Sting on WWE Offer: "I turned it down for the same reasons I always have,"

[It's Damn Real!]

In an interview with the UK Sun <http://www2.dailystar.co.uk/inthering/view/184049/Wrestlemania-takes-hold/>, Sting chimed off about the invitation to join WWE, why he refused and what he was offered:

&#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t say it was utter nonsense, that&#8217;s not true!&#8221; laughs TNA&#8217;s champ. &#8220;It&#8217;s a dream match that fans would want to see. It was close. I&#8217;m glad things turned out the way they did.

&#8220;There are so many variables. Let&#8217;s just say that I turned it down for the same reasons I always have. Something in me never trusted what would happen up there, based entirely on the track record with other WCW guys and everything that went on after Vince bought WCW.

&#8220;I wont be watching but I&#8217;ll be asking what happened between Undertaker and Triple H.&#8221;

...and that, my friends, is an expert example of what the value of loyalty can do for you.

But hey, what the hell would Sting know? It's not like guys like DDP, Booker T, etc. were ever buried when they jumped to WWE. Oh, wait...

Thoughts on this? Criticisms? Concerns? Irrelevant and incessant banter and jaded negativity about how he'll now retire in front of "25 people" instead of whatever number in WWE where he'd have debuted only to lose to the Undertaker just like every other WCW star had to play second fiddle to the WWE "Superstars", as if that actually matters?

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Sting just said it one more time. I guess this pretty much takes a piss on all the people who claimed he was a hypocrite because he "claimed" he didn't go to WWE because of his Christian beliefs or whatever.

Mad respect for Sting. That guy knows his value and won't sell himself for money. That's why he'll have the legacy he does. Good for him.

 

[I_got_bant_for_idiocy]

What a moron sting is.. why is he so scared how wwe is gonna handle him, vince wants to make money hes smart, and undertaker vs sting at mania would of made hellla money, now ur in tna fighting with RVD and crackheads like jeff hardy hahaha smart choice stinger

 

[It's Damn Real!]

What a moron sting is.. why is he so scared how wwe is gonna handle him, vince wants to make money hes smart, and undertaker vs sting at mania would of made hellla money, now ur in tna fighting with RVD and crackheads like jeff hardy hahaha smart choice stinger

"HAHA" yourself, troll. Jeff Hardy hasn't been on television since his fuck up at Victory Road and TNA has no plans to bring him back any time soon, so kudos to you for exposing to us just how little you actually watch this program (if at all), and thanks of course for commenting on this despite the fact you have such little reason to.

As to what he's scared of? Hmm... I dunno, maybe having a stare-down dead in the middle of the ring and having his opponent mouth "Who are you?" It's called being buried, and dozens of WCW stars experienced it after joining up with Vince.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

What a moron sting is.. why is he so scared how wwe is gonna handle him, vince wants to make money hes smart, and undertaker vs sting at mania would of made hellla money, now ur in tna fighting with RVD and crackheads like jeff hardy hahaha smart choice stinger

He didn't go because he would be buried. How is Sting jobbing to the Undertaker a good thing? Fighting with RVD and Jeff Hardy is not so bad. I guess that for you money is more important than principles.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I don't doubt the accuracy of the first sentence in the bolded portion of IDR's quote for one second. I absolutely believe that Sting turned down the WWE offer (assuming this is all legitimate, it is the Sun after all) for the same reason he always has. I am not so sure, though, that the reason he gives is completely legit and accurate. I have other ideas about why Sting has always refused to jump ship, but my reasons are different than those he states.

Look, more power to the guy for this alleged display of loyalty. Such loyalty is something which is sorely lacking in many cases these days, regarding professional wrestling and beyond. I do think, though, it is a bit of a stretch to suggest that all of the former WCW guys were buried after coming to WWE. Sure, some of these guys jumped ship before WCW actually folded, which is admittedly a little different than coming over afterwards. Nontheless, I seem to recall such guys as Jericho, Big Show, Mysterio, Benoit, Guerrero, Goldberg, and others coming over to WWE from WCW and making out just fine. It is foolish to assume that he would automatically be buried if he came to WWE.

Plus, what did people expect? Had the 2/21/11 vignette series actually been Sting and he had come over to the big leagues, of course he would have been slated to lose to the 18-0 Undertaker. This would hardly be construed as burying Sting, no more than any of the other opponents of Taker at WM were buried. Sting could have come over, lost to the Undertaker, but then moved on to some meaningful and significant feuds in the WWE.

Sure, Sting declined the WWE offer for the same reasons he always has. Not quite sure if loyalty or fear of being mistreated by the WWE has as much to do with it as Mr. Borden would have us all believe.

