Why Sting left the WWE?
For years and years many fans around the world wanted one thing and one thing only – to see The Icon Sting compete inside of a WWE sanctioned ring.
No matter how old he got or how far into his legendary career he was, the WWE Universe still knew in their hearts that there was always a possibility he’d leave the sinking ship of Impact Wrestling in order to swim in the fruitful waters of the biggest show in town.
In late 2014 it became increasingly obvious that the Stinger was going to gift us with his presence, and from the moment he debuted at Survivor Series, it was almost like we were all dreaming.
Finally, a long-term legend of the business has made the transition into the big time, and the plethora of dream matches that were on the table left us salivating at the mouth.
Unfortunately, over the course of the following 12 months, things didn’t quite pan out as many had hoped with Sting losing his debut bout at WrestleMania 31 against Triple H before going on to also fall to Seth Rollins at Night of Champions.
Some would’ve seen these as decisions that had to be made for the good of the company, but for a lot of people, it just seemed as if Vince McMahon was once again trying to put the final nail in the coffin of his long-standing war with World Championship Wrestling.
As petty as that may seem, it’s not one of the reasons as to why Sting ‘left’ the WWE – and by left, we mean from an in-ring perspective, because he still makes occasional appearances courtesy of his Legends’ contract.
For those of you who don't know, the now 58-year-old suffered a fairly serious neck injury during his aforementioned match with Seth Rollins at NOC back in 2015. He ended up requiring surgery in order to correct spinal stenosis, and while he claims that he could probably still wrestle to this day, it started to become clear that the end was nigh for the former WCW favourite.
Sting was offered the chance to headline the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2016, and it seems like one of the major strings attached to that idea was that he’d retire from in-ring competition.
Which, just 24 hours prior to WrestleMania 32, he did. In front of thousands of fans in attendance in Dallas and millions watching around the world, the king of the baseball bat finally hung up his boots and walked away for the last time.
However, we feel as if there was more to the story.
It’s no secret that the dream match in the eyes of most was Sting vs The Undertaker, and when they decided to hold off on that taking place back at WM31, there’s no doubt in our minds that it would’ve peeved "The Vigilante" off just a little bit.
After all, that was one of his main reasons for coming to WWE and the fact that they risked holding it off for another year in order to benefit Triple H just seems a little bit silly.
At the time it probably didn't bother Sting too much because he was being given the opportunity to wrestle on the grandest stage of them all, but in recent interviews, he’s pointed towards the 'Taker match as being his one major point of ‘unfinished business’ within this industry.
With someone like Sting, you can’t really have them pop up on WWE television every now and again, either, which makes his absence all the more logical when you consider that he’s now officially in retirement.
But as the man himself has stated on multiple occasions, the one thing that’s for sure about Sting is nothing is for sure.
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