Sting's Bizarre WCW Championship Win Against Hulk Hogan, Explained (havoc 1999)

Highlights

• Poor creative-booking choices ruined WCW's reputation in its final years, particularly in 1999, with events like Sting pinning Hogan after he laid down for the pinfall.
• The downfall of WCW was devastating to the wrestling business, as WWE became the dominant promotion without any competition until AEW emerged. It's a shame to see WCW's demise considering its history and memorable moments.
• WCW's demise was even worse because it had a talented roster, including main event talent like Hogan, Sting, Nash, Booker T, and Goldberg. The potential was wasted due to bad creative decisions and the loss of millions of dollars in revenue.

Despite the star power WCW had within its roster towards the late 1990s and early 2000s, poor creative-booking choices continued to make the organization look bad during the final years of its run. Many awful angles ruined WCW's reputation in the long run, especially starting in 1999. An example of this would be events that occurred during Sting's WCW World Heavyweight Championship defense against Hulk Hogan at the Halloween Havoc 1999 PPV, where Sting pinned Hogan after he decided to lay down for the pinfall.

RELATED: 10 Things You Should Know About Sting's Wrestling Career In The 1980s

The Death Of World Championship Wrestling

The downfall of World Championship Wrestling was something that hurt the professional wrestling business forever. Since WCW closed its doors in 2001, WWE is still to top reigning professional wrestling promotion, with no other organization to push the company to its limits until AEW came around. With WCW's rich history and the memorable moments it gave fans watching its product, especially during the Monday Night Wars, it's a shame that WCW's demise had to happen the way it did.

However, WCW is not blameless regarding its demise, as many of the poor creative-booking choices the company made through its final years did so much damage. So much so that some may have been happy to see WCW, despite the popularity that it once had during the mid to late 1990s.

And what makes WCW's demise even worse was the potential it had in its dying days, from the talent it had within its roster to the TV deals it had within WarnerMedia. From 1999 to the day WCW aired its final Nitro on March 2001, WCW still had the likes of main event talent like Hulk Hogan, Sting, Kevin Nash, Booker T, and Bill Goldberg within its roster while having many talented performers who could've had the opportunity to be future main-event players for the company.

RELATED: 10 Cringey Moments From Sting's Wrestling Career Fans Should Know

WCW's Downfall In 1999

Speaking of 1999, let's just say that it was not the best year of WCW creatively and business-wise. Despite professional wrestling becoming the "cool thing" during this time when both Monday Night Raw and WCW Nitro were pulling in tremendous TV ratings, WCW's downfall could be traced to 1999, as the company ended up losing millions of dollars in revenue.

Furthermore, although there were many reasons why WCW struggled business-wise in 1999, it's worth discussing the horrible on-screen angles that destroyed WCW's reputation, and not just the ones fans remember, like the infamous "Fingerpoke Of Doom" moment on a January 1999 episode of WCW Nitro. Later that year, WCW had arguably one of its most embarrassing moments during the Halloween Havoc PPV, where WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting defended his belt against Hulk Hogan.

Sting Vs. Hulk Hogan At Halloween Havoc 1999 Was One Of The Worst WCW Championship Matches

For those who may not be familiar, Halloween Havoc 1999 was not well-received by critics. And one of the reasons it wasn't well-received was the events that occurred during the Sting vs. Hulk Hogan match, where Hogan came out in his street clothes looking like he was in no mood to wrestle.

Regarding the backstory of this match, Sting had recently turned heel when he defeated Hulk Hogan at the previous Fall Brawl PPV by hitting him with a baseball bat. This newly turned heel Sting would continue his rivalry with Hogan as the two got set for a rematch at Halloween Havoc, with Hogan getting the chance to get his title back.

Unfortunately for Hulk Hogan, it appeared he had no interest in getting back his title at Halloween Havoc, as he seemed to have no problem lying down and taking the pinfall defeat from Sting. After the match ended, Hogan stood up and walked out of the ring.

The Aftermath For Both Sting And Hulk Hogan

Sting may have technically defeated Hulk Hogan in their forgotten rematch, but Sting wasn't done for the night, as he had to wrestle Goldberg in the main event of Halloween Havoc. Goldberg, who won the WCW United States Heavyweight Champion from Sid Vicious that same night, defeated Sting and was initially thought to capture the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

RELATED: Scott Hall Vs Hulk Hogan: A Forgotten WCW Match Between nWo Founding Members, ExplainedHowever, it turned out that Goldberg didn't win the belt from Sting as it was revealed the next night on WCW Nitro that Sting never agreed to put his title on the line, even though Sting was forced to vacate the belt due to attacking WCW official Charles Robinson.

Regarding what happened to Hulk Hogan, he took time off following Halloween Havoc until returned in early 2000. However, Hulk Hogan departed from WCW that same year after taking part in another ridiculous angle at the Bash at the Beach 2000 PPV.