 

[I_got_bant_for_idiocy]

I guess that for you money is more important than principles.

at the end of the day its all about money.. but people say the rock is a sell out for leaving to hollywood and not returning to wrestling, i think sting is a selfish person himself for not going to wwe which millions and millions of fans want to see but he rather go to TNA and wrestle in the impact zone with 200 ppl in the crowd and recycle wcw storylines from 98

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I don't doubt the accuracy of the first sentence in the bolded portion of IDR's quote for one second. I absolutely believe that Sting turned down the WWE offer (assuming this is all legitimate, it is the Sun after all) for the same reason he always has. I am not so sure, though, that the reason he gives is completely legit and accurate. I have other ideas about why Sting has always refused to jump ship, but my reasons are different than those he states.

Look, more power to the guy for this alleged display of loyalty. Such loyalty is something which is sorely lacking in many cases these days, regarding professional wrestling and beyond. I do think, though, it is a bit of a stretch to suggest that all of the former WCW guys were buried after coming to WWE. Sure, some of these guys jumped ship before WCW actually folded, which is admittedly a little different than coming over afterwards. Nontheless, I seem to recall such guys as Jericho, Big Show, Mysterio, Benoit, Guerrero, Goldberg, and others coming over to WWE from WCW and making out just fine. It is foolish to assume that he would automatically be buried if he came to WWE.

Plus, what did people expect? Had the 2/21/11 vignette series actually been Sting and he had come over to the big leagues, of course he would have been slated to lose to the 18-0 Undertaker. This would hardly be construed as burying Sting, no more than any of the other opponents of Taker at WM were buried. Sting could have come over, lost to the Undertaker, but then moved on to some meaningful and significant feuds in the WWE.

Sure, Sting declined the WWE offer for the same reasons he always has. Not quite sure if loyalty or fear of being mistreated by the WWE has as much to do with it as Mr. Borden would have us all believe.

Difference being, none of his other opponents were one-time opponents or likely one-time opponents who were only coming into the company in the first place to wrestle him, so yes, he would be buried. You don't have a guy debut only to bury him &#8212; especially not a guy like Sting.

All it says is "WWE beats WCW again" to me.

 

[I_got_bant_for_idiocy]

" "Who are you?" It's called being buried
.

Why cause the rock said that to booker t, who was a wcw copy of the rock with his bookend move, and also remember booker t won the world title after and became a mainevent player in wwe after.. he didnt get buried probably more known for his wwe action than his wcw shit

 

[FightOwensFight]

I get the whole "he would get buried" arguement because it did happen to some of the WCW guys that came over. I just don't remember it happening to anyone as big as Sting. Not saying it didn't, just that nothing jumps out at me.

I would have to believe at this point that Vince would see the dollar signs as opposed to holding some grudge about Sting never coming to his company. Call me naive if you want, but Vince is about money and his reported goal of 1,000,000 PPV buys for Mania would have been easy had Sting come on board.

I guess I just don't know enough of the sitution. I had always heard he didn't come to the WWE because of his Christian beliefs (which, as a Christian, I can completely respect). That being said, much of that was stuff I read here, so take that for what it is.

If I had to guess, based on his "It was close" comment, he was in negotiations, and was probably asking for complete control of how he is portrayed and booked (or at least some signficant level of control) and wasn't getting it. If that was the case, I can definately understand his feelings as I would think the same thing. I would be forced to ask myself, "If they aren't giving me control, what are they planning to do?"

Would have been awesome to see, but in all honesty, I feel it would have been a bigger loss to TNA than it would have been a gain for WWE and TNA would have really struggled to recover, and a good TNA is better for the industry.

Wow, a little long-winded, but there you go.

 

[CDoherty]

You can tell in the interview he at least thought about it and didn't just say no. More than likely the money wasn't right. Sting can't handle a WWE schedule, so all they could really get out of the guy would probaly be one big match and a HOF induction. So why would the WWE pay this guy all this money and have him go over on one of Vinces talents. Sting would have to lose it would make no sense for him to win. To me though you can put up with crap in TNA and do exactly what you did there the last year or go to the WWE and have one last hurrah, wrestle in front of millions of fans, and have that last big moment.
Speak of loyalty is absurd, WCW is dead, move on.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Difference being, none of his other opponents were one-time opponents or likely one-time opponents who were only coming into the company in the first place to wrestle him, so yes, he would be buried. You don't have a guy debut only to bury him — especially not a guy like Sting.

All it says is "WWE beats WCW again" to me.

