411’s WWE Table for 3: WCW Legends Report

411’s WWE Table for 3: WCW Legends Report

-Original air date: Oct 14, 2015

-Continuing on as this is the episode that originally got me into watching this series. I was firmly on the side of WCW during the Monday Night Wars (life long Hogan fan), and I was quite pleased to see them put 3 WCW legends on this show. For this show those legends are Sting, Vader, and Diamond Dallas Page.

-For those curious all 3 are dressed in button down shirts and sadly, Vader isn’t wearing the mask. DDP immediately brings up how it has been some time since they’ve seen each other and calls Sting the girl Vince could never get. Vader could see it was coming and thinks it is the perfect time for Sting to join.

-Vader asks DDP when he got started in WCW and DDP talks about starting in the AWA. Vader mentions he started in the AWA as well and it was a few years after he was done playing for the Rams. Sting covers Vader’s history as he went to Japan and then he had to tame him when he came to WCW. Sting jokes that he takes all the credit for calming Vader down. Vader says there was no reason for Sting to hit him that hard and obviously Sting laughs about all the stiff shots he took. Vader calls Sting the stiffest pretty boy ever.

-Sting tells a story about the first match they did against each other on TV and Sting asked Harley where Leon was. Harley told him in the bathroom as it seems Vader was nervous wrestling Sting on TV and was vomiting. Vader said he did the same playing in the NFL before each game. DDP calls Vader a warrior.

-They talk about not having off days and how you have to work injured. Sting talks about the only time he had to stop a match due to injury and of course it was against Vader. It was a rib injury after a powerslam where Sting says he could see the rib out of position. Vader mentions that nobody ever talks about the strap match where Sting went crazy on him after the match with the strap and tore part of his ear. “It’s ok for Sting to hurt Vader, but if the other way around….poor Sting.” Awesome!

-Vader says people always ask him who is the best and he obviously means Sting, but Sting says “Shawn.” Classic!

-DDP talks about a Nitro match for the title with Sting, and it really is a fantastic match. I believe it is on the first Best of Nitro set that was released. They each tell different stories of what happened in match as all Sting can recall is a bunch of potatoes from DDP.

-DDP brings up the Performance Center and Sting says he has only been there once. Vader says he has never been there, but hears it is amazing. Sting talks about how NXT just sold out 4500 show a few nights ago. DDP puts over the talent in NXT and DDP is a huge fan of Paige.

-Vader talks about Roman Reigns and how they are building within and that is the key to success. Vader also puts over Bray Wyatt and DDP is a massive fan as well. He reminds DDP of Jake in a way, and Sting asks if he is still tight with Jake.

-DDP says that Jake moved in about two years ago and his goal was to help him they way Jake helped him. So Kimberly said it was ok for Jake to move in and DDP tells his Hall of Fame story about him losing the snake in the house. DDP calls Dusty his mentor, but Jake was the one that helped him put everything together and figure this wrestling thing out.

-Vader was always impressed that DDP filmed all the matches and studied to learn his craft. He tells the story of how he told Inoki that while he was big and strong, but he didn’t know much about wrestling so Inoki gave him a stack of tapes of matches in Japan to watch. They joke how good Sting could have been if he watched tape.

-DDP brings up Mania and asks Sting if he is nervous. He says that even after 30 years he still gets nervous, and that has never changed. He sees a guy like John Cena and is amazed how confident he is with everything and it just looks easy. Sting says he is nervous about the match, but he can already tell that he is going to have good chemistry with HHH. He says he had it with Vader and Flair which causes DDP to ask about him and Sting says just that one night.

-All three start to tell Harley Race stories, and Vader talks about the freakish strength in his hands. He would often break Vader down in a test of strength and talks about how Harley would always crush beer cans on his head. All this just confirming that Harley is a tough bastard.

-Sting talks about how DDP had a mini theater in his Cadillac as they would drive town to town. DDP talks about how Luger would always freeze him out in the car, and Sting says it was crazy how cold Luger kept it in his car.

-DDP wants the inside scoop from Sting on what happened with Lex showing up on Nitro. Sting says that Lex had his reasons for wanting to leave and he told Sting that he wanted to come back. Sting went to Bischoff and talked him into giving Luger a chance.

-DDP says that he heard for years from Bischoff that they were going to beat Vince McMahon one day and he thought Bisch was crazy. Sting never thought it could happen either, but that first Nitro changed everyone’s opinions. That was the snowball that put them at least on even plane perception wise. Sting always had flash back to that convention when he felt embarrassed to be there next to the WWE guys, and now they were beating them.

-Sting talks about how Ted Turner is the only one that wanted to keep wrestling alive in the offices, and DDP thinks WCW would still be in business if Ted kept control. I tend to agree with that as Ted loved his wrestling, and no matter how much it would be a money loser he was ok with it.

-DDP continues to steer conversation as he wants to know Vader’s favorite moment and he says it is when he beat Sting for his fist WCW World Title at The Great American Bash. DDP asks Sting the same question and he thinks Sting will give a Flair answer, but he says “The White Castle of Fear.” Awesome! DDP seems confused by the answer, but Vader is chuckling off camera. DDP has no memory of it, and Sting says it was a big joke for everyone. Sting then says it was either White Castle of Fear or Robocop. Being more serious he says it was either beating Flair for his first World Title or the Starrcade 97 Main Event and build to it with Hogan.

-DDP says that if Sting doesn’t take all that time off in that build he wouldn’t be in the spot he is today. Sting’s absence gave other guys a chance and DDP was lucky enough to be in that spot. He puts over Savage and what he did for his career and then how he won his first WCW Title in a match with Hogan, Flair, and Sting while Randy Savage was the ref and all he could think is how did I end up here. He considers himself even blessed to be sitting with Sting and Vader. Sting notes that is kind of a mushy note to end on, but he likes it.

-Coming into this you had to figure DDP was going to be doing the most talking just because his personality is so much bigger that Sting and Vader’s. They both are more quiet and reserved when not in character, so the mix was good in that regard. Another good episode here as it’s fun to get some WCW stories ever now and then. We especially need more WCW stories from the period prior to the launch of Nitro and even Hogan joining as that seems to be the forgotten era. That’s why part of me wanted to hear more from Sting and Vader about their time, but again, they are more low key. Also, Vader needs to be in the Hall of Fame, and I keep hoping every year that it happens.

-Next time we get a weird grouping of Perfectly Awesome Truth!