stro Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 I never understood the criticism that Sting showed up to Starrcade out of shape. He's been sulking in the rafters for a year, he wasn't supposed to be tan and buff. The way I understood it, he was blitzed out of his gourd for that match, and that's what the complaint was. I believe it was Bischoff who said something along the lines of, "Look at his eyes during his entrance, he is clearly under the influence". Makes his future debacle of a match with Jeff Hardy all the more interesting. How dare you. He was just really sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovchunky Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 I find it really hard to believe that Sting was ever under the influence of anything during a match. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakk_Sabbath Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 I don't give a shit how many drugs he was on, he still should've won clean and feuded with Bret for the next 6 months while the Outsiders turned face and feuded with Hogan, mostly on Thunder in order to properly introduce it as an equal to Nitro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nature Boy Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 The Outsiders feuding with Hogan and Savage would've been a fun way to spend early 98. Also, Sting and Bret feuding over who is the real world champion just seemed so fucking logical that Bischoff is an idiot for dropping the ball. Bischoff claims that Bret "wasn't the same after Montreal" and that may be true but DAMN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 To be fair to Bischoff, when they DID do Bret/Sting matches, they were not good at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoarr Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Wait? Sting under the influence?? I've never got that from the interviews. My take is that he has some serious issues in his personal and family life so when he showed up looking less than 100 percent and not completely dialed into being a wrestler that night, it pissed Hogan off. Bischoff danced around this with Flair I his podcast but I never thought he went into the match all pilled up or something. That being said, WCW Magazine has interviews with Bret early on where he mentions coming to WCW specifically to get revenge on Hogan for that Yokozuna debacle. Shame that never happened either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Wait? Sting under the influence?? I've never got that from the interviews. My take is that he has some serious issues in his personal and family life so when he showed up looking less than 100 percent and not completely dialed into being a wrestler that night, it pissed Hogan off. Bischoff danced around this with Flair I his podcast but I never thought he went into the match all pilled up or something. That being said, WCW Magazine has interviews with Bret early on where he mentions coming to WCW specifically to get revenge on Hogan for that Yokozuna debacle. Shame that never happened either. I believe he was going through a divorce/crisis of faith deal at the time. He might have been drunk, but I don't think Stang was the pilled up type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoarr Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 He'd disappear late 1998 to deal with his marriage and personal issues, wouldn't be completely surprised if he picked up bad habits from being around Luger though. The idea of him being fucked up at Starrcade though -- never considered it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Lord Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Man, if Sting was pilled up that night he might have a high tolerance because he pretty much looked like Sting. if the match was shit I always figured it was cause of Hogan being Hogan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MADCAP Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 I'm saying...it's not out of the realm of possibility: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeball Wizard Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 I believe he was going through a divorce/crisis of faith deal at the time. He might have been drunk, but I don't think Stang was the pilled up type. Sting admitted to using/abusing painkillers and muscle relaxers in that period of time. It's one of the things that led him to becoming a born again Christian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Wait, I thought he was born again in the early '90s after acting like a doofus for much of the '80s? That didn't happen until the late '90s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRR Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Hogan of all people though? The guy who wrestled more days then their are in a year in the 80's thanks to the miracle of cocaine. I can buy Sting having the issues and being on pills that day but did he forget to put the white part of his face paint on or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeball Wizard Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 I feel bad for my part in hijacking this thread, so here's this sweet machine 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I don't give a shit how many drugs he was on, he still should've won clean and feuded with Bret for the next 6 months while the Outsiders turned face and feuded with Hogan, mostly on Thunder in order to properly introduce it as an equal to Nitro Best thing for Hulk was him being attacked by the nWo on Nitro and going away for a year. He had really worn out his welcome at that point. To be fair to Bischoff, when they DID do Bret/Sting matches, they were not good at all. They were fine, bit disappointing, But disappointing Bret is better than great most things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 The only great match Bret had in WCW was the Owen tribute with Benoit. There was a match with Benoit on Nitro in 1998 that was pretty good, too. But he had matches with Dean, Booker, Sting, DDP, and none of them were good. At a time when those four guys were having great matches with anyone they got in the ring with. Weirdly, what I believe to be one of the better Bret WCW matches was against Nash in 2000. This is concussed Bret in jorts wrestling 2000 era Kevin Nash and they still had that great chemistry they showed in the WWF. Bret's WCW run is double disappointing for me because I enjoyed the shit out of his heel promos in WCW. It's the only thing he seemed to enjoy doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdangerously Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 That probably was the only thing he enjoyed. He seemed to realize pretty early on in his run that he'd made a huge mistake by signing with WCW. