When Sting arrived in the WWE, I was super excited to see The Icon in their ring. Now from WrestleMania to Night of Champions in 2015, it was clear his run was a waste and a burial

HHH beating him was the wrong call. It was just another way of Vince telling the fans and any WCW icon that he won the War when everyone had already moved on

He wasn't treated like the star he is. They treated him like he was the lil brother.

I truly believe had Sting signed with WWE during the merger with WCW, we would've gotten Sting vs Taker at a time where both men were at the peak of their careers and could've put on a truly great in-ring match. That said, I completely understand Sting signing with TNA instead because he knew Vince would've buried him because of his disdain for Eric Bischoff during their Monday Night Wars days. The Invasion angle could've even been better with Sting especially if Austin remained a babyface.

Vince & Hhh egos couldn't stop their WCW hate. Funny that even Sting himself in a promo said, "this isn't about WCW vs WWE, that would be ridiculous". Those 2 fools couldn't grow up & make some real money off Sting's popularity

Sting is an absolute legend. My 90's heroes were Roddy Piper, Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels all WWF, shows how iconic Sting was that I followed him even though I wasnt into WCW

Sting was my favorite wrestler as a kid. He just seemed so unique.

Crazy to think Sting’s still going in AEW. Dude’s been wrestling for a long time now.

The truth of the matter is that Sting is a self made man in the pro wrestling business. He doesn't owe his success to Vince Mcmahon. The fact that his brief time in WWE was not memorable due to bad booking is in the end inconsequential because he's already a legend. I agree that it was a wasted opportunity and that Vince would have been smart to have used him better, but I don't think it keeps Sting up at night. Another thing to keep in mind, Sting has had a great nose for the business as well. Once WCW was done, he went to TNA/Impact when that company was in its glory years, and now he's in arguably the hottest company on the scene in AEW. The day he decides to retire permanently he'll be able to look back on his career with pride and satisfaction. Vince on the other hand is a man that is ruled by his ego. He bought WCW just so he could have the thrill of permanently shelving it. He couldn't bury Flair because he was too big in the industry, but aside from Booker T, i can't think of an end time WCW wrestler that wasn't buried in WWE. Years earlier he tried to bury Dusty but he was too over and charming, and he also tried on at least two ocassions to bury LOD but they were always better than the teams Vince wanted to replace them with. During that same earlier time Vince successfully buried Luger. The list of end time WCW guys that ran into a brick wall in WWE is impressive: Vince buried Big Poppa Pump, he buried Bagwell, he buried Goldberg not once but twice, he buried DDP, and the NWO which had terrorized WCW was made to look weak and ineffective when facing the WWE Attitude Era wrestlers. He buried Sting years later out of pride. Vince simply couldn't let it go, and the loser was not Sting, but rather the wrestling industry as a whole.

Sting and Undertaker could have just had a stare down in the ring... They didn't even need a match. THEY WERE IN THE COMPANY AT THE SAME DAMN TIME! How do you drop the ball like that?

It's a shame with Sting because he had one of the best debuts in WWE history. It was even smart using him as a preorder bonus for WWE 2k15. After he debuted at Survivor Series I was excited to see how Sting would be used in WWE. Because he was one of the true legends in pro wrestling and a guy that could've had so many dream matches if used properly. The Fastlane thing with HHH and the horrible way they used a fake Sting instead of letting them go face to face and do a promo was the beginning of the end. Then there's WrestleMania. So much made no sense. First was everyone wanted to see Sting vs Taker. Then he lost to HHH when he should've won and been put over strong with his first big WrestleMania. Did nothing to elevate HHH or Sting and buried any momentum Sting had going. I had hope once Sting faced Rollins for the WWE championship things would get back on track but it turned out to be a disaster. And a bitter ending to one of the biggest disappointments I've had in 30 years as a pro wrestling fan. Sad when both his runs in TNA and AEW have been handled much better. To sum it up, WWE never treated Sting like the legend and star that he is. In the end, his fears WWE wouldn't use his character properly turned out to be reality.

