Wrestling Rumblings #109
February 5, 2011
By: Jose Marrero of Wrestleview.com
You know they say that the best things in life are worth waiting for. I may be a day late due to real life getting in the way but I know, just like I am sure you know that you can’t end your week without your fix of “Wrestling Rumblings”. The Royal Rumble is done and we are now officially on the “Road to Wrestlemania” and up until this past Monday I will admit I was very skeptical on Wrestlemania. I’ve said it more than once Wrestlemania is my Christmas and this will be my fourth year in a row being live at the big show. With Shawn Micheals retirement last year I found myself wondering what could be the match that would have people talking, the match that could maybe sell the event all by itself. I didn’t have even a glimpse of what that match could be until one brief moment this past Monday when I saw the infamous 2/21/11 video that many believe is for Sting. I don’t know if it is for Sting or for the Undertaker but I believe it should be and if Sting is indeed signed with the WWE it could be the single biggest thing to happen to WWE in years. Of course many have Sting vs. Undertaker already penciled in but I would have to say if Sting is indeed in WWE how do you book him leading to that historic match? What about beyond that? I aim to answer this…you’re reading “Wrestling Rumblings.”
Look if Sting is in fact signed with WWE and he does indeed take on the Undertaker it has to make sense. The last time we saw the Undertaker he was being taken out by Nexus and was buried alive by Kane. There is a whole lot of past history that I just don’t feel you can ignore even if you did just sign Sting. It would be insulting to the fans that actually paid attention to that storyline and well it would just annoy me. So here is how I book Sting at the start of his WWE run. He does in fact debut on 2/21/11 interrupting an angle that involves the return of the Undertaker. If I had to be pressed for what kind of an angle would bring Undertaker back I would probably come up with something along the lines of maybe mixing up Nexxus and Corre for the tag team titles on Raw which of course would involve Santino and Koslov. I could do a finish to the match or I could just have the match end in a no contest but whatever happens there would be some sort of video in which the lights would go black and you would hear the same children’ voices that always seem to accompany an Undertaker return. They would say what they got to say and the lights come back on and the Undertaker is in the ring and cleans house on Nexus and Corre. While I don’t like sacrificing Nexus and Corre here I have to have some sort of acknowledgment to what did take place between Nexus and Undertaker and well if what happens next goes right there will be no one who really bothers to nitpick on the fact that I just sort of blew through Undertaker beating up Nexus and Corre.
Of course what would happen next is after Undertaker gives those guys a good thrashing the lights go out again and we get another video, a more detailed version of the guy walking to the log cabin with some sort of message the appearance of a Crow and of course the logo flashes Sting. Lights go back on, Sting is behind the Undertaker and beats him up with the baseball bat and hits him with a scorpion death drop and leaves him laying, with everyone waiting for an answer to the question TNA took way too long to answer “Why Sting Why?”.
Of course we will have Undertaker return on Smackdown, he will mention how Sting took him out on Raw and mention how he will again be on Raw the following week and this time he hopes Sting will confront him face to face to answer that very question. This brings us to Raw in which we do have that face to face moment which if that goes right it can very well be like Rock and Hogan the first time those two went face to face. Sting can put over how for his whole career he has defeated every person who has come his way. He can put over being a legend, an Icon and say how he has one more thing to do before he is done in this business and that is defeat the legend that is the Undertaker on the biggest stage, that stage being Wrestlemania. He goes ahead and challenges the Undertaker in a match that would be billed as Icon vs. Phenom going in. You figure we have at least a month leading up to the match and in that month you don’t want to see Sting wrestle and you can’t have him and Undertaker just beat each other up every week. Everyone is talking about some sort of Nexus vs. Corre match and I have to push that somehow also and I use this angle to get it done.
First thing I put over is that Sting was the reason that Nexus first attacked Undertaker was because Sting put them up to it. Instead of making Sting a heel with it we can just say that Sting has followed the history of the Undertaker and realizes that like the Phoenix he rises from the ashes stronger than ever and wanted Undertaker at his strongest on the biggest stage. Most guys would get booed with this but I think Sting is so beloved by fans that he could still stay a babyface with this. Especially if in the weeks leading up to this you can have the gimmick that maybe Nexus and Corre are both competing to see if they can take out Sting and/or Undertaker since both of those guys would be stealing what is basically there spotlight. We can have clashes that involve Undertaker saving Sting and the other way around with Sting saving the Undertaker and basically this would lead to the groups getting in each other’s way and help further set up a match between those factions at Wrestlemania.
Of course it should go without saying that the Undertaker has to win the match at Wrestlemania to go to 19 and 0 but of course it would be a babyface match which would end with some sort of acknowledgement of respect between the two and basically put an end to the program. So how do we use Sting after this match? Well the next night on Raw Sting can go out and mention how much of a fight he put up against the Undertaker only to become another victim of the streak, but even though he lost the match he finally got a chance to compete at Wrestlemania on the biggest stage of them all and feels no shame in walking away from the sport. Of course I would have to bring a heel out to antagonize him at this point and my choice for that heel would be The Miz. Miz could come out and mention how he lost the title the night before (I have him losing to Cena at Wrestlemania) and how he was robbed, basically he makes all the excuses a heel makes and says how Wrestlemania was his time and Sting’s time has passed. He basically humiliates Sting on his way out by telling him he’s washed up which leads to some sort of confrontation in which Miz leaves Sting laying to the point where he is carried out on a stretcher.
