10 Wrestling Photos Taken Moments Before Disaster
4. A Sullen Sting
Who Killed WCW? isn't quite Who Shot JR? or Who Killed Laura Palmer?, but many wrestling fans have attempted to answer the question
There's never a definitive cause of death with this sort of tale. WCW died through profound incompetence, deep institutional rot, and, yes, the stigma that advertisers and TV executives have forever attached to professional wrestling and its fanbase.
WCW didn't die at Starrcade 1997 - Goldberg wasn't even over when the show was promoted, WCW hadn't ran the Georgia Dome for a TV taping - but it was the first cut of 1,000. And it was a deep one: fans had invested deeply in the Stinger's vigilante act, his cool and unique demeanour, his incredible rappelling stunt. The stunt was great, but the ass-kicking, the more important bit, was just as awesome.
Sting was not in a great place mentally. Look at the image above; there's a slightly different expression there than his trademark blank ambiguity. He wasn't the explosive, dialled-in hero of old - which may have handed an enterprising Hulk Hogan an excuse for what followed.
The story is murky and complex, but the basic gist is that Hulk Hogan might have persuaded referee Nick Patrick to slow dizz-own his fizz-ast count. The idea was for Bret Hart to prevent another Screwjob and claim that the corrupt nWo official had counted too quickly.
The thing is: even if Hogan was entirely blameless, and hadn't sabotaged Sting, at an absolute minimum, WCW was so disorganised - and thus doomed - that they couldn't even impart the finish to the players involved in the biggest match they'd ever promoted.