What if the Ultimate Warrior and Sting traded places?

[It's...Baylariat!]

I got to talking with one of my comrades on the site. His name is Monkey, by the way. One thing we talked about is Sting, his favorite wrestler. Sting's one of my all time faves, too. Anyway, back in the days of the Universal Wrestling Federation, a territory ran by Cowboy Bill Watts and featured talent such as Dr. Death Steve Williams, Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert, Terry Taylor, and a tag team called the Blade Runners. A team that featured the Ultimate Warrior, who was named 'Dingo' Warrior in UWF, and Sting. The tag team was God awful at first. They were real green and thrown into action with very little training. But over time, they became a solid tag team and found a niche in getting over with the crowd.

Eventually, bigger and better things were in store for Warrior and Sting. Warrior made it to the WWF, where he ended up as one of the biggest flash in the pan stars of all time. He made his mark though. Beating Hogan during Hulkamania's peak, having reigns with the Intercontinental Title, and WWF Title during his run are nothing to sneeze at. Sting held his own as well, he ended up becoming near legendary and had a much more lasting career than Warrior. Sting also beat Flair during the peak of Flair's career, also beat Hogan during the NWO days, and was an icon to most wrestling fans, young and old.

But what if things were different. What if the WWF wanted Sting instead? What if the NWA picked up the 'Dingo' Warrior? To me, Sting would have been even more legendary and Warrior may not be relevant at all. To me, I see Sting taking the reigns just like Warrior did. Only Sting would have longevity. And Sting would be a WWF/E guy and not a WCW guy. So maybe we don't see Hogan and Sting in WCW. Maybe WCW goes bankrupt before it actually did. Who knows? So what are your thoughts? What if this actually happened? What scenarios do you see taking place? What would have happened to WCW?

 

[Theo Mays]

First off, fantastic thread Lariat. Now onto the post.

I also agree that Sting would have done what Warrior did and then some in the WWE. I think we would have seen Sting dominate the midcard and become the IC champion having feuds with the likes of Mr. Perfect, Jake Roberts, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Ted DiBiase, and Rick Rude. Those would have been legendary. And then that would lead us up to the battle with him and Hogan. I'm not sure it would have happened at WM 6. I think it may have been held off until WM 7. So this in turn puts Slaughter on the back burner and who knows what would have happened with him then. Sting would take down Hulk and become the new champion. I think he would have a nice run and maybe he is the one to drop it to Slaughter. As we know Desert Storm (I think?) was going on at the time and Slaughter was a major heel. Then Hogan could have taken the strap off Slaughter at Survivor Series. Assuming Sting drops it at Summerslam.

Pfffew, let me take a breather here. This might be my best non-spam wrestling post I've ever made. *Takes a drink of water*. Now lets get back on topic.

There is one downfall I find in all of this. What would become of Bret Hart. Hart of course would soon start to fade out of the tag team scene soon and branch off as a solo star. Would Sting adopt a new finisher or would Hart use something other than the Sharpshooter. Hell, if Sting reigned in the WWE, would Bret Hart have ever gotten over. Maybe Hart would have been the one to jump to WCW and become a huge star over there. If Hogan would leave for WCW, then I believe Hart would have stayed and become the number 2 face behind Sting. If Hogan stayed however, that pushes Hart out of the picture and we might never know if Hart would bud into a star. I really think Hogan would have still left for WCW to try and save it, as Ultimate Warrior would flop there after a few runs with the World title. So that leaves us now with Sting (still Surfer style) and Hart as the top two guys. Luger is going to come in around this time, as will Yokozuna. Savage starts to fade out and HBK is starting to become a presence in the midcard. I think in the end the WWE would have been in a better place and would still have Sting to this day and he would put over the likes of HBK, Triple H, Steve Austin, Rock, and Undertaker.

Regarding Ultimate Warrior, like I mentioned in the above paragraph, he would have practically had the same career. A flash in the pan, as Lariat said. He would have a nice mid card run, win a few world titles and then flop. That is where Hogan would come in and try to make the save. He would and we'd have our Monday Night Wars and I still think WCW would tank and Vince would buy them out. So WCW isn't really effected at all. Whereas the WWF/E prospers in the situation and would still be the top wrestling promotion as it is today.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

If Sting and Warrior traded places. Simply put, Warrior wouldn't even be thought of at all. Sting in the WWF would have been huge, and would've sent Hogan to WCW faster than he did. Sting would have brought the WWE to bigger and better heights during the new generation era. I would even go as far to say that WCW would have never gotten as big. People loved Sting, sometimes even more so than Hulk Hogan. Sting new how to stay fresh when he was younger. Hogan didn't. Neither did Warrior.

Hogan wouldve passed the torch, and Sting would've been a household name for sure. The what ifs here are all around. But we all know that Sting wouldve been just as big as Hogan, maybe even bigger, and Warrior would have had to start his speaking career in 1987. Simple as that.