He was the franchise of WCW

As we were getting into an era where no one was watching wrestling because the post-War period except for Eddie and Punk had been awful, why not tell your fans: "See? remember the days where you really enjoyed wrestling? Those days are over. And we killed them. Intentionally. Screw you." That's exactly what WWE did. They brought back Sting as the last remaining remnant of their former competition that they'd never gotten over just to bury his career for daring to stay with WCW until the end. It's like calling up your old girlfriend who dumped you after 15 years and assuming she's that desperate after all that time, sleeping with her and dumping her. WWE built a storyline where they in kayfabe and real life (in their view) destroyed WCW and Sting getting sledgehammered was a symbol of that. Even though Triple H/Paul Levesque had a lot less to do with WWF winning the War than they'd like to admit. He was the guy that worked with the guy that drew all the money in that era.

Thank goodness, AEW did a better job respecting his legacy than WWE.

Even though Sting started out strong and we got a few cool moments with him in WWE, WWE ended up doing exactly what Sting feared. They didn't have long term plans or know how to use him. A veteran and legend and "icon" like Sting coming to WWE writes itself. I always say that Vince McMahon is hailed as some sort of genius but there are many moments that prove he's a lucky moron. He screwed up the WCW/ECW "invasion" angles and also botched WCW guys like Sting, Steiner and countless others. A genius would have found a way to make the invasion work and to get the most out of WCW arrivals. Sting in WWE will forever be one of the biggest missed opportunities and biggest proofs that McMahon is an idiot.

After Sting joined WWE he did an interview with JBL where he was asked why he stayed away from WWE for so long. He said after the merger he saw how Vince was using the other WCW stars and he didn't trust Vince to give his character he had built the respect it deserved. And as it turned out he was absolutely right, he never got the career he deserved in WWE.

As a huge Sting mark the way WWE handled Sting hurt so much. And what makes it so frustrating is that it started off so great with his debut at Survivor Series and the whole angle with Sting fighting the Authority. But then Triple H buried him at Wrestlemania and it was completely wasted. And I know he got hurt and that's ultimately why his time in WWE ended without any real hope of any kind of redemption but judging by how he was booked prior to the injury? I doubt it would have gotten any better. I mean they could have had the Sting Vs. Undertaker cinematic match and they passed on it. That just shows you how braindead creative was at the time.

While Sting putting over the younger Rollins made sense, and nobody could have predicted Sting getting that neck injury in the match with Rollins, his run in WWE was disappointing. Triple H burying Sting at Wrestlemania that year was Vince McMahon reliving the Monday Night Wars one last time. The NWO doing a run in during the match to save Sting from DX made zero sense.

This was a well made inside video of the journey of bs Sting took to WWE. Great work

The thing is HHH was never that guy, seeing him being the guy to face sting felt stupid. He’ll always be remembered as carrying Micheal’s 💼 instead of being an icon like sting, stone cold, Rock, Taker and Micheals.

Vince's ego just got in the way.

I will always say that Sting should've been the one to end Taker's Mania streak. I know that it's customary for the older guys to put over the young upstarts. But "The Streak" had reached a mythical level, so it would be totally believable to have a fellow ring legend like Sting be the one to finally overcome The Undertaker at a Wrestlemania. And yes, it would've finally given everyone the dream match they wanted - two iconic wrestling journeymen with some of the all-time greatest gimmicks in the business going at it on the biggest stage of them all.

I feel like Wrestling has always been on the edge of becoming a stronger impact on my life, I’d like to be someone to collect memorabilia and see the shows live or introduce it to friends and family like they do with their likes and hobbies but I just can not stomach how the talent gets so mismanaged or thrown away. Stories fizzle out or wrestlers I like get abused or shafted behind the scenes. I treat wrestling like I do sports, it’s something I’ll continue to watch moderately and put no financial support in because I’m not fully committed. Thank god for wrestling vids on YT and Wrestling video games, I can just nit pick the best parts. Sting wasn’t someone I cared for at first but after the “crow” change he grew on me. I really started to pay attention to him and would call myself a fan but it was hard to watch his run in WWF, I’d was one of those ppl that thought he’d never do it and respected either way but thought it was pretty bad ass to fight the temptation completely.

