The Truth About Sting And His Match With Seth Rollins

411Mania’s Greg DeMarco responds to criticism on his views about Sting’s challenge of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins.

My last column, titled “The Dudleyz Should Win WWE Gold, Not Sting” definitely garnered more response than I’ve seen in a while. The hatred I received harkens back to the days of The Wrestling 5&1 and our anonymous commenting system.

And I LOVED it!

I write to get a reaction—this is no secret. If you read my column, think “huh, okay” and move on to the next one, I haven’t done my job. I want to elicit discussion, and sometimes that means you won’t agree with what I have to say. In the “old days” I had an entire section of my column dedicated to responding to the critics, and it was a blast. It was also a painful (and purple) effort in the time and effort that it took. But it worked.

This isn’t my first “The Truth About…”column. I wrote one about Cesaro as part of a side project, which was never published here at 411Mania. I also wrote one about Roman Reigns in advance of his WrestleMania 31 title shot, which did grace the pages of my online home.

The reaction I received about Sting inspired me to do another, and that’s what we have here today.

To recap my feelings on Sting, they are simple: he, at 56 years of age, isn’t physically capable to perform the way a challenger to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship should. He shouldn’t be in the match, let alone win it.

That article also included my thoughts about The Dudley Boyz, and their challenge to The New Day at Night of Champions. Unlike my opinion on Sting, “those damn Dudleys” are 12 and 13 years younger than Sting, are in better shape than they were ten years ago, and are physically capable of hanging with the best of the tag team division. A win for Bubba Ray and Devon could actually bolster the division, not hurt it like a Sting win would do to the main event.

There were some major criticisms of my opinion, and I am back to address those—and in turn, provide you with the truth about Sting.

”You can’t call us idiots.”

When openly complaining about Sting’s challenge (and potential victory over) Seth Rollins, I said the following exact quote:

“This isn’t a Raw main event, people, 56-year-old Sting is main eventing a WWE pay-per-view…

…and far too many of you idiots are okay with it!”

You guys obviously didn’t like that, and I totally get it.

The Truth: While no one would argue that we have some idiots around here, not all of you are. In fact, most of you are not. (And those who are not would back up my claim that a few of you are!)

I was, and still am, passionate about Sting’s challenge, and used a generalization that I should have avoided. Wrestling fans can be irrational at times, but that rarely makes one an idiot. So I’ll take that one—my bad, I’m sorry, you’re not idiots.

Not all of you, at least.

”Just because he’s 56 doesn’t mean Sting can’t go.”

You’re 100% right, being 56 years old doesn’t mean Sting can’t go. Billy Gunn, who competed at WrestleMania XXX at the age of 50, performed just as well as anyone on the show. The former “Mr. Ass” has kept himself in great shape, and often appears ageless.

He’s an example of the age defying performer—he’s the exception and not the rule.

The Truth: That’s not Sting. Sting has looked terrible for the past few years. Sting’s offense looks weak, and it makes me sad to see a performer at the top of their game selling for Sting. I know it’s wrestling, and it’s fake, but the idea is to make it look real. When Sting slaps on the Scorpion Death Lock, it doesn’t look real. It looks like Sting is pretending to wrestle, and his opponent is pretending to sell. I know they’re pretending, but it shouldn’t look like it!

In 2013, Sting faced Matt Morgan for the right to be named the #1 Contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Watch the video below, and 45 seconds in Sting will “lock in” the Scorpion Death Lock. He “cinches” it in real good, too. Matt Morgan sells the shit out of it, and it looks damn horrible. Morgan eventually “passes out from the pain,” which was more than likely out of embarrassment.

And has Matt Morgan done anything of significance since?

”You’re ignoring the historical significance.”

One reader made sure to point out to me that they’ve been watching since the early 90’s, which I find adorable. At the bottom of each article I publish here at 411Mania that I’ve been watching wrestling for over 30 years. I started in late 1983, watching on the MSG Network with my dad. I was six. I’ve been lucky enough to watch wrestling throughout the entire “WrestleMania Era.” I started watching the WWF, soon added the NWA, then the AWA, and it took off from there. I was even an early indie fan—I went to every Virginia Wrestling Association show possible as a kid, including one that featured “Cactus Jack Manson,” a man who went on to enjoy a Hall Of Fame career in the WWE.

I watched the first ever Clash Of Champions, and was on the edge of my seat during every minute of his 45-minute time limit draw with Ric Flair, rooting for Sting the entire time. Sting was my favorite NWA performer at the time, along with The Road Warriors and The Midnight Express.

