Why Sting's Short Run In WWE Was So Disappointing, Explained

Highlights

• Sting's WWE run left a lot to be desired, with his loss at WrestleMania feeling like a final shot against WCW despite the feud ending years earlier.
• Despite Sting pitching a dream match with The Undertaker, it never appealed to McMahon, further limiting his opportunities in WWE.
• Sting's WWE career was cut short due to a serious neck injury, forcing him into retirement until he eventually made his way to AEW. WWE wasted one of their biggest signings.

Throughout the history of professional wrestling, fans have seen some of the biggest names in history go from one promotion to another. In 2014, fans were shocked when they saw “The Icon” Sting make his debut in WWE at Survivor Series. It was a monumental moment. He had been one of the faces of WCW and TNA. At one time, he was the biggest name to never have signed with the company. However, Sting’s run in WWE left a lot to be desired.

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Sting Sets His Sights On Triple H

Before signing with WWE, Sting had made a name for himself as arguably the biggest name in WWE’s rival promotion, WCW. He had wrestled numerous classic matches for the company, becoming a six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Even when WCW was bought out by WWE and in the years following, Sting still never made the jump while many big time names had. Instead, Sting made his new home wrestling in TNA. He faced some of the biggest legends of the past and future generations of professional wrestlers. He eventually left TNA in 2014, signing with WWE that same year.

After making a few non-wrestling appearances, he made his first step into a WWE ring at Survivor Series 2014. He came out to aid Team Cena against Team Authority. He attacked Triple H and helped Dolph Ziggler to score the win over Seth Rollins. It was a phenomenal debut and a great way to usher in one of the biggest legends to have never signed with WWE before then. It also set up a feud between Sting and The Authority. He constantly was getting involved in matches that The Authority was a part of, costing them some serious wins. At Fastlane 2015, Sting had a confrontation with Triple H.

WrestleMania 31 Was A Disappointing WWE Debut For Sting

In his first address to fans on an episode of Monday Night RAW, Sting had come out to say that his rivalry was with The Authority and that he was not there to fight in the name of WCW. Despite saying this, this was ultimately not what happened. At WrestleMania 3,1 in a no disqualification match, Sting faced Triple H in his debut WWE match. It was two of the biggest names of their era clashing at the biggest show of the year. It also seemed like it would have made the most sense for Sting to win the match, seeing as it was his debut and he had been built up strongly. He had far more to lose than Triple H did.

During Triple H and Sting’s match, there was involvement from D-Generation X to lend support to Triple H. Triple H pulled out a sledgehammer to use against Sting, but then out came the nWo. DX and the nWo brawled while the two fought in the ring. Shawn Michaels even got involved and delivered Sweet Chin Music, but Sting kicked out. Scott Hall handed Sting his signature bat, which he did not use when he could have. However, Triple H did not hesitate to use his sledgehammer. This allowed Triple H to get the win over Sting, with the two shaking hands after the match.

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Sting's Final Feud With Seth Rollins Led To His First Retirement

After this first defeat, Sting was not seen for months. He eventually did return to challenge Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship. In the build-up to this match, he defeated Big Show on RAW and on that same night teamed with John Cena to beat him and Rollins. At Night of Champions 2015, he challenged Rollins for the title. He did not win, however, and suffered a serious neck injury during the match. During the match, a buckle bomb gone wrong caused a serious injury to "The Icon." He never wrestled in WWE again. He retired after this for a period until he made his way to AEW.

There were a number of things wrong with Sting’s WWE run. His loss at WrestleMania felt like WWE delivering one last shot against WCW, despite the feud ending years earlier. In addition, despite Sting pitching a dream match with The Undertaker, Dave Meltzer (h/t Sportskeeda) reported that “Sting wanted to do a Cinematic match with Undertaker, and for whatever reason, while fans have clamored for Undertaker vs. Sting for years, it has never been a match that appealed to McMahon.” Furthermore, injury also forced him to retire from in-ring action for years until he made his way to AEW, where he wrestles to this very day. It seemed like WWE was never going to go all in on Sting, wasting one of their biggest signings.