Sting should've never went to the WWE

WWE really messed up with the way Sting was brought in. Even my girlfriend, who was not a fan of the sting, thought that him losing the Triple H at wrestlemania 31 what’s the wrong call!

Even Scott Hall said Sting should get a lawyer when they were saying he will loose to HHH ….I’ll always Hate how WWE screwed OUR MAN CALLED STING 🦂

Robocop should’ve joined the NWO. Totally a missed opportunity

Enjoyed it, as Always! Thank you good sir 🙏 🙏 🙏

Truely a shame that Vince made Sting lose his only Wrestlemania. Triple H didn't need that victory, but Sting would had deserved to get that Wrestlemania moment. Sting has a huge influence over wrestling and is one of the true legends.

Sting had a good career did not have the best but a good one and that's all that really matters. He did not want his career ruined by the McMahon Family so he did things the right way

The crowd popped for Robocop. That was over at the time. To be fair also....Trips came out at 31 like a terminator representative of a franchise that hasnt been relevant since T2. RoboCop and Terminator both had 2 great films a piece. In context Sting had a BladeRunning/Mad Max approach which meshed nicely with RoboCop who most kids would have marked out for. Robo Cop was huge and relevant when Sting worked with him.

Same thing happened to Sting's friend, Ultimate Warrior in WCW many years ago. Hogan brought Warrior just to beat him and move on. Same was done in Cain Velasquez vs Brock in WWE. One up the guy and than "wish him all the best in future endevours".

What happened justified why Sting didn't want to sign with WWE.

Sting should have trusted his gut instinct about WWE like he did before

I have said before, the nWo helping Sting is like The Joker helping Batman

Can I just say, that title is ludicrous. Sting is a legend and no matter what opportunities for this match or that match were missed he'll forever be remembered as a legend in the industry. I know the KZfaq game though, no hate, get them views lad.

great video, I just wanted to know where do you find these old wcw high quality clips from

Great video. Such an icon to everyone who knows wrestling,shame certain people don't think like we do

HHH is the ultimate jealous guy.

What could of been!!! The invasion angle would of been best story line in wrestling history if they just waited for the NWO to lead the invasion and do it properly and then they could of had Sting Vs Taker still pisses me of to this day!

That loss at Mania is the reason I’ll always hate Triple H. He’s an intelligent performer and he knew the name value Sting had and him deserving that WrestleMania moment

It is truly unbelievable that we didn't get Sting vs Taker at WM31. Yeah, they were older and out of their prime, and yeah the match wouldn't have been a technical marvel, but so what. The build up and just seeing those two together would have been a dream come true for any hardcore non-PG fan.

Fans never wanted Sting vs. Triple H. Fans wanted Sting vs. Undertaker

Vinces (and HHH) ego above all else, regardless of if its good for the company or not

Sting should have won at mania

My first wrestling moment in my childhood was sting on a ppv I watched. I will always call sting my favorite and best wrestlers!

Tony Khan enthusiastically hugging wrestlers he's hired like a small child meeting Mickey Mouse for the first time will never not be funny to me.

I think Sting was right not going to WWE for all those year. What he saw what WWE was doing to other WCW smart very smart. Sting is one of my all time favorites. My favorite Sting was the 80's mid 90's version.

idk why...but I can't believe I didn't realize big show was with that group. Wild. Either way, what an era.

I remember in the game Wrestlemania 2000 on n64. When you picked sting in the royal.rumble He entered the ring via getting lowered from the rafters and came equipped with a bat.

Sting vs Vader was a feud that I recall to this day

Sting's run would have been way better had he been in his prime (along with better booking by creative).

Sting is one of my favorite wrestlers all time hate they didn’t use him better

Great to see his resurgence as the Terrifier

I think the back injury from the buckle bomb dismantled anything the WWE had planned, weather it would have been good or bad will never be known.

