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Sting out of shape at Starrcade 1997

Scott,

Was reading this bit about Eric Bischoff talking Starrcade 1997 mentioning how Sting came in out of shape and unprepared.

While obviously taking him with a grain of salt, it does make more sense in my mind as to how that match played out. Doesn't make it right, obviously. But if I were Hogan I would have taken it as a big "F you" from Sting. No wonder he started the match beating him up for like 15 minutes. Guy maybe didn't lift one dumbbell in his time off. 

Eric talked about how he had a hard time booking the finish because Hogan was Hogan:

I didn't really see his point of view. I had a hard time reading between the lines with Hogan because he didn't come flat out and tell me what his issues were. But I think Hogan was disappointed with Sting's preparation. Sting was clearly out of shape. He looked like he hadn't seen a gym or a tanning bed in six months. Up until that time, Sting could get away with that. He'd show up at the arena and do his act wearing his black trench coat and his face paint; he didn't actually wrestle.

For whatever reason I hadn't heard this explanation. I always took it as the usual "WCW lol WCW."

Typical wrestling bullshit reasoning if true, along with sacred ice-packs and guys getting pushed because they stand out at the airport.  Was Sting the character supposed to be rappelling down into Gold's Gym in the dark of night, doing some reps, and then retreating to the rafters again?  They had EIGHTEEN MONTHS to come up with a finish and in DECEMBER Hogan is suddenly objecting because the mysterious dark-powered babyface isn't tan enough?  

Comments

  1. Sting vs. Hogan at Starcade 1997 was the biggest let down of a match I have ever seen. EVERYTHING about it was wrong.

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  2. I've always wondered what Hogan says to Nick Patrick when he first gets in the ring. He has a funny expression on his face and it looks he says something like "Nah" I wonder if Hogan was explaining to him that he'd changed the finish?

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  3. Bad decision or not, that crowd pops huge when Sting wins.

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  4. LULZ. Typical Hogan revisionist bullshit. So the Stinger wasn't in shape to go a 60 minute Iron Man classic with Hogan...that's not what the match ever should have been to begin with. It should have been fifteen straight minutes of Sting beating the ever loving shit out of Hogan, and pinning him clean to end the nWo, and begin a new era. Instead, well...Hogan acted like Hogan, and we got what we got.


    Fuck Hogan.

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  5. They didn't have 18 months to come up with a finish. They had one month. They wanted something like Montreal because Eric was so damn obsessed with the WWF and saw that their Montreal finish still had people talking. And boy oh boy did WCW botch it.

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  6. Hogan's pathetically insecure ego sank this ship just like it helped to sink WCW and then went on to help sink TNA. Sting could have showed up having just won the G-1 Climax that year and the same shit would have happened.
    Fuck Hogan indeed.

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  7. I don't know where this idea that the NWO should have just gone away after Sting wins at Starrcade. There was still huge money in the NWO. It definitely should have been booked better after Starrcade, but just getting rid of them seems silly to me.

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  8. I kind of read it between the lines as Sting having a drug problem at the time.

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  9. Sting's Starrcade '97 entrance sucked

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  10. it had run its course. Begin the Wolfpac with Nash if you want, but the nWo itself should have imploded the night after Starrcade.

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  11. Extra thought: If Sting had a drug problem and that led to Starrcade 97 happening, than its pretty funny Jeff Hardy exploded on him if all people.

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  12. Well after sitting through that horrible PPV, and then thinking they got totally screwed by Hogan winning, of course they're gonna pop.

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  13. Nothing is more embarrassing as a Jeff Hardy fan than watching him meander around the ring with that damn t-shirt in his hands for about 15 minutes.

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  14. Even more embarrassing than when he became Willow?

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  15. Yes, because I refuse to watch that crap. Fucking Willow.

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  16. I guess I should watch Starrcade 97 now?

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  17. What about when he tried to kick out?

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  18. Nah, no way, they were still hugely over. That's like saying The Rock had his time and after Austin beat him at WM 15 he should've become a different character. The NWO still could've been used to build up new guys, like I said, I think they were booked wrong after Starrcade, but I don't think they should have disbanded.

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