 

[ashe draven]

Ohhh, this woulda been VERY damaging to wcw imo. losing one if their top stars of alltime. the great matches w/ flair/luger/vader etc would never exist. warrior could never replicate what he did. i think warrior would be a midcarder at best w/ this switch.
wwe woulda got a performer that woulda sent ripples affecting careers & pushes throughout the entire roster.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

One of the biggest factors here is which gimmick you'd prefer. I personally believe that Sting would have never adopted the crow gimmick if he had gone to WWE instead, as it was pitched to him by Scott Hall. Another thing to consider is, would Sting have stayed with his old gimmick, which I'm pretty sure is referred to as "surfer," or would he have found an entirely new one at about the point he became Crow Sting? Would he have found a new gimmick even SOONER? Would Sting have ever turned into a full fledged heel in the WWE, and how would that have worked?

There are too many things for me to consider right now, especially at this hour, but I believe Sting wouldn't have been as long term a success as he is now, nor do I believe he'd still be wrestling today. But it would have been something pretty incredible. Worst case scenario is that he gets buried by Hogan.

Also, imagine a Prime Hotrod vs Sting feud. ...I just got giddy. :3

 

[Chill]

Had Sting went to the WWF, I think he would have had the potential to be as big as Hogan. In my opinion Sting had it all (and still has it to a lesser extent now), he had charisma in bucketloads and he had the in ring ability to go with it. Imagine if Sting had the WWF hype machine behind him, in my mind there's no doubt he would have been huge because the WWF would have been able to market him as this phenomenon and that's something the NWA wasn't able to do to the same degree with their resources. Sting was huge in WCW and had he went to WWF, I think his legend would be even greater than it is now.

As for which gimmick he used, I'm not really sure it would have mattered in terms of his success, so long as the WWF marketed it correctly. Perhaps the 'surfer' would have fitted well with the WWF's cartoon era back then as the 'crow' was a much darker inception of the character when it was first debuted, but all in all Sting would have been massive in the WWF either way. Feuds with Hogan, Piper, Slaughter, Undertaker, Andre etc would have been 'classics'.

Had the Warrior taken Sting's place in WCW, it's hard to say how well he would have fared especiallly during Bill Watts' run with the company when it was much more about the in ring product than the flashiness exhibited by the WWF at the time. Much of Warrior's success was built around that larger than life catoon character, more so than his wrestling ability (quite obviously) and so I think he would have struggled more in WCW.

 

[brochester8]

This brings me to one of the Ric Flair DVD's where Naitch says that if Sting was in WWE with Hogan they would have being saying "Hulk Hogan Who" which can't completely say that because Hogan was around longer but Sting would have taken over the top spot and had an even better career in WWE as he did in NWA/WCW. I have always hoped for an appearance by Sting in WWE but I don't see that happening at this point in his career.

 

[Miko]

I think both their careers would've been much worse, I cant see Warriors style fitting in with WCW at the time, he might've been successfull due to his raw charisma and connection with the fans, he would've probably been a world champion but I am not sure if he'd have left the mark on WCW/NWA as he did on the WWF.

He wouldnt have got that monster push, would've had to work harder to obtain his success, probably would've left the company in similar circumstances to which he left WWF.

Sting wouldnt have got the Warrior push in WWF, that I am certain of, he'd have been more of a Randy Savage, another back up player to Hogan. Warrior was being bred as Hogan's replacement, he was younger than Sting, shit I think he's younger than Bret Hart, the guy was going to be the future of the WWF, much as I love Sting I just cant see him in that role, I just dont think he had that raw kind of energy that Hogan and Warrior had. I think Hogan's dominance would've continued a lot longer.

Truth be told I think Sting would've jumped ship with Hogan and Savage, Warrior would've been fired from WCW, then gone to WWF and been about as successfull as his real life WCW run. Neither guy would've had the success they had with the promotions they ended up in, of that I am fairly certain. They were both in the perfect places for them.

 

[ipewrestling.com]

If Sting would have gone to WWE, I think that he would have had limited to moderate success. I don't ever see him being in the Hogan role, and I'll tell you why: Sting appealed to the down-south "rasslin'" crowd. To them he was everything Hogan was to WWE fans: a bleached blond, cut up, Californian superstar. WWE already had one, why would they need another. Sure, he had charisma, but it wasn't Hogan-like. He could talk, and was a much better worker than Hogan, but, for me at least, he never pulled me into his matches like Hogan did, he never really made me care about him. If he would have gone to the WWE, I see him being upper midcard, maybe IC title, but definitely not in the Hogan spot.

 

[drew1]

i disagree to the above post. warrior would have pretty much ceaed to exist. Warrior is completely and entirely a product of the wwf machine. from his music to his booking to the media push. WCW wouldn't have done anything like that. There would have been no wwf creative team behind him and no hogan to pass the torch to him. He really only had charisma, and wwf harnessed it and created the ultimate warrior character. In wcw he would have gone in as the dingo warrior and would have pretty much faded in a year.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

I think both their careers would've been much worse

I think one of their careers would've been much worse. Care to take a gander at which one that might be?

