elcome Sescoops readers to the 10th installment of The 3 Count, in this edition I’ll be looking at possibly the biggest name to never wrestle for WWE, that being the ‘Icon,’ Sting. There was a recent article on WWE featuring the 10 greatest talents that never appearing in a WWE ring, with Sting taking the number one slot, a worthy slot for Mr Steve Borden, however what was interesting about the article was the way in which his write-up was handled, instead of simply naming a few of his bigger WCW battles with Flair, Vader and Hogan et al they flat out stated that “ perhaps if there was one person who could have upended The Deadman’s WrestleMania Streak, it would be Sting himself.” This absolutely blew me away, a current TNA contracted wrestler is being put over like this? Sting is an exceptional circumstance in that he was a huge draw for WCW and could still be if given the elusive Wrestlemania match with the Undertaker, but still, I’ve never seen this quasi-feeler type situation in public as prominently as this before, especially for someone who has refused the company before due to their booking practices of former WCW guys. You just wouldn’t see them do this for Jeff Hardy or Kurt Angle would you? Now, incidentally Sting has recently brought up the subject of jumping ship to WWE and having the Wrestlemania match that fans still dream of, but I don’t see Sting as the type of man that would sign a one and done deal, so, I’m going to outline what I think should happen if the WWE manages to get Mr Borden under contract, and how they can maximise revenue, not just buyrates, but merchandise and DVD sales also, here’s the 3 Count: 1.The Streak… It’s no secret that this is the biggest reason the WWE wants to bring Sting to the company; it’s a dream match that has been 10+ years in the making and could easily headline a Wrestlemania, it also has the potential to bring back the ‘lost’ WCW fans that disappeared after the Monday Night Wars ended, if only for one night. In case you weren’t around during the late 90’s, WWE (then F) and WCW were in a fierce rivalry for dominance in professional wrestling, and this rivalry generated the hottest era in wrestling, now this is all well documented but it is integral to why Sting/Taker is such a dream match. The Man they Call Sting was (alongside Goldberg) one of WCW’s greatest creations, in the 80’s he was a huge draw as a babyface, with the bleach blond hair and the larger than life persona Sting generated a lot of money for the company, however the height of his popularity came later in WCW’s run. The Starrcade match with Hulk Hogan, forget how badly they booked the match for a second, was the biggest main event storyline in the company’s history, the beauty of it being that Hogan and Sting never touched, Sting didn’t say a word for nearly an entire year, yet he was getting over with his new ‘Crow’ gimmick, remember that film? If you saw it now you’d say Brendan Lee is doing a Sting rip-off, that’s the most intriguing element to Sting’s career, a gimmick that on paper shouldn’t have had the legs it did is still relevant in 2013, people want to see that character in the ring with the Undertaker. Looking at the Undertaker, he too is the epitome of a character that, on paper, shouldn’t have lasted as long as it did. A deadman who walks around with an urn and tells people to rest in peace, yet, he is undoubtedly Vince McMahon’s greatest creation, he has endured through multiple eras, and has stayed at the forefront of the Wrestlemania card every year, and he has that elemental part of his character that resonates with Sting, the match has the potential to be one of Undertaker’s best, maybe not technically, but both men are veterans, they more than likely respect the work of each other and are aware of the scale of the match, it must happen. 2. Going on from there… Undertaker is definitely not the only one on the WWE roster that Sting can have some intriguing matches against. The first man I would like to see face Sting would be CM Punk. Punk and Sting could have a war of words that would lead to several high profile bouts, with Punk being able to garner more heel heat if his character is beginning to cool off. John Cena is also a talent that I could see in the ring with Sting, I’ve mentioned before on the 3 Count that Cena was a big fan of Sting when he was a child, having seen his escapades in the NWA, and the story writes itself, the franchise of WCW versus the franchise of the current day WWE, it’s a feud that could headline a Summerslam or Royal Rumble. Finally, there is The Rock, I could easily see this on a Wrestlemania card, I saw a guest booker show with Jim Cornette where he booked the Invasion angle and had Sting/Rock at the Wrestlemania show he prepared, I didn’t agree with a lot of what Cornette was saying on that show, but this matchup had me intrigued, and could easily be hyped as a big deal, it’s another case of two major stars who have never met in the ring, they can even have Sting talk about Rock disrespecting Booker T during the Invasion angle, the example Sting gave when explaining he didn’t want to join the WWE. 3. There’s Money To Be Made…. The WWE has had a string of well put together DVD/Blu-ray releases in the past couple of years, chronicling the careers of Stone Cold, The Rock, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart that didn’t offend the viewer, and actually demanded a fair amount of knowledge of industry terms and what (we perceive) had happened behind the scenes, a Sting release with the man himself speaking about his life with a wealth of taped footage from his illustrious career would be a big seller, possibly finishing with a Hall of Fame induction. As well as DVD releases there are other opportunities for revenue, gaming being one of them. Having a chance to play as Sting in one of the 2K games produced WWE titles would boost sales. There’s also the merchandising route, with the opportunity for T-shirts, sippy cups, books etc there is a lot for Sting to gain from a contract with WWE. I hope that there will be a chance to Sting in a WWE ring, he does have the accolade of being the most high profile star to never appear for the company, but realistically what does that even mean? In TNA he has faced Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Bully Ray, Ric Flair, people that were prominently featured on WWE TV, with Angle and Hardy being the world champions for the company and major stars, so what does Sting actually gain by not being on the WWE roster? Nothing. What he has done for TNA has been admirable, bringing his star quality to the brand in an attempt to raise the brand profile, but now it is time for Sting to take his rightful place on the grandest stage of them all, so that fans can celebrate the career he had and give us one memorable run, he can’t challenge for the TNA title, what’s stopping him from going for the rival company’s belt….?
Posted on: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 21:19:39 +0000
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