting should never have agreed to it.
The match that fans wanted to see was Undertaker v Sting (preferably before 2015) but as usual, Vince does what Vince wants, says "fuck you" to the fans and just buries another WCW legend.
Sting is still an Icon and a Legend in my eyes though.

 

I don't get why Sting didn't just say I'll come back if you guarantee me Taker, even if he couldn't get Taker at WM 31 why not wait another year? He had already held off for what 13, 14 years? Only way it makes sense is if he was desperate for money.

 

I try to act like this never happened. Sting to me > WWE

 

It was fucking stupid then and it's even more stupid now, in retrospect. There is no defense of it.

Sting needed the win more than HHH ever did. To make his first-ever run in WWE after an illustrious career in WCW and TNA, you had a chance to where a victory at his first WrestleMania could have opened more doors to other matches down the line with a strong victory over a WWE stalwart but of course, because it is Triple H and his ego knows no bounds, he went over on some stupid WWE v. WCW war that didn't matter anymore.

Sting in WWE was a colossal flop and this was the final nail in the coffin.

 

The funny thing is Sting made it clear he's not fighting for WCW in his promos (after Triple H named himself the destroyer of WCW :mj4 ), but then we get to the match and it's DX vs NWO :lmao

 

There are times when I try to see if there is a bigger picture involved, but in this instance I don't see any.

 

And by the way, fuck Hunter for thinking we're dumb enough to believe that he had to go over for a Rock/HHH match at WrestleMania the following year.

Are you telling me even if Hunter lost at Mania to Sting that he couldn't believably be built as a credible threat against the Rock? Hell, Rock lost to Cena at 29. He'd need the build-up more than Hunter in the feud.

No, it was the case of Hunter not putting his ego aside for the sake of doing good business and not having the foresigh to see that Sting winning in his first Wrestlemania could have led to more things for him down the road than what it ultimately did. It's bullshit like this in recent times as to why I have little to no confidence HHH will be the answer to WWE's woes once Vince is gone. He hasn't changed. He's still an egocentric, passive-aggressive douche who has self-esteem issues because he was never the star or the draw Austin, Rock, Taker, or Foley were in his era and he has to throw his weight around to get fan gratification by co-opting Dusty's brand in NXT and other things that will curry favor to the hardcore audience.

This decision was dumb. Period. I'd think we're all wise enough to know a burial when we see one, especially when it involves Triple H.

 

And by the way, fuck Hunter for thinking we're dumb enough to believe that he had to go over for a Rock/HHH match at WrestleMania the following year.

Are you telling me even if Hunter lost at Mania to Sting that he couldn't believably be built as a credible threat against the Rock? Hell, Rock lost to Cena at 29. He'd need the build-up more than Hunter in the feud.

You're right 100% though did Hunter ever said he NEED the win? All I saw was Sting saying he thought it was his last match so he wanted to lose.

Of course a loss wouldn't hurt Hunter. Only his pride. He and Rock are big names for WWE, nobody would give a damn about their previous WM results.

 

It should've been Undertaker and Sting.

both men should've retired that night and we'd all of been better off for it.

 

Yeah, I think this is the problem. Sting vs HHH was the wrong match to do under the circumstances. HHH I admit probably losing was the best idea, but the way he was booked to win was stupid. It just killed what could have been a great moment for a one and done. It is probably why Sting came back to get a proper ending with his match with Rollins. That ended up horribly too.

Triple H already lost the previous two Wrestlemania's and lost the next one against younger talent who needed the rub of beating a legend. Sting wasn't gonna be around to put anyone over so it made sense for HHH to win as he had more in the tank. If you have him lose every big match he just becomes Jericho in WWE. Even a win against Cena doesn't mean much now as he's been beaten too often in a short period of time.

I think it's the booking of the match that is what is the real hang up.

I think trips had lost 2 mania's in a row so he needed a win, He should have wrestled somebody else if he really needed the win which he didn't. Completely buried Sting and won by hitting him with a sledgehammer then shook his hand afterwards :lmao

Yeah, I think it's the way it made Sting look foolish in the storyline and the match. That's my issue with saying I don't see what the big picture of it all was for. I think it had to do with making smoke and mirrors due to HHH not being able to carry Sting or vice versa. The match sucked.

I also blame Sting for agreeing to this. It kind of makes it clear now why that finish at Starrcade was such a screw up. Sting doesn't know when to use his political influence to say no to crap.

 

It's almost like they KNEW they would have Triple H dropping the title to Roman the following year so the win was to make Triple H look more credible at Wrestlemania, that being said they could have had Sting win even with interference like they had and neither guy would have looked worse for it.

 

Never Forget

 

worst part was lumping sting in the head with a sledgehammer then having sting shake his hand like "yeah yeah, you beat me fair and square".

the whole thing was fairly dumb though because sting returned and made it clear that it had nothing to do with WCW but rather about the authority. Yet WM roles around and suddenly it becomes a WCW / WWF greatest hits nostalgia trip with even the commentators passing out screaming "ITS THE MONDAY NIGHT WARS MAGGLE" and making references to trying to put wwe out of business etc. The commentators essentially turned sting into the heel during that match. The evil individual representing WCW that was coming to steal the food from vince's plate.

as soon as that match decended into that monday night wars recreation, it was pretty clear HHH was going to win because there is no way wwe is going to recreate the monday night wars within a match and not have WWE triumph in the end. That was just vince wanting another victory over WCW 14 years after the fact.

