It was a month ago that a mysterious video first aired during WWE programming. This one minute vignette featured a dark house amidst pouring rain and ended with a date on the screen. Look to your left and you will see how it looked to us on that day. Despite two hours of programming, it was this one minute package that sparked the most conversation amongst WWE fans.
You see, WWE's biggest competitor closed down in 2001. That company, known as WCW, almost put WWE out of business at one point. Since the buyout in 2001, all the stars from WCW have appeared in some regard for the WWE. From Ric Flair, to Hulk Hogan, to Diamond Dallas Page, and even Goldberg, all have eventually given the WWE a shot. All except for one man.
He was WCW's dark knight. A surfer turned loner that became the WCW's rebellious foil to the nWo. He was WCW's Shawn Micheals, a reliable performer who never switched sides during the Monday Night Wars, staying loyal to his brand until the bitter end. Even when his company closed, he was the one guy who stayed the company line, opting to work for the much smaller TNA since 2003 and never once truly giving WWE a look.
At first, the man they call Sting was a martyr, a man refusing to jump due to his religious convictions and WWE's subsequently immoral programming (keep in mind his first refusal came around the time that Triple H simulated sex with a corpse), but as time went on and the moral background changed, Sting's tune didn't. His age did, however, and his value to WWE diminshed by the year.
Fast forward to 2011. The WWE releases a dark vignette, and despite this tactic always pointing to an Undertaker return (he's had about 30 over the years), the fact that Sting was a free agent led to speculation that WWE had done the unthinkable. A glimmer of hope grew to a viral forest fire as many in the internet wrestling community shared the same tiny bit of disbelief that the impossible finally happened. For the next week, that rumor took on a life of its own. Then, another vignette aired.
This one should have silenced the masses, as the video ended with Johnny Cash's "ain't no grave" playing in the background. This song was used to promote the Undertaker/Shawn Michaels match and its lyrics also fit the Undertaker's story, as he was buried alive the last we saw of him. Still, some held out hope.
"There's two people in the video!"
"If you pause it after the numbers fade, u can see they fade into the word STING!"
"The boots are pointy! Undertaker doesn't wear pointy boots!"
Conspiracy theory was running wild, but I held silent. Often times, I like to speculate what will happen, as you all know, but this time I decided against it. While I basically knew that the promo was for the Undertaker, I decided to hold on to the small chance that Sting would in fact appear on WWE programming. What did I have to lose?
I was realistic though. I wasn't going to be let down when 2/21 was revealed to be The Undertaker like so many others were. If Sting would be there, great. If not, it'll still be a fun moment to see play out.
As it turned out, 2/21 was in fact Undertaker, but his return was quickly outshined by the return of The Game, Triple H. Without saying a word, these two essentially set up a match against each other at Wrestlemania 27, using non verbal communication to tell a match of titans. Nowhere to be found in all this was Sting.
Shown below is the scene from last Monday's Raw broadcast. You will see two of WWE's biggest stars of the past 20 years setting up a match at Wrestlemania for the first time since 2001. Back then though, Undertaker was playing this g-d awful biker character that showcased why he was better off a a deadman (awful mic skills). Now, it is a match of veterans, of superstars, and of legends.
So was Sting ever under consideration? From what I have gathered, the hoopla surrounding the first promo caused WWE to reach out to Mr. Borden, who was not a consideration until that point. This is merely rumor, so take it simply as that. Obviously, this last minute overture was unsuccesful, as the Stinger still has not taken the plunge.
Should we care? Maybe. I think most wrestling fans would have appreciated a run from the Stinger in WWE before it's too late, but it may be that the white faced avenger is simply like eye confetti to the WWE. No matter how much you reach out, you'll just never grab them. However, if you are World Wrestling Entertainment, do you really hang out head in shame when you put two megastars in the Undertaker and Triple H together, along with bringing back The Rock for the vent? Somehow, I just don't think WWE is crying over this.
But are the fans? Leave some comments as to whether you wanted to see Sting in the WWE or not. I'd love to hear from you guys on this topic, but be aware, we have a Sting update coming..........
Written by:
