Details Regarding Sting’s Debut and Match at WrestleMania 31

The latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has provided further details regarding Sting’s debut and match at WrestleMania 31, which has yet been locked down. As previously reported, the man called Sting, a 30-year in-ring veteran, stepped foot inside of a WWE ring for the first time ever in his career on Nov. 23 at the 2014 “Survivor Series” Pay-Per-View event.

According to the report, while Sting, real name Steve Borden, was not revealed to be debuting at the “Survivor Series” until a few days before the event by PWInsider.com, WWE and Sting had planned this move for weeks. One obvious tell-tale sign that this was the case, was that Sting had shot footage for his entrance video with the company. None of the footage used for his “Titantron” movie was old content.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter says that the debut was scheduled for “Survivor Series” because of the event’s weak card and due to the fact it was being offered free on the WWE Network. He also mentions that Triple H will likely be the upcoming opponent for Sting, not The Undertaker at WrestleMania 31. Meltzer writes,

“Most likely, Sting will do one WWE match, at WrestleMania, probably against HHH. Dwayne Johnson, who teased a match with HHH recently, signed to do a movie in the spring. Sting had long said that he wanted to face Undertaker at WrestleMania, but if that’s not possible, his choice would be HHH.

The reason they did the angle at Survivor Series was a decision by Vince McMahon. Aside from all other reasons, the primary reason is November was a big month for the WWE Network, with them for the first time offering a PPV show for free. The problem, the lineup was weak and nobody would have cared. McMahon felt it needed a heavy stipulation to garner interest, thus putting The Authority role in jeopardy and paying it off, with the idea a strong show would get as many people ordering for free to subscribe.

In addition, with Sting as a major character in the video game just being released, the timing was right for him to debut as a character on television. WWE also likes to tease something at Survivor Series to start the ball rolling for WrestleMania. There are few more rabbits they can pull out of their hat that would get the initial impact, perhaps only Goldberg (based on DVD sales), but Goldberg is much tougher than Sting to do business with and they never even came close last year even when Goldberg vs. Ryback seemed like a natural match-up based on organic fan interest. 

At another time, the call may have been different. But the feeling was, with Survivor Series being a free show designed to sell people on maintaining network subscriptions, a logical build for an Orton vs. Rollins (or Orton vs. Rollins vs. Cena) match at the next PPV wasn’t going to do that.

While Sting’s return was kept secretive until a couple of days before the show, this was not a last minute call. Sting himself kept it quiet. He was on the road Monday though Wednesday doing promotion work on the 2K Sports video game, and never hinted it to anyone that he would be doing anything. But he had filmed footage for his entrance video and this plan had been in place for a few weeks.”

Editor’s Note:
So we’re heading for Triple H vs. Sting. Bring it ON! Should be a great match.