2011 Pro Wrestling Thread

As much as I hate to say it, pro wrestlers' religious beliefs have a way of disappearing when Vince flashes a little money their way.

Marc Mero (Johnny B. Badd) was a perfect example. He was fired from WCW, in part, because he didn't want to do a storyline involving another woman because of his religious beliefs. He ended up in WWF(E) and almost immediately did a storyline with his then-wife Sable and Jacquelyn, a storyline that saw, um, quite a bit more of Sable than anyone ever thought possible on TV.

Incidentally, Sable is now married to Brock Lesnar.

 

I think smart fans would appreciate the match from a historical and performance standpoint, the same way they did with Taker-HBK last year. Everyone knew HBK was retiring and that he'd lose that match, but it didn't stop anyone from enjoying the moment.
Obviously, Sting isn't on HBK's level as a performer at this point in his career. But if he can nut up for one match and deliver a strong performance, Sting-Undertaker could be awesome.

 

Just chiming in here:

Guessed Del Rio winning it a few days before the match on a buddy's FB fan page for predicting the PPVs. Loved it happening. I didn't mind the end of the Rumble with Santino because it put some doubt into the outcome with the way 1) Santino gets a lot of pop from the crowds and 2) WWE's been putting over new guys as of late.

I friggin knew Lawler was going to win that match on Raw. It sets up him possibly retiring this year after Mania. Can't remember who said it, but I think a Lawler/Riley match at WM would work, have Michael Cole interfere somehow and have Lawler finally deck Cole and give him a piledriver, thus ending in him getting fired and his sendoff the next night on Raw.

I'd love for Sting to be the opponent for Taker at Mania. Just prepared for it to never materialize though.

An aside: I listen to a local afternoon radio show and X-Pac is often a guest on the show. It's not a wrestling call-in show, but the guys who do the show have become good friends with him. They talked to him about the Rumble and about a few other things. 1) X-Pac said that Nash should be a part of the WWE for the forseeable future, but he said Nash wouldn't be doing the house show circuit etc. They'll probably call him in as needed. 2) He said he'd love to work for the WWE again and sees it as a good possibility. He just has to get clearance from state athletic boards.

 

See, I think there was plenty of intrigue in that last match, because HBK was having a strong run and hadn't made any noise about retiring. A lot of people really thought he might win, or that something would happen that wouldn't force him to retire. I kinda thought he'd win, then this year would be career vs. career in the rubber match.

I don't think anyone buys Sting as a threat. There's a historical element to it, of course, because Sting and Taker were two of the most consistent top-card wrestlers of the 90s and early 2000s. But I can't remember the last truly good match Sting has had. He's never looked good in TNA, though he was probably phoning it in from the get-go. Sting-HBK could have been very good.

 

Put those two together, and you could have Nash be the new Raw color commentator. Say what you will about him, but he's always been an entertaining talker. Settle into Cole-Nash and Matthews-Booker T. as your Raw and SD teams, and that might take you down the road a bit (JR-Nash would be better, of course, but that ship's almost off the horizon now).

 

... As long as Nash doesn't turn into this decade's version of Dusty Rhodes and Larry Zbzysko, who scoffed at the lighter-weight wrestlers throughout WCW telecasts, never taking them seriously to the point of killing any heat they could muster.

 

When I first got interested in wrestling as a kid, Sting was my favorite. And that pretty much lasted through the end of WCW. In fact, I think the last match I watched for about 8 years was Sting vs. Flair on the last ever Nitro. Once WWE bought it, I lost interest in wrestling and really only picked it back up in the last two years or so. So, yeah, if Sting was to come back, I'd be hugely interested (and I'd be rooting for him to break the streak). But the rational side of my says there's no way they end that streak on a one shot deal for a dude who's 50 years old. And for me, I'd be pretty disappointed if Sting's only contribution in WWE was a one shot, 2 month deal where he loses to the Undertaker.

 

The more I think about it, the more I think I'd like to see Sting be the last major American wrestler not to go to WWE. After him, who else is left? Certainly all the major WCW and ECW names have spent time there. Ditto most of the TNA names outside of Styles, and he's nowhere near Sting's name recognition. There's a certain romantic legacy about being the last holdout against the wave.

 

There's AJ Styles and Samoa Joe, both who would be underutilized in WWE.

 

But neither are huge names. Certainly nowhere near Sting's. Noting to do with their in-ring ability or character devlopment or anything like that. But fact is, there are no big-name American wrestlers working today who haven't worked for WWE, except Sting. When he does that, or retires, that's it. Unless TNA becomes a legitimate major-league organization with >2.5 ratings and six-digit PPV buyrates. But I'm not holding my breath on that one.

 

And it wouldn't even be two months, since whatever happens with Taker is probably going to start on 2.21.11. That's, what, six weeks tops?

Not sure what you do with Sting at WM (he'd probably get in the HOF if he signs, and might also sign a legends deal that gets him in without wrestling). All those Sting vs. ??? dream matches from 10-20 years ago are pretty much DOA now outside Taker. If Vince were a character again, possibly him, but I've seen him get his enough.

 

I think if you want to effectively use Sting on a one-shot basis and you also want him to face Undertaker, keep the streak alive and not waste the whole thing, there's only one way to go.

You build up the mystery of 2.21.11 or whatever the date is and, at that RAW, you have Vince come out, say he's about to announce the newest member of the Hall of Fame and he introduces Sting.

You make sure Vince plays up the fact that Sting was the epitome of WCW and build him up as a legend who never quite got the respect that he deserved and talk about how he could have beaten any WWE legend easily in his prime.

Sting then cuts a face promo about how he was always reluctant to join the WWE but how he never forgot how special his time was in WCW and, for that, he's honored to be in the WWE Hall of Fame, the de facto pro wrestling hall of fame where he feels WCW legends should be honored, even if they were known for their worst in WCW.

Then Sting says his one regret was never challenging the one legend who he always respected more than anyone else. That legend? The Undertaker.

You cut that promo short right there. The next week, you have the announcers play up the idea, maybe have Vince come out and challenge the Undertaker to take on Sting and, eventually, you build up a friendly feud between two legends at the tail end of their career.

Yes, Sting loses, but he goes out with a bang in the one match fans of WCW and WWE always wanted to see. Sting is in the WWE Hall of Fame but still remembered entirely for his pre-WWE catalog and you get intrigue in the streak in a year where we know whomever Taker faces will lose (19-0 is just about a guarantee and nothing special. 20-0? That would be special).