It was too late when Sting finally won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He should have won it in 1988, and some great years were wasted. But I’ve followed Sting since that initial rise, all the way through his “Crow” years in WCW, into TNA, and now into the WWE.

I fully understand the historical significance of Sting, but I don’t think many of you readers do.

Sting’s historical significance was being the guy who never went to the WWE/WWF. He never caved to Vince McMahon, he was the one guy who did it on his terms, who wanted nothing to do with the WWE. He supported TNA, and you can tell he truly loved his time there. He signed one year deal after one year deal, and truly wanted it to succeed. He was fully deserving of being their first Hall Of Famer.

He is a multi-time world champion, one of the Top Ten performers in the WrestleMania Era, and was positioned to be “the greatest performer not to enter the WWE.” His NWA/WCW accomplishments would have gotten him into the WWE Hall Of Fame with no problems.

If Sting wanted to create a historically significant moment in the WWF/WWE, he would have taken Vince McMahon up on one of his many lucrative offers before 2014. Hell, even the 2003-2006 Sting that first performed in TNA would have been a credible WWE main eventer, despite being into his 40s (much like The Dudleys of today).

The Truth: There’s no historical significance to a broken down Sting winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In fact, it could ruin history. Seth Rollins has been positioned as the future of the WWE, embarking on a title run that could easily last beyond WrestleMania 32, breaking CM Punk’s 434-day WWE Championship reign and solidifying Rollins as an upper echelon star for many years to come. As one commenter pointed out, now is a time to look forward and not backward. The historical significance is being created by the brightest star of today, Seth Rollins.

And despite my concerns, you can still preserve his historical significance while putting him in situations to give the fans a good nostalgia moment. Six-man tag team matches are a great way to pull that off. I would have loved to see Sting & The Usos against The Wyatt Family at WrestleMania 31, and Sting would have made the prefect partner for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose against those same Wyatts at Night Of Champions.

”You’re just a Watry-level troll”.

This was easily my favorite. I am one of Justin Watry’s biggest defenders, much to the chagrin of some folks I am close to outside of our relationship on the site. What he does has a place.

But the similarities end with our common belief in Eric Bischoff’s “Controversy Creates Cash” mantra.

The Truth: I am not Justin Watry. I don’t purposely troll my readers, and those who have been reading my work at 411Mania since October 2010 know that. I am an opinion writer—and I do just that: I write my opinion. Sometimes you’ll agree with it, and sometimes you won’t. But while I do write for a reaction, everything I write is my honest opinion.

My opinions are formed as a fan of over thirty years. As someone who has been on the other side of the guardrail, who has been a ring announcer, a manager, a figurehead, a writer, a booker, a promoter and many more things in between. I have been very lucky to come into contact with some great minds in this business—some you’ve heard of and some you haven’t. I’ve gained respect from more than one person working behind the scenes in the WWE, NXT, and TNA. My writing on this site has also made it to people at that level.

I know this because I’ve heard about it in response—both good and bad—from “the inside.”

But I promise you I am no troll. Ever since my Wrestling 5&1 debut, I’ve strived to provide you with an entertaining read that complimented and enhanced your wrestling fandom.

If you visit our “About Us” page, you’ll see the following opening paragraph:

“Whether it’s talking trash about John Cena, keeping you updated on the latest blockbuster comic movie, or keeping you posted on the latest UFC event, we try to give guys something to do while bored at work, at school, or whenever. While we’re proud that we have come a long way from our origins as a wrestling site, we like to think we continue to maintain an independent voice.”

That independent voice is my writer-life’s blood. It’s what keeps me going, and I like to think that I meet the mission stated above multiple times each week.

The Final Truth

It all boils down to this: Sting is a locked-in Hall Of Famer, and his contributions to the wrestling business are exceeded by a select few.

But Sting doesn’t belong anywhere near the main event in the 2015 WWE, not in a singles capacity anyway, and not challenging for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. His offense is no longer believable, and a loss to him would in fact hurt Seth Rollins in—at the very minimum—the short term.

And he damn sure shouldn’t wear the title!

Ten or fifteen (or more) years ago? Definitely.

But not now.

And I have a treat for you later this week—I am going to take Night Of Champions as it is, and make it work, with Sting’s challenge of Seth Rollins as the main event. It’ll be fun, and I look forward to bringing it to you, right here…at 411Mania.com! (Cheap pop!)

Greg DeMarco is a wrestling fan of over 30 years and has worked on the independent circuit as a promoter, announcer, character and booker. Greg is a weekly contributor at 411Mania.com, applying his opinionated style to the world of pro wrestling as often as possible.

He began writing for 411Mania in October 2010 and has been pissing readers off ever since!

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And as always…