See, I am absolutely positive that if Sting had been a mystery man in these vignettes and had elected to come to WM27 to wrestle against the Undertaker, he was destined to lose. I think we are all in agreement on this. There is no way that the streak is going to be ended by a guy just debuting in the company, even if it is someone with the resume and the longevity and respect of Sting.

But why would this involve Sting being buried? He could lose a long, drawn out and very competitive match, culminating in a pinfall by Taker and a suitable show of respect by him for his opponent. Sting would lose the match, but not be buried in the slightest. After this match, someone else could call him out, someone such as Punk, or Orton, whoever, and they could start a new rivalry in which he could emerge victorious and receive his due rewards.

Truth be told, I think we all know why Sting is continuing to duck WWE, especially in the twilight of his career.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Why cause the rock said that to booker t, who was a wcw copy of the rock with his bookend move, and also remember booker t won the world title after and became a mainevent player in wwe after.. he didnt get buried probably more known for his wwe action than his wcw shit

Yeah right — I'm sure his "Five time! Five time! Five time! Five time! Five time WCW World Champion" moniker was all about his WWE success, right?

Him having climbed out past that hole is irrelevant — he was still buried.

Got some answers for DDP? How about Scott Steiner?

 

[Genius_Deadman]

i can see both good and bad out of this decision.

i do think he'd be jobbed in WWE, for a few matches, so Vince can then create his "own version" of Sting (kind of like what he is now in TNA, i don't think Vince goes the Crow route much). WWE couldn't be too bad though, because guys like Booker and Nash returned to it, in some capacity. he's friends with Shawn who's friends with HHH, who basically has the most stroke, so if Sting confided in Michaels to convince Hunter to not job him and push him for a last run in the big company, he would have.

the bad i see in this situation is his solution for not going to WWE: returning to TNA. it's an absolute mess there. they have one high point lowered by 2 low ones. they ruin what they get right and royally at that. now this is just my personal opinion on Sting: i always thought he was overrated as a "main guy". i think he's a great second tier name in a wrestling company. he reminds me of a Macho Man or an Undertaker, someone who you really wouldn't buy tickets for if they were the main face of the company but if they're in the mid card, you know the card is really solid. i think Sting enjoys being the face of a second rate company right now. the schedule and money benefit him and he, by name alone, doesn't draw ratings. it's like sports where a role player is overpaid. i know i'm gonna get grilled on that, but oh well.

i think his decision to not go to WWE is a good one, the sad thing is TNA was the only other option left for him.

 

[nolimitwordz]

how is sting selfish for not signing with wwe? are you serious? lol he's not obligated to do shit. can you honestly blame him? 90% of people that came from wcw has been burried by vince. so naturally he's going to go to the place that he knows will treat him right and put him in the main event where he deserved to be

 

[It's Damn Real!]

See, I am absolutely positive that if Sting had been a mystery man in these vignettes and had elected to come to WM27 to wrestle against the Undertaker, he was destined to lose. I think we are all in agreement on this. There is no way that the streak is going to be ended by a guy just debuting in the company, even if it is someone with the resume and the longevity and respect of Sting.

But why would this involve Sting being buried? He could lose a long, drawn out and very competitive match, culminating in a pinfall by Taker and a suitable show of respect by him for his opponent. Sting would lose the match, but not be buried in the slightest. After this match, someone else could call him out, someone such as Punk, or Orton, whoever, and they could start a new rivalry in which he could emerge victorious and receive his due rewards.

Truth be told, I think we all know why Sting is continuing to duck WWE, especially in the twilight of his career.

Doesn't matter, man &#8212; he still loses. Sting. The fuckin' ICON Sting, loses to Undertaker, because as drawn-out/long as the match may have been, he is never going over him. Ever.

I can count on one hand the number of times Vince truly put a WCW guy over one of his own stars.

Who's to say Sting would be coming in to work full-time, anyway? What if it was a one-off deal? Kevin Nash and Booker T from what I understand haven't done a damn thing since the Rumble, so what indication is there that Sting would either?

Too many variables, man. Too much risk. He was and is better off in TNA.

 

[orton0384]

I honesly feel the stinger made the right choice for himself. We can all crack on tnas recent troubles but i dont watch the product regularly so i wont comment. I do watch it occassionally for ken anderson though. But i am by no means a tna fan so to speak.

I believe the stinger will go to the big bad evil wwe as the op is painting them to be. Its just a matter of time i believe. For now im happy if the stingers happy. Whether it be tna or wwe. It would still be the stingerrrrrrr!

 

[achromat666]

Difference being, none of his other opponents were one-time opponents or likely one-time opponents who were only coming into the company in the first place to wrestle him, so yes, he would be buried. You don't have a guy debut only to bury him &#8212; especially not a guy like Sting.

