Sting, who knows a thing or two about shocking debuts, arrived in WWE at Survivor Series 2014, hitting a Scorpion Deathdrop on Triple H in the middle of the ring.
His arrival in WWE on that November night would eventually lead to him making his long-awaited in-ring debut with the company at WrestleMania 31. Standing across the ring from the Stinger in Santa Clara was the man who he took out on his debut, Triple H.
It was a battle of two icons, two legends of professional wrestling, and when all was said and done, after run-ins galore, Triple H was the one who had his hand raised in victory.
However, Triple H’s victory that night wasn’t without controversy, as many fans around the world believed Sting should have been the one to enjoy the fairy tale ending. It turns out that those fans also are not alone.
During the question and answer section of his Hall Of Fame podcast, Booker T outlined his belief that on that night at WrestleMania, the wrong man won. Answering a listener question about whether WWE had made a mistake with the booking of the match, the former WWE World Champion agreed.
“I think so. [Sting’s loss on debut was a mistake] I think Sting, you know, he had so much to offer even though we were behind the curve as far as how much time we still had with Sting. We all know that. But, I’m just one of those guys – I’m thinking from a promoter’s standpoint – if we can get something out of this guy, let’s do it. Let’s do it right now. It’s just like when The Rock’n’Roll Express came to Houston and one of our tag teams couldn’t make it. And The Rock’n’Roll Express, they were there, and they were just there to be the honorary tag team just to give out the trophy. But they said, ‘Man, you guys are down a tag team, we are willing to be in the tournament.’ Me, as a promoter, I’m like, ‘The Rock’n’Roll Express is in the tournament, they’re gotta win it.’ Just for the nostalgia purpose, ‘Man, if we can get six months out of this… Boom, we can get six months…’ That’s the way I’m thinking, we could have got six months out of Sting.
Sting’s time wrestling in WWE came to an abrupt end at the 2015 Night Of Champions where the WCW legend sustained a serious neck injury in a match against Seth Rollins.
While Sting was later inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, he would leave the company in 2020. At the time it was believed that Sting’s time as an active performer was over, that is, until he joined AEW that December.
The Icon would go on to make his return to action at AEW Revolution in a Street Fight where he teamed with Darby Allin to defeat Team Taz.
H/t to Sportskeeda for the transcription.