wrestling / Columns

Sting’s Night of Champions Injury: When Nostalgia Hurts

September 25, 2015 | Posted by RSarnecky

This past Sunday, Sting suffered what some are calling a career threatening injury. While initial rumors reported a broken neck, that rumor has been debunked. As of this writing, the WWE still hasn’t announced the severity of Sting’s injury. However, the reports suggest that this isn’t an injury of the 2-3 week healing variety. It appears Sting will be on the shelf for the foreseeable future.

SummerSlam 2015, the Undertaker collapses backstage after his match with Brock Lesnar. In 2014, the Undertaker was taken to the hospital following his WrestleMania XXX clash with Lesnar that included the “dead man” suffering a concussion.

Sting is currently 56 years old. The Undertaker is currently 50 years old. Between the two wrestlers they equal over one century in age. After noticing these recent injuries to these two legends, I am starting to question the WWE’s usage of these elder statesmen.

NOSTALGIA

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy seeing the Undertaker in the ring every WrestleMania. Over the last few years that the streak was intact, the Undertaker’s WrestleMania match was a must see WrestleMania match. More times than not, over the last decade, the Undertaker’s match at WrestleMania was the match of the night.

Sting to the WWE was the Holy Grail of wrestling. He was the one wrestler that never gave in to the WWE. That was until this year. Sting finally signed, and through smoke and mirrors, had not the best, but the most entertaining match at WrestleMania XXXI against Triple H.

It’s great seeing the Undertaker and Sting remind us of the days gone by. However, is the nostalgia pop worth it if these guys suffer injuries in part because they are on the other side of the big 5-0? I’d rather see these legends show up in a non-wrestling capacity then to risk their health because time is not on their side.

I believe that the two of them can still put on entertaining matches. This past WrestleMania for Sting, and this past SummerSlam is evidence of that. However, their working ability isn’t what’s in question here. Maybe Sting comes back for one more match, because he doesn’t want to go out with the last memory being he was injured on the job. That’s fine. Maybe the Undertaker holds out until his WrestleMania XXXII match in his hometown before calling it quits. I’m OK with that, it’s a nice storybook ending. Unfortunately, there comes a time when time catches up to an athlete, and for the risk of their future health, they need to step down from the spotlight.

WHEN IS TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?

Once again, I love seeing the old stars coming back every year to wrestle a match or two. From the Undertaker and Sting, to Chris Jericho, Triple H, and The Rock, these are fun moments. I’m not alone, as some of WrestleMania’s most profitable shows have come due to nostalgia acts wrestling on these cards. However, nostalgia can hurt the product as much as it helps.

For most of the last few years, the WWE has been relying too heavily on nostalgia to sell their biggest event of the year. Having The Rock, Sting, Triple H, Chris Jericho, and the Undertaker come back each year puts a Band-Aid on the WWE’s biggest problem. They have failed to make big stars who can carry a show like WrestleMania for the next decade.

In the supercard’s early years, Hulk Hogan was king. While the non-wrestling fan knew who the Hulkster was, they also knew Andre the Giant, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, and the Ultimate Warrior. In the nineties, when professional wrestling featured it’s latest boom period, everyone knew Steve Austin and The Rock were. Fast forward to today, aside from John Cena, who is now 38 years old, is there any current full-time star that the non-fan or casual fan knows? Sure, they probably know Brock Lesnar and the nostalgia acts. However, they are all part time performers. Can you honestly say that Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, or Dolph Ziggler is the cross over star that the WWE has been waiting for?

The reason for this is because the WWE hasn’t had a need to create a new face of the WWE, since they can always rely on the nostalgia acts to drum up business. Plus, with no competition from a WCW, the WWE isn’t feeling pressured to create new stars to compete with the rival promotion. Being the only game in town makes you complacent.

WHY CAN’T THE WWE CREATE NEW STARS?

There is one major reason why the WWE is having a hard time creating new stars. It has to do with the WWE’s booking philosophy. Currently, the WWE institutes an “even stevens” booking philosophy. Wrestler A beats Wrestler B. Next match, Wrestler B beats Wrestler A. This needs to a rubber match where a final winner is declared. It’s fine to do this when you are having two top guys battle, and you want them to be seen at the same level. For instance, if Randy Orton and John Cena are fighting each other, and you want to try and keep both wrestlers strong, the “even stevens” booking is fine. However, when you are trying to build a new star, this is the last booking strategy to use. When building a new star, you need to make him strong, so that he is believable as a top star. The perfect example of this is Kevin Owens. Kevin Owens first match was a victory in a tremendous match against John Cena. After this match, it was thought that a new main eventer was born. However, in their next two matches, John Cena defeated Kevin Owens. After that Kevin Owens went from newest WWE main eventer to being “just another guy.”

Next, look at the Undertaker. When he arrived on the scene in the WWE, he ran through every opponent thrown his way. There was no “even stevens” booking with the “deadman.” By destroying all in his path, the Undertaker became an instant main eventer. The same strategy was used with Brock Lesnar. By the time Brock fought The Rock at SummerSlam, everyone believed that he was a legit contender to the title.

The WWE needs to realize that its OK to sacrifice same characters to create the main eventers that will carry the company for the net 10-15 years. At this rate, the WWE will be filled with interchangeable mid-card performers that sneak into the main events every so often, and never make any impact.

It’s imperative that the WWE start to build new main event wrestlers. You don’t want to continue to rely on 50 year old performers who can break down at a moment’s notice. Or worse, they could have a heart attack like Jerry Lawler, but with a worse fate. The WWE needs to start now before it’s too late.

article topics :

Sting, The Undertaker, WWE, RSarnecky