All it says is "WWE beats WCW again" to me.

On most points, I have little problem with the OP of this post. Sting does have a lot of respect in the business, and if he was offered and refused on principle, then more power to him.

But on a Taker/Sting WM match, that would have nothing to do with burying anyone. Taker hasn't lost at WM, and Sting coming in shouldn't automatically affect whether that changes. That's about how the match is booked, and considering every person that's been with Taker at WM has lost, whether they've been at the WWE most of their careers or come from somewhere else, it being a one time thing shouldn't truly factor in.

In this case taking the WWE beats WCW mentality is going a bit far. If he did nothing but lose after his debut that would be a different story. Losing to Taker at WM does not equal burying anyone. Never has.

.

 

[I_got_bant_for_idiocy]

Yeah right — I'm sure his "Five time! Five time! Five time! Five time! Five time WCW World Champion" moniker was all about his WWE success, right?

Him having climbed out past that hole is irrelevant — he was still buried.

Got some answers for DDP? How about Scott Steiner?

DDP had his angle with undertaker but he just didnt have IT, scott steiner same with him.. lets speak about goldberg they bought him in the rock put him over, they bought in ray mysterio another wrestler who became world champ and one of the fan favorites now, ric flair another wcw wrestler they bought in, the nwo, eric bischoff..

 

[Genius_Deadman]

Yeah right — I'm sure his "Five time! Five time! Five time! Five time! Five time WCW World Champion" moniker was all about his WWE success, right?

Him having climbed out past that hole is irrelevant — he was still buried.

Got some answers for DDP? How about Scott Steiner?

really great arguments. to be totally honest, i respect DDP, but he just wasn't getting over in with the WWF/E. he was the 2nd tier talent in WCW behind Hogan/Sting/Nash/Flair/Goldberg/etc. he was then going into a company where it inflated because of the acquisition. Paige wasn't a big enough name to build InVasion around, neither was Booker. Vince made it decent with Austin turning on the WWF. certainly if they had just one name like Goldberg/Sting/Hogan, you wouldn't see a WWF turn. if you tried to push Paige somewhat, you'd have to bump down a guy like Taker, Kane, Angle, etc. that was one of the reasons for the draft, but at that time (if i remember correctly), Paige was hurting too much to work a decent match anyway.

Steiner is just about the easiest one to answer: he just couldn't work. he couldn't work a WWF quality match and i think, back then, the WWF ring was a bit bigger than WCW's ring, which limits their work more than before. the main WCW guys worked the promos, the mid card WCW guys worked the matches, Steiner couldn't do both there but only got the strap because of his monster look imo

 

[Article 1]

I was always hoping to see Sting in wwe but after all the "buried" talk. I'm glad he decided to stay where he was. Much respect for the ICON.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

DDP had his angle with undertaker but he just didnt have IT, scott steiner same with him.. lets speak about goldberg they bought him in the rock put him over, they bought in ray mysterio another wrestler who became world champ and one of the fan favorites now, ric flair another wcw wrestler they bought in, the nwo, eric bischoff..

DDP was fed to the Undertaker and then left to fend for himself in meaningless mid-card feuds with that ridiculous "Positively Page" gimmick. Former WCW World Heavyweight Champion turned nonsense.

Steiner feuded with HHH, lost (of course), and then went on to participate in a bunch of bullshit with Stacy Keibler and Test. Former WCW World Heavyweight Champion turned nonsense.

 

[nolimitwordz]

I can see why Steiner was buried. He was good in wcw but when he came to wwe he just couldn't cut it anymore. His matches with triple h were just terrible. DDP however was always a great worker. They could have done so much more with him but just dropped the ball. I was actualy glad when he wound up in TNA. Figured they would atleast use him decently enough.

 

[achromat666]

I think everyone can agree overall that the Invasion Angle was handled badly, especially how it ended. Vince couldn't even try to give the illusion that the Alliance had won just to help get the guys over. And a lot of talent got wasted.

Though honestly I always felt sorriest for Kanyon (RIP). I don't think they ever knew what to do with him and it is a shame because he was a very gifted performer.

 

[I_got_bant_for_idiocy]

Steiner feuded with HHH, lost (of course), and then went on to participate in a bunch of bullshit with Stacy Keibler and Test. Former WCW World Heavyweigth Champion turned nonsense.

steiner just cant work and doesnt have it, what has he done since, hes in tna doing nothing feuding with a jobber over a head piece, speaking of buried wrestlers !!!!! sting will be known for his wcw days but in tna forget about it !!!! dumb mistake he made