Sting in the Wolfpac: Yay or Nay??

[relentless1]

I am going to play Devils Advocate here as I actually liked Sting in the Wolfpac. Alot of people say that sting in the Wolfpac was blasphemy or that it didnt make ny sense, to them i say that sure it didnt fit like a glove but it made sense, his best friend luger joined, Nash had helped him out weeks previous fend off nWo Hollywood and Hogan was his main enemy in the original nWo, id even go as far as to say that the others didnt really matter to him at that time. I thought it was the perfect segueway for sting going from the silent crow sting back into the talking crowing sting from years past, it also left open spots atop the WCW roster for new WCW main eventers (those spots werent filled but thats a whole nother ball of wax). In fact the only thing i would have changed about the Wolfpac split was i wouldve had it be Nash/Hall split from Hogan/Savage...Anyways, id like to hear youre guys opinions on it, what do you think? was Sting in the Wolfpac a bad move? Did it have any positives??

 

[HBsam31]

I didn't hate it as much as everyone else seemed to because he did need to transition back into someone that talked and had a personality. The crow gimmick was cool, but he could keep it forever. The fact is though it just didn't make a whole lot of sense. I understand that his friend Luger joined, but the very existence of Sting was to eradicate the NWO from WCW. It was the whole reason he came back as the crow, and pretty much his whole character at the time. He fought them from the beginning, and I could see why people were pissed when he turned and joined them even though it wasn't the back and white NWO. I would have rather seen the Wolfpack completely ditch the NWO name and become a group that wanted to take Hogan and company out. So while I didn't hate it, I have to stand by the fact that it just didn't make a whole lot of sense considering how much Sting fought with the group.

 

[Swarles Barkley]

Sting joining the Wolfpac was really silly. I think most will agree that the nWo angle should have died at Starrcade '97, so pretty much everything done after that was just to keep the angle going. The split between the nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac was just a way to keep selling nWo t-shirts. It didn't make much sense because Sting's sole purpose was to get the nWo out of WCW, but not much that WCW did with the nWo after its initial run (by that I mean everything before they watered it down by having 4,357 guys join the nWo) was done simply to keep it afloat. I didn't hate it, but by then I was bored of the nWo, so it didn't really matter to me.

 

[Makaveli31]

I agree..Sting in the an NWO shirt (no matter the color) and red and black face paint didn't match perfectly but it was exciting and fresh. I think they were building towards a Wolfpack and Hollywood faction showdown until Goldberg gained steam and completely took over WCW in 1998. Maybe they could have had Sting just align himself with Nash and not completely join the Pack.

For some reason they never completely went with Sting as THE franchise. They kinda sorta went with him in late '97 and early '98 but he never beat Hogan clean and destroyed the NWO which was his main goal for an entire year!! Then they had him drop the belt to Savage if I'm not mistaken then put him in the Wolfpack and he wasn't even the leader!!!. Don't know why they did that considering they spent an entire year building as the savior of WCW against the NWO. I have a feeling Hogan had something to do with it but just a guess.

 

[Headman]

Sting looked like a lady bug. Plus I don't care if there was a face faction of the nWo or not, Sting joining the nWo felt wrong. Then again the entire storyline was terrible.

 

[Greg4WWE]

my opinion it was stupid.. the whole wolfpac was stupid. Who was left in WCW during that? The cruiserweights?

Just a dumb angle all around. nWo should of stayed 4 or 5 guys at most.

 

[Makaveli31]

Wolfpack COULD have been an intriguing angle and faction if done right. They could have been a DX/Horsemen style faction.

First mistake was breaking up the Outsiders. Hall, Nash and Syxx (who had been fired) were the Pack. Everyone else with the exception of maybe Konnan looked out of place. Hogan and Bischoff seemed intent on breaking up the popularity of the Outsiders at that point.

Mistake #2 were the members they did include. Savage, Luger, Sting looked out of place alongside Nash and Konnan.

Luger didn't have the charisma or mic skills to join a faction that was built on catch phrases and interview skills.

Savage was viewed as an older wrestler and didn't look right alongside his younger looking counterparts.

Sting maybe could've worked as an ally instead of an outright member. He seemed to take a backseat to Nash and looked like a second in command instead of the leader we'd come to view him as.

Once Goldberg emerged though the Wolfpack/Hollywood angle went right out the window so we'll never know. But it had possibilities.

One angle could have been Nash/Sting vs Hogan/Hart. Don't have Sting or Bret join either faction but have them align alongside Hogan and Nash and work off of that. Then have them turn against each other and work with each other in a tournament with the winner getting a shot at Goldberg at Starrcade.

 

[starkmoto]

blasphemy! Sting in the Wolfpac was absolutely must watch tv. Konnan is the only questioinable member, also Hall should've been in. The night Sting turned black & white and then wolfpac was a night in wrestling history that I'll never forget.

