Sting At Wrestlemania.....18

[TUFFY54]

Everyone knows that Sting turned down an offer from the WWE after his AOL contract expired. However, I have never heard anyone actually talk about when this happened. Recently, former WWE write Dave Lagana told the story in his blog:

"Sting at Wrestlemania almost happened nine years ago. Wrestlemania 18 will always be remembered for the memorable Hogan vs. Rock battle in Toronto. That event also featured Triple H winning the undisputed World Title from Chris Jericho and Steve Austin facing NWO Scott Hall (w/Kevin Nash). Sting was approached that year to make his WWE debut and wrestle on the big event. Once he was introduced to the brand, it was pitched that at Wrestlemania 18 Sting would face Kurt Angle. If you remember, Kurt was eventually thrown into a match with Kane with little setup. The deal apparently fell apart as Sting wasn’t willing to work the full WWE schedule. Now nine years later, we might finally get to see Sting in WWE."

What do you think would have happened if Sting had signed in 2002?
Lets imagine he signed a one year deal. Who would he have feuded with?

I'd imagine he would have beaten Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania 18. They would have feuded for the next PPV until Sting moved on to feud with the Undertaker. I think Summerslam 2002 would have seen the dream match between Sting and Taker. I think he would have won the title sum time in the fall/winter before having a match with Triple H or Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 19.

 

[Tech N9ne]

That is someone I could have totally seen Sting wrestling against in his debut. Kurt Angle would have been the perfect victim for his huge WWF/E debut. It wouldn't have hurt Angle to lose at Wrestlemania, plus he was a former World Champion, a big name AND he was a WWF/E guy.

I also agree that Sting would have won The Title. I never believed that WWF would have buried Sting. I think they knew he was a big name and could really benefit from pushing him. They even could have used his loyalty to WCW and never coming to WWF, as some sort of profitable storyline. So, I think he was a name that couldn't have been buried. There is a big difference between Sting and DDP, Booker T, Buff Bagwell etc...

The inevitable matches that everyone would have demanded and still wants to see, is Shawn Michaels versus Sting, and The Undertaker versus Sting. 2 Dream Matches could have taken place within a year. Let alone the other opportunities...

Sting Vs. Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Kurt Angle, A WWF/E Match with Hogan. Maybe we would have seen Sting Vs. Brock Lesnar or Sting Vs. Cena/Batista. Plus many many more...

 

[nutt]

Ok, apparently this went over some folks heads....Sting's AOL contract expired in mid-February of 2002. At this point, WrestleMania X8 had been partially booked (compared to now when even Mania is subjective to hotshot booking):

Undisputed World Championship:
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Triple H
Legend vs. Legend:
The Rock vs. "Hollywood" Hogan

'Stone Cold' Steve Austin vs. Scott Hall
WWF Intercontinental Championship:
William Regal (c) vs. Rob Van Dam
No Disqualification:
The Undertaker vs. Ric Flair

Women's Championship:
Jazz vs. Trish Stratus vs. Lita

The matches above were pretty much booked ahead of time. Looking at the PPV, adding Sting to the mix with Kurt Angle would have shaken up the remainder of the card below:

European Championship:
DDP (c) vs. Christian

Hardcore Championship:
Maven (c) vs. Goldust

Kurt Angle vs. Kane
Edge vs. Booker T
Four-Way Tag Team Championship:
Billy & Chuck vs. The APA vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz

Too Cool II & Albert vs. Mr. Perfect, Lance Storm and Test

With Kane bumped in favor of Sting and Kevin Nash gets thrown into a match with Kane

Sting vs. Kurt Angle
Kane vs. Kevin Nash

 

[JJ15776]

I think Sting would've beaten Kurt Angle at WM and continued that fued for another month or two, then fueded with the nWo before moving on to fued with Triple H after he was given the World Heavyweight Championship by Bischoff. Sting would've held the title at some point (perhaps he would've had that month long reign that HBK got instead), then moved on to the fued with the Undertaker to set up their match at WrestleMania XIX. (Instead Taker fought Big Show and Albert in a handicapped match that year.)

 

[DeathClutch]

All these I think Sting would have won, there is NO I THINK to it, YES he would of won, a big debut over Kurt Angle would of resulted in a rematch @ Backlash with Angle getting the win and possibly moving on to Judgement day oooor after WrestleMania Sting would of went his way and Angle his way and WWE would of built up Sting vs Kurt Angle II for SummerSlam (or maybe even WrestleMania XIX).

I've always thought Wrestlemania 18 looked good but lacked that one big match and Kurt Angle and Kane had beef steaming from November 2001 when Kurt made Kane tap out to a angle lock in a pretty good match, I always assumed Kane/Kurt was always the idea but with little build up.

