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Guest Sting Fanatic

1996 Slamboree

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Guest Sting Fanatic

At the time of Slamboree 1996, the NWO had not began the initial "hostile takeover".  I don't know the backstage story from this time frame, so whether the NWO was on their way or not I am in the dark on.

 

However, I think WCW had something really interesting going on with Sting, Giant, and Lex Luger.

 

To fully understand this, you have to go to the backstory...

 

Sting and Lex Luger - they had been teaming for the majority of 1996, holding the World Tag Titles for a pretty good reign.  Playing off the face/heel team, Sting and Luger were always interesting to watch.  Luger would seemingly stray from his duties and leave Sting high and dry, but in the end Luger would do something to prove his loyalty OR Sting would convince him toward the right path UNTIL Luger would blunder things up for Sting again.

 

Giant - being booked as a pure monster, he all but squashed Ric Flair for the World Hvywt. Title.  He was stomping his opposition for weeks heading into Slamboree, including putting Lex Luger through a table the week before on Nitro.

 

At the time, Sting was still motivated and had not suffered from the effects of a 16 month layoff.  He was highly capable of a good match at any notion.  Giant, suprisingly, was not a lumbering, slow paced heel you would expect.  He could move, and the way he was booked had him hated by the crowd.  And Luger, he wasn't horrible yet, but still had some decent go left in him.

 

As for the match itself, I thought it came off very good for how long it was (10-12 minute range) and the booking of it was excellent.  Now had this card not taken up so much time w/ the Battlebowl tag matches matches, Sting/Giant could have gotten another 10 minutes or more and been even better.  The made Giant look very dominating, and Sting got to do some of his better spots through the match.  Little things like having Giant attempt to Chokeslam Sting through a table (a la Luger on Nitro), BUT Luger (who was handcuffed to Jimmy Hart, Giant's manager, as part of the stipulations) laid Hart on the table to prevent it.  In the end, Sting had Giant in the Scorpion Deathlock and as Luger/Hart fought over the megaphone, it got thrown right into Sting's head.  Chokeslam, and its academic.  It so much looked like Luger intentionally threw the megaphone.  I do not remember WCW playing this up hardly at all, but it could have been a huge angle.  I guess the NWO took precedent.

 

Any opinions on this?  Personally, I think WCW AGAIN had some pretty good shows running before Hogan came in and AGAIN changed the entire shape of things.  Maybe it was for the best, but I still wonder...what if?

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Guest Tony149

WCW made a big deal out of it after the match, but I don't think they ever talked about it again.

 

Oddly enough, Scott Hall would debut in a week or two.

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Guest Some Guy

WCW was running an angle where Lex was untrustworthy and Sting was an idiot (like always) for accepting his appologies.  But when nWo came in the angle had to be scrapped in order to show unity on the WCW side.

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Guest Sting Fanatic

I know that they had toyed with Lex's untrust for months at that point, and Sting's ability to buy it and/or convert Luger, if only for a week at a time.  I just wasn't sure how it was played off.

 

As for the unity angle, I know it was needed to make the NWO look like the force that they were.  But, I think WCW missed out big time on what they could have done with Giant.

 

The Giant should have been made out to be a complete monster.  The NWO should have had more problems getting the belt away from him than they did.  Actually, I think Giant should have been made the title bearer for the NWO.  Imagine that.  Hall and Nash as the Tag Champs...Hogan as the central mouthpiece being as heelish as he was...and Giant being the unstoppable force.  That way, they could have really built up to a huge blowoff to the entire angle.  For Sting to get his revenge on Hogan, he would have to beat Giant cleanly.  All through that time, opponent after opponent falls to Giant.  In the end, Sting finally gets the clean victory over Giant and his shot at Hogan, which he also wins and the NWO feud is properly concluded from there.

 

But then again, I just like Sting.

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Guest Drury37

I remember the Fake Sting giving Lex Luger a ddt on concrete on an episode of Nitro and nobody could trust Sting anymore.

Thanks.

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Guest Sting Fanatic

When the entire WCW vs NWO war angle was done out-dated and no longer considered a draw or interesting, most of the credit for the angle went to "playing Sting as the crow" or "the coolness of Hall and Nash" or even the "way Hogan played a cheating heel for so long was great".

 

However, I think there is one detail that everybody forgets or just doesn't seem to give credit for when thinking of this.

 

How do you make the crowd turn against the fan favorite, WCW mainstay Sting?

 

I mean, the execution of this was really, REALLY sweet.  Remember when Luger ran out to the parking lot to the limo and out came "Sting" who was kicking his ass?  Then how Sting showed up at Fall Brawl during the War Games Match?  Sting DESTROYED the entire NWO, all 4 men (Hogan, Hall, Nash, and Bogus Sting) by himself after the WCW side was having problems.  Then what did he do?  He walked out on them.  Genius.

 

Of course, its all for naught when the company is killed off after multiple bonehead decisions.  But hey, we can enjoy what we had.  Right?  Right.

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