 

The only thing that pisses me off was that Hunter gets the heat for going over. This is all about Vince wanting everyone to make sure that the WCW guys were a joke. Nothing more. Nothing less. The match was a shambles anyway.

 

the match itself was an afterthought

Sting was only there for product shilling

WWE are clueless soulless bastards who have to go

 

Triple H already lost the previous two Wrestlemania's and lost the next one against younger talent who needed the rub of beating a legend. Sting wasn't gonna be around to put anyone over so it made sense for HHH to win as he had more in the tank. If you have him lose every big match he just becomes Jericho in WWE. Even a win against Cena doesn't mean much now as he's been beaten too often in a short period of time.

 

Triple H already lost the previous two Wrestlemania's and lost the next one against younger talent who needed the rub of beating a legend. Sting wasn't gonna be around to put anyone over so it made sense for HHH to win as he had more in the tank. If you have him lose every big match he just becomes Jericho in WWE. Even a win against Cena doesn't mean much now as he's been beaten too often in a short period of time.

Triple HGH can't be as good or competent as Jericho in anything pertaining to the wrestling business on his best day and Jericho's worst.

 

According to WWE/HHH;

'HHH was due to face The Rock the year after so he had to go over. Taker was mentioned when they were negotiating with Sting but he wasn't available for WM so the next best opponent was HHH'

:trips3

HHH going over was bad enough I don't care what reason he had, but the NWO/DX shit really would me up.

 

the golden shovel!

 

This is a hardcore fan problem and solely because it's HHH. Tough titty the 50+ year old guy loss.

 

Vince has treated plenty of former WCW main eventers fairly in WWE.

In 1992 Ric Flair won the championship twice and was the champion going into WrestleMania. He was originally planned to main event that WrestleMania.

Sid is a two time WWF Champion and main evented two WrestleManias.

Lex Luger main evented Summer Slam, co-won the Royal Rumble and competed for the championship at WrestleMania. The only reason he didn't win the title was because he failed to get better crowd reactions, not because Vince didn't give him a strong enough push.

Vader main evented Summer Slam in 1996 and was originally planned to win the title that year, but that didn't happen only because of Shawn Michaels.

Goldberg only had a one year contract in 2003-04, but he still main evented a handful of ppvs, was champion for a while, and got two clean wins over Triple H (when Trips was beating everyone)


Yes, there are examples like Dusty Rhodes, Sting, and arguably Booker T, but Vince gave plenty of opportunities to several other WCW main eventers.

 

I can still remember watching this live and turning it off once Sting had lost. I still can't believe to this day that they had Sting of all people lose at his first ever WrestleMania. I mean I can because it's Triple H but fuck me this was awful and one of THE worst things the WWE has done booking wise in my opinion!

The entire thing was off from the very beginning.

The build in my opinion was very lacklustre and could have been done so much better. I liked the idea of Sting being the last WCW holdout and that he was there to take down the corrupt Triple H and The Authority. Although that's an interesting angle to take, it just didn't really feel special or important to me though because they never really made an attempt to make it feel so. I mean why didn't they up the stakes and put Triple H's authoritative powers on the line or make a stipulation that if Sting wins then The Authority is out of business for good? Maybe get Linda McMahon involved and say that the shareholders aren't happy with The Authority and she forces Triple H to put his power on the line?

I don't know, they could have done so much more in my opinion to make it feel big and important. From my perspective it was just a match and felt like a complete afterthought when it was all said and done, that's probably because it was I guess...

Then came the actual match itself, what a complete mess this was! First of all, what the fuck was Sting's entrance about? Japanese drummers are not exactly the first thing I think of when it comes to Sting and I also hated that they didn't use his WCW theme either, just awful! The match itself was pretty bad too! I have to give props to Sting though as he pulled off some pretty good athletic moves like the dropkick and the crossbody to the outside. Very impressive especially for a guy of his age! The introduction of DX and the NWO was embarrassing and just another way for Vince and the WWE to take another shot at WCW and to rub in the fact that they won the Monday Night Wars, pathetic!

Then the finish, fuck this was the worst! HBK hits Sting with the superkick then Triple H hits him with the hammer and gets the pinfall! Then after being basically screwed, fucked over and humiliated both in reality and in kayfabe, Sting goes over and shakes Triple H's hand!

WHAT?????

Sting seems like a pretty cool dude and I think he was just happy to get his WrestleMania match and his payday but still. They basically just killed his character and legacy in a single night and he's thanking them for the opportunity, just terrible!

To make matters even worse is that later on in the show they have Triple H come out in his suit with Stephanie and they start building another angle with The Rock and Ronda as if his match with Sting had never even taken place!

It's just the ultimate burial and I hated all of it!

 

I had no problem with Hunter winning that match. Not sure why people think he should lose every match. He has to beat someone to maintain his credibility or you get situation like John Cena where beating him no longer means anything.

The most stupid thing about that match was having Sting shake his hand afterwards. I don't think I've seen anything that stupid before.

 

I love all the Triple H cry babies. They will never mention that Triple H put over 6 new guys at Wrestlemania. They won't talk about that Triple H has a terrible Wrestlemania record, but they sure will bitch that Triple H won one match against a old ass Sting.

HE BURIED STING!

Yes Stings legacy is ruined. Sting is a jobbers now.

Give me a break, God forbid HHH wins a match.

 

To this day I think this is the worst booking decision in WWE history.

Edit: I also say this as a big Triple H guy.