The Weird Sting Vs. Vampiro Rivalry, Explained
WCW tried to find success by putting Vampiro in a storyline with Sting in 2000. Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff working together led to the entire show being revamped with the New Blood vs Millionaire’s Club angle. The younger wrestler feuding with the veterans saw Vampiro getting his biggest WCW push against the already established icon Sting.
Fans were excited since the idea of two mysterious wrestlers with face paint working together seemed fun on paper. The potential was never fulfilled as the angle turned into a huge disappointment. Quite a few stories from behind the scenes and on-screen showed why it never worked out. Sting and Vampiro had one of the strangest rivalries in WCW history, one that deserves another glance today.
WCW Was Trying To Elevate Vampiro
The goal of putting Vampiro and Sting together as a tag team was designed to make Vampiro a bigger deal when WCW badly needed new stars. Sting’s weak feud with Lex Luger saw Vampiro becoming an ally of him in 2000 with their official name of the Brothers in Paint. The decline of WCW falling far behind WWE in the Monday Night Wars saw them trying to create new stars like Vampiro.
RELATED: 10 Sting Storylines That Failed But Should've Worked
WCW trying to utilize them as a team did not last long since they had the bigger end game of a feud. The timing was perfect with the New Blood vs Millionaire’s Club angle putting young stars against veterans. WCW booked Vampiro to become one of the more high-profile heels in the New Blood faction by going against his former partner Sting.
The past success of Vampiro in Mexico saw him proving he could get over at a high level in other settings. WCW showed a different version of his character, but Vampiro getting a chance to shine against Sting provided excitement at the time. Even when the ship was sinking, WCW gave the fans something worth caring about until the booking doomed it.
Vampiro Claims Sting Did Not Commit To The Feud
Sting generally has a popular reputation in wrestling for getting along with most talents he worked with. WCW, TNA, WWE, and now AEW have all seen the wrestlers to work with Sting speaking glowingly about his professionalism. Vampiro was one of the few names to run into trouble with Sting during their feud in 2000.
The belief was that Sting didn’t put his all into the feud and didn’t view Vampiro on his level. WCW booking didn’t do either many any favors either by putting them in ridiculous segments like stealing the bloodbath idea from WWE. Even their noteworthy matches featured absurd stipulations and embarrassing stunts that went too far.
Vince Russo ripping off the Inferno Match from WWE saw the Human Torch Match in WCW between Sting and Vampiro. The finish saw Vampiro setting Sting (or a stunt double in this case) on fire on top of the stage set and throwing him off. Fans didn’t treat Vampiro any differently the following night as WCW relying on stunts like this too often held them back. Sting not trying to have great matches or compelling segments with Vampiro likely was the biggest reason for the feud never connecting.
Their Feud Was An Ultimate Failure
The shocking moment of Sting's stunt double falling off the stage on fire was the peak of the Vampiro feud. WCW showed little investment in Vampiro by having him move into a program with The KISS Demon right afterward. Sting taking time off television could have seen WCW building Vampiro up stronger for a big rematch down the line.
WCW instead opted to have Vampiro feud with a lower mid-carder with less momentum than him. Sting eventually did return to get his revenge after Vampiro scored a win over The KISS Demon. WCW didn’t even try to book an attraction match and just moved forward by adding The Great Muta to the feud. Vampiro partnered with the longtime Sting rivalry before betraying him as well. Sting defeated both Muta and Vampiro in a triple threat match to end the feud coming out on top.
The goal of WCW putting them together was to improve the product by creating a new star and giving a legend something new to do. All desired outcomes from this led to a huge failure on WCW’s part since it continued to show the problems in the company. Vampiro and Sting couldn’t get on the same page creatively and would be placed in foolish matches or segments together. WCW dropped the ball for a rivalry between two unique performers that fans showed an interest in.
