Pre-Starrcade 98 Sting

[Guest cheercomp]

I just got finished watching clips of 1997 WCW and Sting in his Crow days. He was such a cool character. It was fool-proof. I still can't believe they messed that angle up. Having Sting get beat up prior to Starrcade, and then the entire finish to the Hogan-Sting match was one of the worst decisions ever made.

[Guest drdrainoscott]

I just got finished watching clips of 1997 WCW and Sting in his Crow days. He was such a cool character. It was fool-proof. I still can't believe they messed that angle up. Having Sting get beat up prior to Starrcade, and then the entire finish to the Hogan-Sting match was one of the worst decisions ever made.

I don't think there was any screw ups in the buildup to Starrcade 97. Everybody and their mother was dying to see Sting get some revenge on Hogan, and that is why the PPV did I think the most buys of any PPV up to that point. Sting was doublecrossed at the PPV, though, and that was a huge blow to the program as it mad Bret Hart and Sting both appear to be whiners.

[cawthon777 0]

The only real problem I have with the match was the Nick Patrick fast count. While it did bring Bret Hart into the picture, I think it could have been done in a way that better protected Sting.

 

The downfall occured in the aftermath of the show. IMHO, Bret should have been paired with Hogan since it was his intervention that costed Hulk the belt. Instead we had a few more months of Hogan / Sting before Sting lost the title to Savage just to lose the title to Hogan. THAT was when WCW was doomed to failure. Bret was almost an afterthought in the company.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

There were only two possible ways for that match to have been booked:

 

1. Sting gets in the ring, beats the shit outta Hogan and pins him in under five minutes, clean.

 

2. Sting gets into the ring, beats the shit out of Hogan, but Hogan cheats to make the comeback, dominating the rest of the match until Sting makes his comeback and pins Hogan, clean.

 

What do we get? The world's slowest fast count, a ref who was more biased then Nick Patrick (remember, earlier in the night, Bret Hart had ended the match between Bischoff and Zybsyco for no real reason, and if memory serves, when the nWo hits the ring, not only does he not DQ Hogan, but he tells Sting that he's about to get jumped) and the single stupidest finish I've ever seen.

 

PUT THE FACE OVER STRONG. It's not that tricky of a concept.

[cawthon777 0]

I don't think Bret involving himself in the match made Sting look bad at all. It was a good way for WCW to indirectly reference Montreal (although they would continue to do so for years to come) and it was a good way to introduce Bret to the top tier of WCW.

 

But like I said, there was no follow through.

[Zack Malibu 0]

Here's what I would have done:

 

Sting comes down, cleans house on Hogan. Dominates first few minutes and sends Hogan for a powder.

 

Hogan comes back, starts cheating (the announcers can play up that Patrick is "letting these guys go at it" but at the same time question allegiance).

 

Patrick gets bumped somehow (pulled in the way of a Stinger Splash?), and Hogan goes for more cheating (belt whipping, chair shot, etc.) that Sting counters and takes Hogan out. The nWo goons run out, Sting takes care of them as well, and turns his attention back to Hogan, who hits a lowblow and rolls Sting up. Hart runs out to fill in the ref slot and makes a count, where Sting kicks out at two. Sting/Hogan brawl for a few more minutes, Sting hits a Scorpion Deathdrop on Hogan, but as Hart counts, Patrick pulls him away to break up the count. Hart nails Patrick with a punch, Hogan is stunned that Hart just took out "his" ref, and Sting goes on to get a clean pin with Hart counting the fall, cementing Sting as a dominant champ and Hart as a babyface hero.

[caboose 0]

My opinions on this debacle can be found in various places on the board.

 

But just so you know, the whole thing made me very, very angry.

[snuffbox 0]

Most Dissapointing PPV Ever

[The Buzz 0]

At that point WCW really had a chance to cement their place as the number one promotion, with Sting riding high as champion. But instead they overbooked/misbooked the match and it was the first nail in the coffin of WCW.

