wrestling / Columns
Seek and Destroy: Sting’s Championship Moment
Due to an incredibly busy work week, I really didn’t get to catch up on my wrestling as I normally would. I watched SummerSlam and Raw, and that’s about it for me. As I usually like to keep my columns based on current events, that makes things a bit tough. I thought SummerSlam was a fun enough show- not great, but not horrible, and with enough cool moments throughout the night to keep me entertained.
However, the show went about the way I expected it would, so it makes it hard to get too worked up about anything. I was rooting for the New Day, I had Taker beating Brock (with the Hell’s Gate, no less), and had Rollins beating John Cena because I, like many others, bought into the “his wardrobe says 15 so there’s no way he’s getting another title” line of thought.
The Divas match was just there, providing no real moment to make a new star, and instead settling into the same stuff that’s been going on since this “revolution” started- making the groups more important than any of the individuals. Hell, Becky Lynch and Paige said it themselves the next night on Raw during Miz TV:: “It’s not about who pinned who.” “We don’t look at ourselves like three separate divas.” The groups are what matter, not the divas. But there I go, rushing to judgment again.
For me, what made my fandom rise was the final segment of Raw, where a statue presentation for Rollins turned out to go horribly wrong for him and The Authority, as Sting crashed the party. He immediately went on the offensive, dropping Rollins, and standing tall in the ring with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt held high above his head. It would be announced shortly thereafter that, at Night of Champions, Sting would challenge Rollins for the belt!
It’s historical, but it’s being downplayed because no one thinks that Rollins is losing the belt at Night of Champions. Especially not to Sting, the guy that WWE brought in just to humiliate, right? I mean, he couldn’t even beat Triple H at WrestleMania, but we’re to believe that he’s got what it takes to beat Rollins?
But that’s where I turn my brain off, and just enjoy it all. Sure, it’s years late, but we’re on the verge of watching Sting wrestle for the WWE World Championship. He could be the guy to actually carry the legitimate versions of the WCW, TNA, and WCW World Championships (sorry, Kurt Angle), which would be quite the feather in his cap.
On top of that, it gives Sting a match he was rumored to be in line for when John Cena broke his nose and WWE was trying to find a SummerSlam replacement. The scuttlebutt that’s always wrong unless you want to believe the story claimed that Sting had gotten himself into great shape, only to sit on the sidelines as Cena made another recovery in a faster time frame than was initially expected.
And I did think Sting looked good on Raw. Better than he did at Mania, and I thought he looked good then, too! Sure, I’m a gigantic, unapologetic Sting mark, but I also remember calling his match with Hulk Hogan at Bound For Glory a few years back one of the worst pieces of crap I’ve ever had to sit through, so I can absolutely let my favorites know that they delivered a stinkpile from time to time.
For me, however, the best part of this return and subsequent title match, is that it finally- FINALLY– honors the story that was started nearly ten months ago at Survivor Series, only to be bastardized and turned into a different story altogether.
Let us not forget that it was Sting who cost Seth Rollins the victory in the Team Cena vs. Team Authority match, stopping the chicanery of Triple H and Scott Armstrong, dropping them both, and pulling Dolph Ziggler onto Rollins for the deciding pinfall, which forced The Authority to leave WWE forever! Okay, one month. Barely.
Still, the fact that Rollins basically did nothing to get any type of revenge against Sting never sat right with me. The fact that Sting wrestled Triple H at WrestleMania, instead of Rollins demanding an opportunity to put that WCW intruder in his place, never sat right with me. Sure, I can understand the story between Triple H and Sting, and I can see how that match still made sense. But it didn’t make nearly as much sense as Rollins wanting revenge on Sting. Instead, Rollins focused on Cena, and stayed in and around the World Title picture until finally cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania.
So now, we finally have the opportunity to address this lingering issue. Sting can again try to stick it to Triple H by costing his golden boy a match, and Rollins can finally try to prove to Sting that he’s not the one to mess with.
Sting gets his chance to climb the highest mountain, and to obtain a championship that many- himself probably included- never thought would be within his grasp. As a fan, I’m actually a little down on the reaction this announcement got. In this world of “don’t jump to conclusions!” many seem to consider this match a moot point, and the end result already known.
But what if they actually throw us a little wild card, and Sting wins the belt? It’s the fall, that part of the year where nothing really matters until the Royal Rumble. Would derailing Rollins be the worst thing? He’s been a fun champion, sure, but he hasn’t done anything to stand out and differentiate himself, to make his reign memorable.
We’ve had Honky Tonk Man reigns forever. We’ve had champions backed by the boss who will bend the rules to keep the belt on their charge. Nothing we’ve seen in this reign is new. And I don’t say that to knock Rollins- only to argue the idea that taking the belt off Rollins now would be a bad move or ruin anything. Rollins could win the belt back the next month and pick up exactly where he left off, and since he lost to Sting, I don’t think many people would hold it against him.
In fact, I’m looking for Sting to win this thing by cheating himself. I’m hoping that we see some character development, and that the guy who found himself on the losing end of his Mania debut because 13 other people ran in, might finally realize that he can’t do it the right way and expect to get the results he desires. He needs to play dirty. He needs to cheat. He needs to fight fire with fire, and he needs to show Rollins and Triple H that he’s not finished yet.
Sure, it’s easy to say that Rollins is winning, and that this is a placeholder match. It sure seems that way, doesn’t it? It doesn’t take a high level of genius to reach that conclusion. At the same time, this would be a great opportunity to shake things up a bit, and, sure, to give a wrestling legend a vanity reign with a championship belt.
As I said, I don’t think it damages Rollins much at all, especially if Sting resorts to less than gentlemanly tactics to win the belt in the first place. We’ve seen in TNA during his “Joker” phase, that Sting will absolutely snap if pushed far enough. He’s not the same cocky kid that flew around WCW rings; he’s a man that’s willing to do everything he can to pick up the win.
So why not now? Why not against the champion that has cheated as hard as possible since the day he won the belt? Why not cheat to take from The Authority what they as a unit crave the most – the WWE World Championship? Doesn’t the taking of the title trump the simple victory? Wouldn’t that loss eat at Triple H and Rollins far more than Sting’s loss to Triple H at WrestleMania eat at him?
This match, on the surface, seems like a company just throwing a guy out for a title shot. And in many ways, sure, it probably is. But dig a little deeper, and one may realize that we have a chance to make history, get comeuppance in a feud that’s nearly a year old at this point, and shake up the title scene for a little bit during the usually slow time of the year.
Of course, for the gigantic Sting mark in me, I’m going to watch Night of Champions simply to root for my guy to win the belt. I’ll treat it as real for that whole match, not caring about booking decisions or any of that stuff.
Sting is wrestling for the WWE title. That’s incredible. And, just like at WrestleMania, it’s the only reason for me to watch the card. I’ll always follow Sting, because he’s the real deal, and his intentions are always clear.
It may not happen – it probably won’t. But until that bell rings, I’m going to be hoping against all hope that Sting walks out with the championship. And that’s part of the fun with being a fan- being stupidly wrong, and knowing that’s the case, but still having a good time.
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