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Sting's WWE debut was met with excitement, but his run in the company was unfortunately lackluster, and Vince McMahon could have been the reason for it. As it turns out, the latter's actions stem from his rivalry with The Icon and WCW during the 1990s.
Stinger may have only appeared on WWE programming in 2014 during that year's Survivor Series, but many fans were already aware of his identity due to his time performing in WCW in the 80s. However, he had a lackluster run in the Stamford-based promotion, where he lost his debut match in the company at WrestleMania 31 against Triple H. Interestingly, Vince McMahon was seemingly looking forward to this moment.
On an episode of the ARN podcast in 2020, Arn Anderson, who worked for WCW and later backstage in WWE, shared that Vince instructed announcers to bury the former AEW star during the match to showcase that WWE was triumphant against WCW for one last time.
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“All it did was give the announcers—and I know this was fed to them—they just buried Sting. ‘Minnow in a big pond!' Just total condescending. ‘Guy’s out of his element! This is WrestleMania now! You’re just a small minnow in a huge lake!'''
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The Icon returned to the company in 2015 to challenge Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship but failed in his endeavors. The former WCW star was inducted into the Hall of Fame the following year. He departed WWE following the expiration of his contract in May 2020. The legendary wrestler became All Elite later that year in December.
What other comments did Vince McMahon reportedly make about Sting?
Although Stinger didn't jump ship to the Stamford-based promotion following the latter's takeover of WCW at the turn of the century, he remained an iconic figure in wrestling and worked for other promotions. However, his actions rubbed Vince the wrong way.
During an episode of Busted Open in 2022, Road Dogg shared that Vince initially acted like he didn't know about the veteran wrestler and even asked if the latter was "over." Road Dogg stated that Vince also doubted if The Icon would get over with the fans.
Where is Sting now?
Although many thought the Hall of Famer's wrestling career was over in 2016, the 64-year-old returned triumphantly in 2020 in All Elite Wrestling. Sting officially had his last match at AEW Revolution 2024. He and Darby Allin defeated The Young Bucks to retain the company's Tag Team titles.
Although the former WCW star didn't have the best run in WWE, it's heartening to see that the legendary wrestler had a memorable farewell inside the square circle this weekend.
Share your views on The Icon's stint in WWE in the comments section below.
