WWE Hall of Famer Road Dogg has claimed that Vince McMahon couldn’t see the value in a wrestling legend who has 21 Championship reigns to his name.
Back in 2014, Sting was one of the biggest wrestling stars to have never wrestled in WWE. He joined WCW in 1987 and it seemed like he was set for life. Quickly rising through the ranks, Sting captured his first World Championship at 1990’s Great American Bash and remained a key part of the main event scene in the years afterwards.
However, in 2001 WCW folded and its assets were purchased by WWE. The company opted not to buy out The Icon’s contract at that time, and later negotiations between the two sides didn’t lead anywhere.
Instead, Sting joined TNA – now IMPACT Wrestling – in 2003 and enjoyed an 11-year run which saw him add another yet more tile reigns to his collection.
In 2014, he finally arrived in Vince McMahon’s company to much fanfare and soon began with The Authority, the faction led by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. This culminated in him clashing with Triple H at WrestleMania 31 in a No Disqualification match. Fans were shocked when The Game overcame The Icon to take the victory.
Speaking on Sportskeeda’s The Wrestling Outlaws podcast, Road Dogg discussed why Sting lost his debut match, speculating that Vince McMahon simply didn’t see the value in him beyond building up a potential match between Triple H and the Rock.
“This is going to get me in some trouble, but this is just the truth. I don’t know what value Vince McMahon saw in Sting. Like, he was an older gentleman at the time, he was not going to come back and work 300 days a year for me [McMahon] and he worked for the other company that I didn’t follow.
“I don’t know if he knew what he had in Sting and I think he saw it as an opportunity to utilize whatever he had and promote this big match [Triple H vs. The Rock] for WrestleMania next year, which ended up falling through but I see the business strategy behind it. It’s just that it sucked because it didn’t happen and it definitely sucked for Sting’s fans.”
Sting only had three further matches with WWE, with the final bout, against Seth Rollins, resulting in a neck injury that led to him announcing his retirement in 2016.
However, following his WWE contract expiring in 2020, the star made the move to AEW where he allied himself with Darby Allin and has taken part in several more matches.
H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the above transcription.