 

[Ovaltine]

Sting in the Wolfpac was terrible. It made zero sense. Here was the franchise of WCW who fought against the n.W.o for almost two years and then he joined them and acted like a goof. Watching Sting do crotch chops, Wolfpac Ears, Wolfpac hand signs and dance around to hip hop music was terrible. However, he did have some good matches as Wolfpac Sting. I really can't remember him having any good matches as Crow Sting aside from the AMAZING matche he had against DDP in January (not to be confused with the REALLY AMAZING match he had against DDP in 1999) Page and Sting had great chemistry in the ring. It's a shame that WCW never really built on that. DDP actually said that he had his best match ever against Sting (Their 1999 match) STing Vs DDP could have been WCW's version of RVD Vs Jerry Lynn. Yes, in my opinion Sting Vs DDP was always that good.

 

[Judah's Lion]

Sting joining the Wolf Pac actually made sense to me. as several have already stated, he was in need of a bit of a transition anyway from the silent brooding character to the more dynamic vocal character he was before. switching from the Crow face paint to a red color was an easy way to start that transition. and it made sense to me for a few reasons:

1. Sting was feuding with Hogan/nWo for over a year. why not join a team that was created for the same purpose?

2. Sting/Luger were former tag team partners. in fact, they held the belts together prior to their Wolf Pac days and then again during their Wolf Pac days, so that worked for me too.

the biggest problem i had with the angle had nothing to do with Sting at all. again, as several have already stated, it just seemed that WCW didn't know what they were doing, where they were going, and were primarily interested in the satisfying of a few choice ego's (looking at you Hogan/Nash) and selling t-shirts.

Sting should have beat Hogan clean at Starrcade. this should have been the end of the nWo. but, if Hogan/nWo absolutely HAD to survive this night, then sow the seeds for a split and have a final war, maybe in a War Games match. and don't call the opposing teams nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolf Pac. it just makes it look like a civil war and not a war between two separate entities. my feeling is that many people would like the angle more if the stables were simply called nWo and Wolf Pac. two totally different deals. but there's a lot that could have and should have been done differently with the nWo and several threads/articles/books/movies have been created just for the purpose of discussing such things.

 

[justtxyank]

Sting joining was one of the best moments in wrestling in 1998, even if at the core it didn't make sense for him to join an "nwo" faction after he had spent a year+ feuding with them. He had not JUST been feuding with Hogan. Remember that the feud with the nWo started with him feuding with Nash and Hall. Nash was every bit the heel that Hogan was for most of the nWo run, and Sting was always on the other side.

But, that's doing something that wrestling fans on the Internet do too much of; over analyzing. Most wrestling storylines that drag out over a year don't make sense if you look for perfect logic. Heck, the Austin/McMahon story went places that were totally contradictory. That's what happens in wrestling.

I'll say this though. Sting being put in the Wolfpac was important for WCW because they needed to move him out of the main event scene. His addiction problems had gotten bad and he was struggling in his personal life. He was not going to be the backbone of WCW in 1998 but they still found a way to keep him relevant.

 

[ShinobiMusashi]

Big nay from me back then. I thought this was a really stupid move and was my absolute least favorite era of Sting's character. Really hated the red and black face paint. His personality went back to his surfer dude with him just seemingly having fun again like he used to, and that was all good, but Sting NEVER should have joined any version of the NWO no matter what.

It was excited TV wondering what side Sting was going to pick leading up to it, but overall the whole Wolfpac faction with Konnan, Luger, and red & black Sting was something that I wasn't a big fan of. I liked how they originally split the NWO up earlier in 98, but I think the angle took a downward spiral through the year, leading up to Disco Inferno becoming a part of the group. *shudders*

 

[rokuma]

While I LOVED the red and black look Sting had, I'm against it and here's why: WCW didn't end the NWO angle at Starrcade (which they should have done). So, from there an NWO split seems inevitable because Hogan has "dropped the ball." So, I think the Wolfpac/NWO split still happens, but I see it more like this: NWO Hollywood was always so diluted. I mean...Stevie Ray represented them in the War Games match. STEVIE RAY! I think the Wolfpac should've been something like this: Hall, Nash, Konnan, Savage. That's all they really needed. I think NWO Hollywood should've had Hogan, Giant, Henning, Steiner, and Bagwell as the main players. The Vincents and Scott Nortons and etc could really just fall by the wayside or pick a side. Then you'd have team WCW with DDP, Goldberg eventually, Piper, Sting, Luger (both of whom had been fighting WCW for 2 years at this point and then suddenly join them? Please) and then the eventual Four Horsemen reunion (Flair, Benoit, Malenko, Mongo). There's 3 legitimate factions with the Horsemen apart of WCW. NWO Hollywood should be heels, WCW would be the faces, Wolfpac would be the tweeners. Eventually you have to blow the angle off....the infamous War Games 98 match (8 of the biggest names EVER in one ring) could've been turned into...a 4 team melee. Can you imagine? Team WCW: Sting, Luger, DDP, Flair vs Team NWO Hollywood: Hogan, Hart, Henning, Giant vs Wolfpac: Nash, Hall, Savage, Konnan. Winner assumes control of WCW permanently. Team WCW wins. The other factions dissolve. NWO over. Sting, Luger, Flair, DDP (all WCW's gallant warriors) end the NWO invasion. Instead, it just kept going...and going...and going until fans were bored.

