How will Sting be remembered by the casual WWE audience?

[Creepy Old Man]

Okay, so Sting is a 30-year veteran who had some of the all-time great WCW matches with Ric Flair, Vader, Mick Foley, Randy Savage and others. Next to Austin, he was the hottest thing in the business in 1997. He's worked with Hogan, Austin, Bret, Angle, Goldberg and just about all the big names of his era. But none of that was in WWE. Up north, he's had one feud and match, which he lost. Sting did everything well, from body language to mic work to athleticism within the actual match (a wig would have helped, but hey). WWE were bipolar about how to present him: Stephanie, Triple H and the unbearable JBL flat-out buried him with very little in the way of acclaim, Cole had praise but let his "I'm-WWE-so-f**k-everything-WCW" bias come through on several occasions, while Lawler and Booker, the afterthoughts, were supportive of the Stinger. You could feel the palpable anger from the WWE lifers when Sting was on screen.

WWE hyperbole is key. It's why you rarely see Randy Savage in a millennial's top 10; the company can erase hugely successful and extraordinarily talented names at will, convincing casual fans they didn't matter. Will WWE be willing to swallow its pride and perpetuate Sting as one of the all-time greats of the business going forward? Will Sting's run with Triple H be enough to convince casuals that this guy was somebody? Will casuals feel compelled to dig up Sting's WCW work from his prime?

Just how will they remember the Stinger?

 

[Seosa]

The E botched Mania as far as Sting goes. He looked sombre on Raw the following night and there was a general sense between him and the fans that the company had screwed up, you can just see it in his mannerisms.

As for the casuals, probably neutral. A guy who turns up, the company says is a legend but loses at Wrestlemania. Plus, he has a bald patch.

It's a shame, and it sucks.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

"An nWo member who lost to Triple H"

Is how Sting will be remembered. Seriously, I'm a Helmsley fan and even I thought it was ridiculous that he went over the biggest ex-WCW name to not wrestle in WWE. Any knowledge of WCW, any knowledge at all, also made it hard to buy into the whole "Hogan and his nWo boys show up to help Sting". 7 year old me was a mark for the Fed. It was where I started and where I still am long after WCW's death. But even the casuals had to - had to - have been aware that Sting was being assisted by guys he had spent many years in feuds against.

Let me vent for a second about how ridiculous that it. That is like hordes of Mordor Orcs making the save for Frodo at the last minute, only for Sauron to win at the end.

Negativity aside, Sting was pretty hyped up and he may well wrestle again, so it could yet be salvaged. I'm sure even the newest of casuals have a fleeting awareness of what WCW was, anyhow.

 

[SoulTrain4]

Only a fool watching wrestling and doesn't know who Sting is. This question is better suited for the younger audience that is unfamiliar and bottom line is with the Network they can educate themselves. One match doesn't really mean anything despite what internet dweebs think.

Sting is secure in himself which is why he understood that losing doesn't mean shit. Fans are petty and insecure, the performers more than often are not.

 

[Pedigree1]

Good question. Casual Fans its hard to say how they will remember Sting. I hope for certain that at least the casual fan knows who Sting is and was the man in WCW and a bone fide legend in this industry.. A guy who literally went down with the ship when he should have jumped along time ago..

Maybe they will remember his time in TNA where he spent what damn there a decade in that company.. But i hope at least the even the viewer that doesn't tune in will remember Sting for a legend even though he lost at WM.

 

[FromGlasgow]

The fact that he was wrestling at the biggest event of the year in one of the biggest matches in his debut for the company kind of proves he's not just some guy they brought off the street, If someone is that unknowledgeable about wrestling to have never heard of Sting or WCW to be honest I wouldn't really be that bothered in their wrestling related opinions.

 

[whoopin' ass]

As the guy who lost to HHH. Why should he be remembered any other way - even Vince said they brought him back from obscurity. The current wwe audience only knows WCW as a plot point. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if half of them think it is a company wwe made up and that it never existed. Because he never had a history with wwe before now, the current audience won't care that much about him.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The current wwe audience only knows WCW as a plot point.

Well, yes. If WWE truly has been marketing to the kids, why should we be surprised none of 'em have the foggiest idea who Sting is? Or was?

Plus, the OP mentioned the "casual" audience. I suppose it depends on what we consider as casual, but it seems to me many, many of the folks who take the kids to house shows see Sting on the bill and figure they're going to see the English singer-songwriter..........Well okay, not really, but it's been 14 years since the demise of WCW and Steve Borden's successful avoidance of WWE has to have taken a toll on his recognition factor.

Personally, I was happy to see him at WM31 and the night after, but I'm over 30 and a wrestling fan as long as I can remember. If the "casual" audience is being introduced to Sting at this late date, they will hopefully take something good away from it.

Hope the DVD sales are good........at least good enough to justify the mountain of money they're likely paying him.

 

[lilroach420]

Im 30 and growing up Sting was absolutely my favorite wrestler. He picked me up at a house show when he was fighting Terry Funk, when I was like 3 years old. The crow gimmick made a 12 year old me orgasm every time he came to the ring. That being said, I was totally fine with his Wrestlemania match. It took Triple H, HBK, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, X-Pac, AND a sledgehammer to put him down. Not many can that, aside from maybe Undertaker himself.

I also watched Wrestlemania with several 'millenials' and casual fans in the form of my brother & sister-in-law, and several of their friends. Sting, to them, appeared to be this untouchable ICON who was on par with names like HHH, Undertaker, etc. So I'd say WWE did a decent job of playing up his importance.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Are we assuming he will never be heard from on WWE programming again? If so, he is a guy who at age 173 got on a Mania card where he got a big paycheck, fought the boss, had Hogan as a sidekick, shared a ring with Michaels, used a bat, and only lost due to a piece of construction equipment to the head.

Lighten up.

 

[kadroan]

Okay, so Sting is a 30-year veteran who had some of the all-time great WCW matches with Ric Flair, Vader, Mick Foley, Randy Savage and others. Next to Austin, he was the hottest thing in the business in 1997. He's worked with Hogan, Austin, Bret, Angle, Goldberg and just about all the big names of his era. But none of that was in WWE. Up north, he's had one feud and match, which he lost. Sting did everything well, from body language to mic work to athleticism within the actual match (a wig would have helped, but hey). WWE were bipolar about how to present him: Stephanie, Triple H and the unbearable JBL flat-out buried him with very little in the way of acclaim, Cole had praise but let his "I'm-WWE-so-f**k-everything-WCW" bias come through on several occasions, while Lawler and Booker, the afterthoughts, were supportive of the Stinger. You could feel the palpable anger from the WWE lifers when Sting was on screen.

WWE hyperbole is key. It's why you rarely see Randy Savage in a millennial's top 10; the company can erase hugely successful and extraordinarily talented names at will, convincing casual fans they didn't matter. Will WWE be willing to swallow its pride and perpetuate Sting as one of the all-time greats of the business going forward? Will Sting's run with Triple H be enough to convince casuals that this guy was somebody? Will casuals feel compelled to dig up Sting's WCW work from his prime?

Just how will they remember the Stinger?

The way WWE build him up, I think the young WWE audience will remember him as a legend. May even go back to watch his old WCW matches on WWE Network. I'm still surprised HHH beat him but thanks to HHH, him and HHH are part of the two biggest moments in wrestling history - Sting's debut and nWo and DX finally in the same ring.