“The Icon” Sting Almost Made WWE Debut Opposite Stone Cold at WrestleMania 19

There are many pro wrestling icons who fans could only wish to see performing in the WWE ring. Former TNA legend and current AEW superstar Sting is definitely one of them. Throughout his career, “The Icon” has been a big name, despite spending most of the time out of WWE. Although he signed with Vince’s company in 2014, the run gave fans nothing noteworthy to remember. However, according to Sting, he could have joined WWE way sooner than that.

When Vince McMahon purchased WCW in 2001, the company retained many stars from the promotion. In fact, there were reports that WWE was also interested in hiring Sting. However, “The Icon” refused the offer. He reportedly wasn’t happy with how his WCW buddies were treated by the company.

Sting almost ended up signing with WWE before WrestleMania 19

In the WWE Attitude Era documentary, Sting revealed that he and Vince McMahon were negotiating a WWE contract in early 2003. According to “The Icon”, the idea for him was to debut at the end of WrestleMania 19. In fact, he would have confronted Steve Austin on the show.

Unfortunately, the negotiations fell apart, which is why Sting could not debut in WWE back then. Though he did wonder “what if” he had. The Hall of Famer felt the night of his debut would have been “incredible”. Moreover, he could have featured in many big matches and rivalries after that.

“I[Sting] had been negotiating with Vince McMahon, and one of the ideas was for me to debut at the end of WrestleMania XIX and confront ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. Negotiations fell apart and it never happened, but it makes you wonder, ‘What if?’…”

The Icon’s run with WWE ended up becoming nothing but disappointment for fans

Sting’s WWE career was colorless, partially because of his age and partially because of how WWE booked him. After years of waiting, fans finally saw The Icon making his WWE debut in 2014. However, by then, he was 55, a point where most of the wrestlers announce their retirement.

In his entire six years with WWE, Sting wrestled only four matches out of which only two stood out. First, it was against “The Game” Triple H at WrestleMania 31. The match was good, but WWE chose to book Sting on the losing end.

And in 2015, when Sting faced Seth Rollins at Night of Champions, he ended up suffering a career-ending back injury. In that match as well, The Icon was booked to lose.

Nevertheless, in 2016, WWE decided to induct The Icon into its prestigious Hall of Fame class. A year later, he left the company, signed with AEW, and has been there ever since.

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