 

[CenaSux4Life78]

Not a bad train of thought. I myself often wondered what kind of fueds Sting could have been in, if he came to the E before "now". I quote "now" because though we know its him in these promos for 2/21/11 we havent seen it yet. But the one fued I would have loved to have seen would have been Sting vs Randy "The Legend Killer" Orton. I really think that would have been epic. Weather or not Orton had that phase of his character at WM18, I dont remember. But its not to bad an idea.

 

[DeathClutch]

Not a bad train of thought. I myself often wondered what kind of fueds Sting could have been in, if he came to the E before "now". I quote "now" because though we know its him in these promos for 2/21/11 we havent seen it yet. But the one fued I would have loved to have seen would have been Sting vs Randy "The Legend Killer" Orton. I really think that would have been epic. Weather or not Orton had that phase of his character at WM18, I dont remember. But its not to bad an idea.

Orton wasn't around at mania 18, he joined around the May-June 2002, with Batista, Cena and Lesnar (who joined the RAW the night following Mania 18)

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think if Sting had joined the WWE before WM18, then I think Kurt Angle would have certainly been a fine candidate for his debut match, with Sting winning of course.

I know WWE has a reputation for undermining the legacies of former WCW talents, such as Goldberg, Steiner and DDP but I do believe that Sting would have been TOO BIG of a name for anything like the to happen. Sting is a smart man, I could see him demanding a guarantee for something like this in his contract. I certainly think we would have seen a Sting world title run, had he joined in 2001.

I would have booked Sting strongly throughout the year, a feud with Stone Cold would have been awesome to see, Austin giving Sting the finger before taking a beating with the bat would have been legendary, but I would have saved Undertaker v Sting for the 'Mania the year after.

Sting would have won the Royal Rumble to guarantee himself a spot in the main event at WM, and Undertaker would have won the world title the following night on Raw, leading to the show ending with Sting appearing on the stage with his bat pointed at the Deadman, then signalling the belt across his waist. There would then be enough time for the story to be built into a classic, before the 2 finally collided at WM, with Undertaker surprising everyone the week before 'Mania by dropping the Bad Ass gimmick and returning to his roots as the Phenom.

I would have had Undertaker defeat Sting at 'Mania but offer him the opportunity of a rematch, where Sting would win and take the title.

 

[byrnside]

I would have to say that if Sting came in during the Invasion, it would've been cool to see him as a loner, similar to how he was in the nWo first started. He would come down from the rafters and attack both sides, WWE and WCW. But ultimately, I still would've liked his first feud to have been against The Undertake, even though he was the biker. Maybe they could've squared off before 'Mania XVIII and Sting could've won leading the Undertaker to change back to The Dead Man gimmick at 'Mania.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The overtures to Sting would have been going on from the moment Trips was injured.

I think had the noises from the Sting camp been positve then Trips would not have been in the Jericho match at Mania... I think realistically that they would have positioned Sting to be the guy to unseat Jericho and have Trips facing Angle on his return, particularly with his particular injury. Would Trips stand the Ankle Lock would have been a great hook for a match.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I think that Angle was a perfect choice for Sting's opponent at WrestleMania 18 and the perfect name for Sting to go over.

Personally, I would have made sure that Sting signed a contract till WrestleMania 19. Then in the first half of 2002, I would have booked him as an unstoppable monster. Not figuratively obviously but I would make it seem as if no guy is being able to counter Sting's mind games. The victims of Sting woudn't really have to be big names, I think that guys like Guerrero, Jericho and Benoit could get the job done well enough.

Then towards the latter half of the career I would have Sting lose his first match in the WWE to a big name, say Stone Cold Steve Austin via some sort of distraction, say a video appearing on the screen. The same video could continue to appear on the screen during Sting's matches thus causing him to embark on a losing streak. This could lead to Sting getting paranoid and just start attacking people randomly with his baseball bat. To add spice you could also have Undertaker, the American Badass teaming up with Sting to look for the guy who has been making Sting's life hell. Then a week before WrestleMania you could have Taker revert back to his deadman persona and reveal himself to be the guy who has been playing games with Sting because he could not just stand there and see himself get replaced by a second rate clone leading to their WrestleMania match.

 

[The Crock]

It would have been a fine match, and an excellent debut, no doubt.... but do you really think it would go all that well? This was when Vince was crushing WCW guys, this is when he was the "big dog" on the block. He wouldn't let Sting debut and beat Angle, one of his rising stars, at 'Mania. Not because it wouldn't make sense, but because he couldn't let WCW come out on top. Sting said it himself, he was afraid of how they would have pushed his character, truth be told... I would have been too. Although, Sting was an icon and he was faaaaar above Booker T and company, I still have a nagging thought that Vince would have let his ego get in the way. I don't think it would have worked out, personally.