10 Wrestling Matches Much Better Than Their Reputations
3. Triple H Vs. Sting (WrestleMania 31)
The complaints surrounding this clash have merit. It was, for all intents and purposes, Vince McMahon's last big "f*ck you" to WCW. In having the last big Ted Turner star to cross over to WWE lose to his son-in-law, he was bathing in self-indulgence and raising a needless middle finger to his long-defeated competitors, and it was completely transparent. Even if you somehow missed it in the action, JBL continually hammered the "them and us" narrative point on commentary.
Yet to reduce this bout to a mere WCW burial does it a great disservice, because it stands as a rare example of pantomime-style overbooking creating a lively, off-the-wall piece of pageantry, and an entertaining nostalgia trip.
The initial work between these two veterans was solid, if unspectacular. Things really opened up with the interferences, as the New Age Outlaws and X-Pac were followed by the New World Order, sparking a massive, sports entertainment-style brawl. Broken man Scott Hall took a backdrop on the outside. 56-year-old Sting hit a top rope cross body. 'The Vigilante' snapped Hunter's sledgehammer with his baseball bat. It was a riot.
An unideal outcome, but a weird, wild ride through childhood memories.