It's so disappointing they had to wait till the last minute to even consider a dream match and green light it when everyone is too old and fans are too fed up with wrestling to Evan care.😢

When NWO hit the scene that was the best of wrestling I stayed glued to the tv waiting for NWO to jump somebody lol

They can still do a cinematic sting vs undertaker...it would still be amazing

Sting is my favorite wrestler. Sting went to wwe for some big money, and he got paid really well. Sting he wasn't going to win the match he could have said no to losing the match. Great video breakdown of stings career

Sting crow theme was the badass peak.

7:28 Sting was right

I remember reading some time ago that had he not gotten injured against Seth, it would’ve been Sting vs Husky Wyatt at WrestleMania 32.

Egos kill everything

hey..... would you guys let me paint another picture of what a match between Sting and Undertaker would have looked like regardless of the era.... the match itself is irrelevant pretty sure it be entertaining to watch BUT as you watch you're hearing the commentators BURY Steve's legacy diminishing it bit by bit joke by joke as Calloway starts going over strong then the match ends as it always does w/Mark @Wrestlemania.... Tombstone hands over his chest pin...... as Marks dk is all in the Stingers face((((PAUSE))))if you're CONFUSED by that last line pay attention to how undertaker pins the jobbers then you'll know what i'm talking about... vince that jacOff would have enjoyed booking that match and so glad Steve Borden knew better to now allow that too happen.. vinceMCclownAz PLEASE hurry up and ie

That match at WM was a nostalgic feel good moment for some of us despite the horrible ending

I'll never forget watching the first time crow sting appeared in WCW!

In my opinion, this just goes to show how petty Vince McMahon as a business owner can truly be Yes WWF won the Monday night wars against WCW and they should be proud of that WCW, especially in the year 2000 shot themselves in the foot and so they went out of business but sting losing in the way he did triple H was not only unnecessary. It was a slap in the face to any loyal fans of WCW that it’s stuck with the promotion and love, seeing sting back in a wrestling ring, irrespective of whether it was a WWE ring on not Stink deserved better.

I would say the only thing that was a waste was his wrestlemania match with triple h that obviously should have been against the undertaker and other than that you can't really blame anybody he got hurt

@8:00 Booker T still had a great WWF career after his initial arrival, worked a hell of a program with Austin, and finished his career as a two-time HOF'er. If Sting had come in after Goldberg's run, he would've gotten a program with the Undertaker. I dont believe he would've ended The Streak, but Im sure they wouldve had a great mania match as well as a few othe PPV matches. It's true that when he finally arrived and approached Undertaker, Taker turned him down, but mostly cuz Taker knew the match wouldnt be able to live up to any hype at that point. Sting could've had a great run like Booker T did, he just put it off for far too long. By the time he came in, nobody cared anymore.

Vince and his usual burial of an ex WCW guy. Sting was right all along about going there.

How have you only got 38k subs

I'll never understand why it was triple h to face sting when everyone wanted undertaker vs sting

And they still did him DIRTY WHEN HE WENT TO WWE WHAT A JOKE

He was 55 when he returned so doesn't matter whatever happened. There's no way he could have been involved in any good long term story lines.

You summed up the problem with Sting's run in WWE perfectly. His debut was great. He was the vigilante sick of seeing Triple H's and Stephanie's abuse of power. Abd turned it into another WCW vs WWE feud. They could of kept it as the original form and Sting getting that first win to rid them of their power. Instead we got yet another WWE win. And the excuse was it was setting up the Rock and Ronda vs Triple H and Stephanie (which didn't even happen) and honestly it would of set up better if they were further humilated by Rock. But Vince couldn't do that to his family.

I thought the best era sting was in NWA. The green sweat pants and the short blond spiked hair was one of his main attraction. After he changed his appearance, He didnt wrestle much, and his attitude changed. I feel like he made changes to his character and it made him less popular with the crowd. He was a pretty big guy back in the day when he ran with former partner Ultimate warrior in AWA.

Next to Austin vs Hogan, Taker vs Sting is the biggest money match the WWE passed up on for no good reason.