 

[relentless1]

^ i wouldve done something similar, when the split happened, i would have had it be savage sticking with hogan on the nWo side with hall and nash forming the wolf pac, i wouldve kept syxx and had bagwell join them along with konnan so on the red and black side youd have the outsiders, syxx, buff and konnan. on the nWo side youd have hogan, savage, giant, scott stiener, curt henning, rick rude, the disciple, eric bischoff. have the pac like what the DX army became, tweeners and the nWo stay heels, blow it off at war games 1998, wolfpac (Nash, Hall, Syxx, Konnan) vs nWo (Hogan, Giant, Henning, Stiener); loser disbands, Wolfpac wins, goes on to be fan fav faction for 1999

 

[dukes07]

I liked it. Sure I am a WCW mark....but they did need to transition. The fans fucking loved it as they went ape shit whenever Sting and the Wolfpac came out. I liked his feud with Bret Hart later that year too.

 

[Greg4WWE]

Sting, Savage, and Luger were just 3 guys that shoud of NEVER joined the nWo of any side. Especially Sting and Savage. I remembr being so pissed off when Savage joined because I was marking out pretty good when Sting and Savage seemed to join sides being "silent" showing up at areans.. Then Savage shows up at Super Brawl and helped Hogan beat down Piper. No explanations, nothing.. Just sucked.

But yeah, red and black Sting was just horrible.

 

[Ovaltine]

One storyline I would've loved to see...Sting and Goldberg battling for the true franchise spot in WCW

They teased that feud in 1999 and it barely happened. By the time that it started to Goldberg's popularity was on the decline. If you watch their match at Slamboree 1999 the fans were more than behind Sting by this point. There was actually a guy in the audience doing a Goldberg chant, but it wasn't a good Goldberg chant. Now that I am older I don't mind Goldebrg as much, but I wonder how much he was really loved by the fans. If you watch his matches it is beyond obvious that the chants were pumped in. Two things really make me question Goldberg's overness with fans. 1.) when he won the title from Hogan the ring filled up with Garbage. People were legit pissed (I know I was) 2.) In the Goldberg Vs Sting match that was on Nitro in 1998 the fans turned on Goldberg mid way through the match. Tony Schivonie tried to cover up the booing at the end of the match by saying the fans were booing Hogan, but they weren't. It was obvious that they wanted the streak to end that night. They were booingthe fact that Goldberg got a win over WCW... and by sdaying Goldberg beat WCW I am saying he beat Sting. Sting- more than anyone else is the very embodiment of WCW. People will argue that it was Flair, but I don't believe it was. Flair was the embodiment of 1980s NWA. Sting, no matter what version (crow, wolfpac, surfer or what have you) was WCW. Now, I am not saying Goldberg wasn't over. He was. He was over huge, but WCW through rigged chants were able to make him appear more over than he was. I vividly remember everyone that I knew at the time couldn't wait until the streak was over because it was getting (as a sign in the audience one night said) Getting OLD-BERG. It went on too long and when you have a guy no selling almost everything that guys like Raven, Sting, Hall, Hogan and Hennig were throwing at him there is a SERIOUS problem.

Sting, Savage, and Luger were just 3 guys that shoud of NEVER joined the nWo of any side. Especially Sting and Savage. I remembr being so pissed off when Savage joined because I was marking out pretty good when Sting and Savage seemed to join sides being "silent" showing up at areans.. Then Savage shows up at Super Brawl and helped Hogan beat down Piper. No explanations, nothing.. Just sucked.

But yeah, red and black Sting was just horrible.

I agree with this! I too was pissed when Savage joined the n.W.o. with no reason ever given. I was also pissed when Savage turned against the n.W.o. and then rejoined a week or so later and then got clobbered by Nash and then joined the Wolfpac a week later... really perplexing booking to say the least. However, if Savage didn't joing the n.W.o. there would never have been the DDP vs Macho Man feud. Sorry, but I will allow some shotty booking in order to have that feud. As for the red and black... Sting, Luger and Macho should never have been a part of them.