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 That is crazy, the Booker and Sting matches were at worst good, He had a weird non chemistry with Page and Malenko I can't really explain. But as US champ he dragged a decent match out of hippie Van Hammer and had some really good matches with Wolf Pac era Luger.Clearly his heart was not into any of it. But he contributed more good than bad. One of the few decent segments on 98 Nitros. That probably was the only thing he enjoyed. He seemed to realize pretty early on in his run that he'd made a huge mistake by signing with WCW. He did not even really want to go. Vince shoved him thru the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stro Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 That is crazy, the Booker and Sting matches were at worst good, He had a weird non chemistry with Page and Malenko I can't really explain. But as US champ he dragged a decent match out of hippie Van Hammer and had some really good matches with Wolf Pac era Luger. Clearly his heart was not into any of it. But he contributed more good than bad. One of the few decent segments on 98 Nitros. That probably was the only thing he enjoyed. He seemed to realize pretty early on in his run that he'd made a huge mistake by signing with WCW. He did not even really want to go. Vince shoved him thru the door. I didn't like them. I've seen his entire WCW run, even dumb shit like matches against Disco on Thunder. I genuinely did not enjoy any of his matches besides the matches with Flair, Macho, and Benoit. Once he started being a random TV match guy instead of PPV only, he gave even less of a shit than he clearly did before hand. The DDP and Sting matches were not good at all to me. Sting ones were boring, DDP ones were actually bad. The ones with Booker were probably the most disappointing, because Booker was in the run of his career in 1998 and they had such a bland, by the numbers match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caley Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 That probably was the only thing he enjoyed. He seemed to realize pretty early on in his run that he'd made a huge mistake by signing with WCW. Vince actually at one point (I believe it was when Hart was entertaining going to WCW in 96ish, after the Iron Man match) when trying to win Bret over with the lesser contract offer said to Bret that WCW wouldn't know what to do with him and Hart says in his book that before he even debuted in WCW that thought remained in the back of his mind and throughout his run. That is crazy, the Booker and Sting matches were at worst good, He had a weird non chemistry with Page and Malenko I can't really explain. Just re-read Bret's book and one of the things he talks about is wrestling Malenko who picks him up in a suplex to put him on the top rope and dropped him so hard and awkwardly on the turnbuckle that Bret tore his groin muscle on the move (And would eventually require surgery to fix it). He really doesn't have much respect for Malenko after that match. So that would explain the non-chemistry with Malenko in that match and others going forward. As for Page, it probably has to do with Bret being one of those old-timey wrestler guys who grew up in the business and loves to go into the ring and tell a story while DDP was well known for having his matches all set up ahead of time which is probably something that rubbed Hart the wrong way. It probably put both of them outside their comfort zones when wrestling each other, which could account for the non-chemistry there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I was thinking of that, but Bret worked great with Savage. I don't think Savage was as married to the idea as Page. Bret said Vince completely changed the story of the 1987 Bret/Savage match as a way to test him. I did not know Malenko was the one who gave him a groin tear like I had never seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerjeRUN Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technico Support Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Just re-read Bret's book and one of the things he talks about is wrestling Malenko who picks him up in a suplex to put him on the top rope and dropped him so hard and awkwardly on the turnbuckle that Bret tore his groin muscle on the move (And would eventually require surgery to fix it). He really doesn't have much respect for Malenko after that match. You could count on one hand the number of guys Bret had respect for. Dude is full of stories like this, about losing all respect for guys he wrestled. It's almost as if he's really really insecure and has to put everybody else down to feel good about himself. Nah, can't be. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caley Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I was thinking of that, but Bret worked great with Savage. I don't think Savage was as married to the idea as Page. Bret said Vince completely changed the story of the 1987 Bret/Savage match as a way to test him. I did not know Malenko was the one who gave him a groin tear like I had never seen. Bret LOVED Savage. He also tells a story in the book about Savage's last years as a wrestler with the company when Bret was the company ace and how they were excited to wrestle each other again so many years later and Jack Lanza came up to Bret and said "Catch something on him quick" right in front of Savage and it just crushed Savage to see how little the front office thought of him, so Bret said basically forget what they said, and they went out and had a much longer, more competitive match than they were supposed to because Bret liked Savage that much. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w. josh Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Just re-read Bret's book and one of the things he talks about is wrestling Malenko who picks him up in a suplex to put him on the top rope and dropped him so hard and awkwardly on the turnbuckle that Bret tore his groin muscle on the move (And would eventually require surgery to fix it). He really doesn't have much respect for Malenko after that match. You could count on one hand the number of guys Bret had respect for. Dude is full of stories like this, about losing all respect for guys he wrestled. It's almost as if he's really really insecure and has to put everybody else down to feel good about himself. Nah, can't be. When you meet an asshole in the morning, you met an asshole. When you keep meeting assholes all day, you're the asshole. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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