I cant see Warriors style fitting in with WCW at the time, he might've been successfull due to his raw charisma and connection with the fans, he would've probably been a world champion but I am not sure if he'd have left the mark on WCW/NWA as he did on the WWF.

Aww, looks like you agree with me..kind of. Warrior wouldnt have been anybody. With the way the WCW/NWA was churning out terrible gimmicks back in the day, there's no way that Warrior, even with his charisma would've been able to overcome it. The only reason his gimmick worked in the first place is because he LOOKED like a fucking Warrior. In WCW he would've gotten saddled with a ridiculous gimmick. Something like I dunno, The Tin Man, I say all I needed was a heart. Something he never had for wrestling.

He wouldnt have got that monster push, would've had to work harder to obtain his success, probably would've left the company in similar circumstances to which he left WWF.

Agreed, wait, why am I arguing with you again?

Sting wouldnt have got the Warrior push in WWF, that I am certain of, he'd have been more of a Randy Savage, another back up player to Hogan.

Ahh here it is. This is why. You say he would've played a backseat to Hogan, and been more like Randy Savage. Wrong. Sting was ten times better than Randy Savage. The question was, what if Warrior and Sting traded places. Sting would've been able to keep the momentum after Hogan passed the torch and he would've been a big time company player for years to come. Unlike Warrior. Sting would've been selling out MSG and bringing the WWE to new heights like he had a hand in doing in WCW.

Warrior was being bred as Hogan's replacement, he was younger than Sting, shit I think he's younger than Bret Hart, the guy was going to be the future of the WWF, much as I love Sting I just cant see him in that role, I just dont think he had that raw kind of energy that Hogan and Warrior had. I think Hogan's dominance would've continued a lot longer.

Wrong, Warrior and Sting are the same age. Hell they broke into the business at the same fucking time. you might have heard of the Blade Runners. What an awful, miserable tag team that was. I digress though. Sting had every bit of the charisma, energy, athleticism. work-rate, drawing power, and much more that Warrior did, and he had it all ten fold. With Vince McMahon behind Sting he wouldve made Sting the biggest name in wrestling.

Truth be told I think Sting would've jumped ship with Hogan and Savage, Warrior would've been fired from WCW, then gone to WWF and been about as successfull as his real life WCW run. Neither guy would've had the success they had with the promotions they ended up in, of that I am fairly certain. They were both in the perfect places for them.

I disagree. Sting has always been a company man. He was with WCW until it folded, and always stayed loyal to them. He would've done the same for the WWF. He is loyal, something any other wrestler not named HBK, HHH, Or Taker is not. He would've stayed in WWF went on to main event wrestlemanias and became a house hold name. I think if Sting wouldve started out in the WWF he wouldve been bigger than Hogan was. In fact, I'd be willing to say that if he came in before Hogan did, and had Hogans experience at the time. Then Hogan would've been jerking the curtain, or his own meat for some cash.

Yeah...I said it.

 

[sevtrecie]

Warrior would have not shined in WCW it just wasnt his fit. The only thing that would have "worked" for warrior in WCW is that he would not have had to work so hard. Sting however is a hard worker he would have shined as a main eventer in both federations. in WWE he would have shined as the ultimate hell and ain WCW he success as a face would have continued. Remeber he first days in WCW he was sort of a hell.
All and all if they would have traded places, the federations would not have been any different since the main eventers of both federations had names like Hogan and Flair.

 

[dman1373]

Sting would have gotten incredibly over because he was such a good wrestler and he had the gimmick. He would have gotten THE beginning of the warriors CAREER. Then he wouldn't have screwed it up so then he would have had a more chances to become champion. Now warrior would have dropped of the radar because wcw was a different beast. It was almost purely about wrestling. Sure their were the storylines with the four hoursemen and all that but you had to be a good wrestler to make it to the point of getting those promo and storyline opportunities.

Now some of you are talking about Sting holding Bret back if he would have came to WWE. I would have to agree. He fits in the time period right before Bret and he has the same finisher so It would have took Bret a little longer to get to the top. But Bret would have gotten his shot eventually.

 

[Grizzly0u812]

If Sting and Warrior traded places, I do not see Warrior even having a tenth of the success he had in WWE if he was in WCW, where would Warrior of fit in, they had the horsemen, doom with teddy long and so on, warrior might of had a couple matches against sid vicisious and luger and so on but really he would of faded out.

Sting in WWF/WWE, if we are talking when sting first came into wrestling not sure what they would of done with him, would he even have been Sting in WWF/WWE or would he be under another name, we know how Vince like to take guys and change their name, among other things, hell guys who have had great success and love by fans in other areas come to WWF/WWE and vince water's them down, look at kid kash, when I use to watch him in TNA I think it was he was a high flyer risk taker and I thought was not bad in the ring, comes to WWF/WWE and gets put with Jamie Noble and becomes the pitbulls and watered down gimmic.

I truely think both guys would of not had what ever success as they did where they went, they went to the right place because they fit there.

be like warrior going to TNA, would be hard for him to run to the ring, very small area, could not do his gimmic on a 6 sided ring, lol

anyways, both guys found their nitch