[Guest reshad974]

Had Sting beat Hulk Hogan cleanly at Starrcade 97 and went on a year-long reign culminating with a face vs face match against Goldberg at Starrcade 98, we would be discussing about yesterday's Thunder at the moment.

[ISportsFan 0]

Had Sting beat Hulk Hogan cleanly at Starrcade 97 and went on a year-long reign culminating with a face vs face match against Goldberg at Starrcade 98, we would be discussing about yesterday's Thunder at the moment.

That's not really a positive, for sure thing -- once AOL and Time Warner merged, didn't the guy who took over the Turner networks absolutely despise wrestling and cancelled Thunder and Nitro, essentially meaning Fusient couldn't buy the thing anyway?

 

So, even if they were booking everything correctly and making money (and good ratings) it might not have been good enough to stay on TNT and TBS.

 

Jason

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Here's what I would have done:

 

Sting comes down, cleans house on Hogan. Dominates first few minutes and sends Hogan for a powder.

 

Hogan comes back, starts cheating (the announcers can play up that Patrick is "letting these guys go at it" but at the same time question allegiance).

 

Patrick gets bumped somehow (pulled in the way of a Stinger Splash?), and Hogan goes for more cheating (belt whipping, chair shot, etc.) that Sting counters and takes Hogan out. The nWo goons run out, Sting takes care of them as well, and turns his attention back to Hogan, who hits a lowblow and rolls Sting up. Hart runs out to fill in the ref slot and makes a count, where Sting kicks out at two. Sting/Hogan brawl for a few more minutes, Sting hits a Scorpion Deathdrop on Hogan, but as Hart counts, Patrick pulls him away to break up the count. Hart nails Patrick with a punch, Hogan is stunned that Hart just took out "his" ref, and Sting goes on to get a clean pin with Hart counting the fall, cementing Sting as a dominant champ and Hart as a babyface hero.

There was no reason for Hart to get involved.

 

At all.

 

He was Bret Hart, he didn't need to interject himself into that angle, to be in the MEs.

[Zack Malibu 0]

It was a plausible way to bring him in. They needed to do it in a big way in order to capitalize (which they didn't wind up doing). I'm sure there are a million other ways he could have came in and been better than he turned out to be (not by lack of talent, but by the booking crew).

[Guest reshad974]

Had Sting beat Hulk Hogan cleanly at Starrcade 97 and went on a year-long reign culminating with a face vs face match against Goldberg at Starrcade 98, we would be discussing about yesterday's Thunder at the moment.

That's not really a positive, for sure thing -- once AOL and Time Warner merged, didn't the guy who took over the Turner networks absolutely despise wrestling and cancelled Thunder and Nitro, essentially meaning Fusient couldn't buy the thing anyway?

 

So, even if they were booking everything correctly and making money (and good ratings) it might not have been good enough to stay on TNT and TBS.

 

Jason

They were loosing ton of money, having poor ratings, very bad buyrates. Even if you don't despise wrestling like this guy at AOL Time Warner, you would seriously consider cancelling the shows and selling the company.

If the guy cancelled Nitro and Thunder even though they were doing good ratings, lots of cable channels (USA Network for sure) would have welcomed them with great pleasure.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

It was a plausible way to bring him in. They needed to do it in a big way in order to capitalize (which they didn't wind up doing). I'm sure there are a million other ways he could have came in and been better than he turned out to be (not by lack of talent, but by the booking crew).

It works in the sense that "We need to bring Bret Hart in BIG."

 

It doesn't work in the sense that Sting/Hogan needed to have an epic feel, and run ins hurt that a lot.

 

Concentrate on one big thing at a time. Finish the angle they build for a year, then start building to the next big thing on the Nitro afterwards. No reason to rush it.

[The Buzz 0]

Well at the end of the day. Sting is still a legend to be mentioned in the same sentence with guys like Austin, Hogan, Foley, Rock, Flair, Steamboat, etc. But had the match been done better, he may have finally had a great title reign that he never really had.