10 Things We Learned From Eric Bischoff's Starrcade 1997 Podcast

4. Eric Was Shocked When He Saw Sting Without A Trench Coat

As Starrcade '97 was WCW's biggest show yet, Bischoff decided to arrive a little earlier than usual at around 11am-noon. Sting arrived shortly afterwards at approx 1.30pm, and Eric asked he and Hogan to hit his office for some pre-match chat. When they did, he couldn't believe his eyes.

Sting was noticeably smaller than he'd been before, hadn't tanned and didn't exactly look thrilled to be there.

Without the long baggy trench coat he'd been wearing for over a year on TV, the babyface barely looked capable of taking down the nWo single-handedly. Although Eric realised Sting was going through some personal issues at home around that time, he still expected him to show up raring to go for the biggest match of his career.

Once Sting left the room, Bischoff and Hulk had a little meeting of their own and concurred that the Stinger's head wasn't in the right place. In fact, they didn't believe his heart was in it either, and were both disappointed by how he looked.