Before we get started listen to this:
Obviously anyone who knows pro wrestling knows that the voice on that footage wasn’t Steve Borden aka Sting’s. Sting has signed a legends contract and that means minimal appearances for a decent pay day. The problem? HHH has to carry this feud on his own and it just isn’t playing well. An obvious look a like, a bad one at that, appeared for one second behind HHH a few weeks ago and now this promo that clearly isn’t Sting. HHH is at a disadvantage here because we as fans feel disconnected.
Sting is making his first and probably last appearance in WWE after spending time in the struggling TNA wrestling organization through the last of the best years of his life. He cited religious reasons for not signing previously because at the time WWE’s product was a more interesting PG-13 product than the PG cartoon product we have to stomach today. What we found out recently that it really came down to a concern that WWE brass would bury Sting just like they did DDP when he debuted in WWE as the guy who was stalking Undertaker’s wife. Diamond Dallas Page received one of the biggest crowd explosions in WWE history and then – they buried him. It was one of the biggest let downs for one of the most popular and most talented WCW superstars ever.
Imagine being Sting and seeing that nonsense. Imagine being a guy who was WCW’s Hulk Hogan seeing WCW’s equivalent of The Rock in DDP get misused. All of Page’s previous accomplishments went out the window and Sting’s would be diminished, too simply because WWE wrestlers were seen as superior to WCW performers. Vince’s ego would never allow a WCW star to receive more attention or achieve more accomplishments than one of his top stars. That would be seen as proof that WCW really did have the best roster.
Steve Borden is facing HHH at Wrestlemania despite the fact that WWE fans wanted his match to be against Undertaker. Well, Taker and Sting are old, like in their 50’s old and the match would be slow and painful to watch. A lot like two old boxers getting back in the ring at 50 +. Undertaker is 49 riding 50 and Sting is 55 so it’s no wonder they paired Taker with a talented Bray Wyatt to carry the match physically. HHH is also charged with doing the same for sting. Both men will go in the Hall of Fame next year if I could guess next year’s class right now and they would need the send off they deserve.
Last year when Undertaker lost to Brock Lesnar fans were so in shock that they didn’t pick up on the fact that Brock left the ring first, which means he was letting Undertaker have his moment. The same happened when Rock finally defeated Steve Austin at Wrestlemania. The crowd gave him a send off of epic proportions and Undertaker didn’t get it. That is why he is back this year. Chances are good that Bray will not win because Vince loved, and now dislikes the very cult leader gimmick he had been trying to use for years that finally connected when Wyatt used it. Undertaker losing to a lesser man in Vince’s eyes just won’t happen. The problem – Undertaker winning means he will get a different kind of appreciation from the fans and when a wrestler leaves with a win there is not a definitive stamp on their career and fans expect a return in the future. Why be emotional now when it seems like Undertaker isn’t done wrestling right?
Sting winning may have the same effect. Will fans embrace Sting and give him the send off he deserves if he is defeating HH like is predicted? Probably not, but in Sting’s case wrestling once in WWE and losing leaves him 0-1 and how can you induct someone in who has never won an official WWE match?
The truth is that Sting will probably win and retire for good as a wrestler and that Undertaker, also a part timer, will defeat Wyatt unless plans change. Will they get the recognition they deserve for the last matches in their careers?
Hate to tell you sir, but there’s this thing called voice alteration and digitization. If they just let Sting talk normally, the promo would have next to NO impact. Sting is a legend and they are showing his legacy, but he’s still new to the WWE base. Some know him and most that do are marks. The WWE is catering to everyone. This is stings first time in WWE speaking. So to help push that vigilante gimmick, it only makes sense to alter his voice. He wears a mask of paint to conceal his identity changing the voice only seems natural.