Hard to imagine stings WWE debut was already 8 years ago

Although I've seen a lot of it live, I hate wrestling. But I loved the insane clown posse and it was super cool when sting worked with them a few times

Sting was my favorite in the late 90's during his hero run in WCW

When wwe bought out WCW, I don't blame sting for not going to all that crap that was and still going on, good for you sting for not lowering your standards

And I'll give it to sting sting is more of a man than 99.9% of the wrestlers careers. Sting is truly one of the all-time greatest and he could say that

At least he got his Wrestlmania match but yeah Sting knew that Vince had to have his revenge was unfortunate at least he's in AEW on his terms with people who respect his talent and his creative input.

Can you imagine if undertaker was standing in the ring telling the crowd He is ready for his next wrestlemania opponent And sting music played?? It had to be personal with the wwe to miss out on an opportunity like that.

It's so sad when higher ups in companies have these hidden agendas and personal vendettas instead of staying true to characters and most importantly us the fans. Stings fears about how the company would use him were spot on. I'm most sorry for those turnbuckle slams he had to take at his age. That injury you can see how it's affected the way he moves in the ring. My heart broke when in aew his opponent was in the corner and we all know what Sting does when that happens!!! But his feet just wouldn't leave the ground for that famous Stinger splash. He was ever the professional though and covered it by turning it into a clothesline, but we knew what he wanted to do. When he had to take that powerbomb in Aew I'll never forget how safe they made it. He waited till the icon was in position before releasing him for a perfect landing on his back. Well done! That's how you do it when having these veterans in the ring for matches, keep them safe! 🙏 Truly grateful for all Sting's given us over his incredible career. One of the best to ever lace them up and step into the squared circle.

thanks to aew for treating Sting like the legend he is

This was literally the Invasion Angle all over again.

The "low" of having to team up with Robocop 🤘

For a so called wasted career I had a Sting figure in 92 along with my Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior figures, he was as big as the biggest and will always be a legend.

Such a waste. There was no reason for hhh to beat him at mania. No reason for Rollins to beat him either. You can tell it was sabotage, Vince held a grudge all those years sting turned him down. They could've had some great matches and angles with sting. Undertaker vs sting is something that should've been done. But back to HHH, that guy should never be in charge of anything backstage, it's not about what's right for the business it's all about who's kissing hhh ass backstage

Sting working with NWO did make sense because it was about the legacy of WCW the rivalries been over for years. During Survivor Series wrestlers sometimes put their differences aside for brand supremacy. I also recall Triple H turning on Shawn Michaels but that didn’t matter here.

The crow sting vs nwo might be the best story line in wrestling history!!!

Best year for Sting vs The Undertaker to happen would've been sometime between 2005-2007.

Sting is my favorite wrestler of all time but even I gotta say, he messed up by not joining WWE way earlier when he first got the chance which was around 2001 or 2002.

As a long time fan of Sting I was disgusted at the way they did him in WWE

The One time Undertaker and Sting could've wrestle and the dream match would've been complete.

Couldn't believe how bad they dropped the ball

I honestly never had a problem with how WWE used Sting. The match against HHH wasn't a full on burial, like the Starcade 97 match was. Sting looked good though the entire bout and had HHH beat several times. The interference was two fold. It got a lot more former stars on the show plus it helped cover up in case Sting and HHH's age got in the way. While everyone wanted the Undertaker, few wanted a face vs face match for Sting's first WWE match. Also, nobody knew that Sting would get severely injured in his match with Seth. Had it want well, I'm sure we would have gotten both more and better bouts, including Undertaker. We might have even got a Sting vs John Cena match on RAW during John's US title challenge he held after Wrestlemania 31.

To lose against HHH specifically, makes it even worse. HHH seems to get worse and worse every year as a wrestler, lost all his original charisma, but got to be at the top of every card because of nepotism. Sting was doing high flying moves and putting everything into his matches into his 50s and 60s, and was always a great storyteller and would gladly put over a new talent if it made sense for the storyline.

‘Taker 😂😂😂. I always felt Sting was a relic from the 80’s.