This effectively eliminates Sting for awhile. You see I am operating under the understanding that Sting is going to be here for about a year which means I have to book him till about February/March and I have to somehow keep all of his appearances special or he wears out his welcome. Think of it in the same manner in which you book Undertaker. He wrestles at Wrestlemania, takes some time off, comes back and sometimes takes even more time off before coming back for Wrestlemania. Sure he is injured at times but most of the time it is done to keep him feeling fresh and special. I have to book Sting this year in the same manner or he becomes another guy on the roster. So this eliminates Sting from having to compete at Extreme Rules and I wouldn’t have him come back until Over the Limit in which he could interject himself in a match involving the Miz (The way WWE books things it would probably be the third Miz vs. John Cena match at that point). Somehow going forward with that Sting gets involved in the Fatal Fourway PPV and gets himself involved in the fourway for the WWE title. You figure in a fourway he can’t become too exposed and at the same time you get him in the mix with others that you want to see him in the ring with. I’m sure if I was booking all of WWE television I would probably have something different at this time but since my focus right now is just Sting I will say that Fatal Fourway is Sting vs. John Cena vs. Miz vs. HHH. I can use that match to gauge fan interest in potential matches down the line involving Sting vs. HHH and Sting vs. John Cena. Of course Sting comes up short in that match but since it is a one fall match he maybe comes really close and somehow Miz screws him out of winning the title and maybe wins it himself.
That means going into Money in the Bank we have Miz as champion and we can do the angle in which Sting wants a shot at the WWE title, a title in which he has never held. The company can bill him as a multiple time world champion who realizes his career means nothing if he doesn’t hold the WWE title. This is a way to elevate the prestige of the WWE title as well as take a swipe at TNA. Thanks to some outside interference I am going to have Miz go over on Sting here and keep the title just not to have the title change hands on two straight PPV’s.
This of course means Miz is still champion going into Summerslam and I need a program for Sting. I’ve never liked the idea of rematches on one of the WWE’s big four PPV’s but I think I can do one here if I raise the stakes. Have Sting maybe come on a Raw and say how he would give anything for another shot at the title at which point Miz would ask for a Career vs. Title main event. I realize stips are done to death and never adhered to in WWE but by this point with Shawn Micheals having been retired for over a year maybe fans will buy the retirement stipulation and for the most part I would like fans to feel Sting is going to win since I think fans knowing that Sting is going to win the WWE title at Summerslam would actually be a big draw to sell PPV’s. So yeah, after four plus months of having Sting put people over I have him win the title at Summerslam in a match that would close out the show.
Sting is the champion and as is the case in WWE he would probably rematch Miz at Night of Champions in a match in which he would again go over the Miz which would bring him to Hell in a Cell. I don’t know how I would go into it but I think I would like to see Sting go at it with Sheamus at this point and put Sheamus over strong in Hell in a Cell for the title. I feel a win like this can be huge for Sheamus and well it gets the belt off of Sting and if I beat him up bad enough I can keep him off of the next WWE PPV which would be Bragging Rights. I would have Sting make it back for Survivor Series with that show being in Madision Square Garden and Sting having never competed there (he did compete in the paramount theater which is downstairs for those of you who are history buffs) and maybe he can captain a Survivor Series team against another team. I have nothing specific since it doesn’t really matter it’s just a match to keep him relevant and on the card. Depending on who his partners are maybe I do a bit of more foreshadowing there between him and either HHH or John Cena but of course his team goes over and whoever I choose in that instance would probably wind up co survivor of the match with him.
I don’t know how but I would do my best to keep him off PPV until the Royal Rumble in which I’d have him look good but ultimately lose the Rumble match setting him up to be on the Elimination Chamber show in which I would have him win the chamber match somehow and probably set him up against John Cena at Wrestlemania in a match that I would have him lose and would bring him to the end of this contract and hopefully his career.
So there you have it, a barebones idea of how to book Sting in WWE for a year. I could really flesh this out if I want and maybe even plug in some other opponents but I’m trying to write a column here not a booking sheet and the truth of the matter is this was all come up with in about 30 minutes. If I knew I had Sting over the course of a year the possibilities are really endless and I hope very much that WWE has indeed signed Sting and is aware of that themselves. Maybe he is not the biggest name in wrestling, maybe he is not the best worker but he is what WWE needs right now to get people talking and I would love for him to be involved with WWE heading to Wrestlemania and beyond.
With that being said it is time to wrap this column up but of course I have to give you guys something to do. Normally I would plug UFC for the weekend but this is Superbowl weekend and if you aren’t watching that I don’t know what else you would be watching. I am giving the nod to the Steelers since they beat my Jets but hope for a great game. On another note I am really angling to have “The Eye Gouge” up this week with a WSU DVD review as well as put finishing touches on a major announcement that is going to be made having to do with Wrestlemania weekend and yours truly so please be on the lookout for that. Of course if you want to email me you can do so at wrestlingrumblings@hotmail.com and well that’s it for this week, next week I will try to do better, and until then I am out.