Anything in wrestling that doesn't involve grappling could be considered a "stunt." When pro wrestling gets to the point that a wrestler is being lowered from the ceiling in a harness (in order to lampoon another company lowering a wrestler from the ceiling in a harness), in retrospect, that's insanely stupid. The fact that Sting never detached from his harness during the "Crow Sting" era is a miracle. Yes, Sting dressed in black in the the rafters pointing his bat at the NWO was cool, but we also know that the Ultimate Warrior sprinting down the aisle was cool, just as Hulk Hogan pointing at his opponent in his comeback was cool, too. The WWF lampooning WCW with "Billionaire Ted's Rasslin' War Room" was dumb, but only hurt people's feelings. Attempting to lower Owen Hart from the ceiling killed Owen Hart. Moreso, even if Hart had successfully landed, it would've been a one-note joke that would've damaged the then-massive egos of WCW president and booker Eric Bischoff, as well as Hulk Hogan. Was this really necessary? Of course not.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
