25 biggest pro wrestling ‘what ifs’ of the past 25 years

18. What if Sting had signed with WWE earlier than he did?

Since I just talked about The Undertaker, it seems right to go ahead and discuss a man that people always wanted to see The Deadman face at WrestleMania. Of course, I’m talking about The Icon, Sting. This plays a bigger part in something I’ll be discussing later on this list but with a guy like this, he deserves his own page.

Much like The Undertaker in WWE, Sting was looked at as the cornerstone and the locker room leader of WCW for years. During an era where the biggest names in the business were jumping from company to company, Sting remained in WCW until the doors closed, which really says something about his loyalty and character. There were certainly plenty of opportunities for Sting to jump ship but he just wouldn’t.

Let’s run through a few quick scenarios that could have played out here. Let’s say that Sting jumps to WWE during the Monday Night War. He would have been coming off of a year-long program involving Hulk Hogan and the nWo, which, despite the lackluster finish at Starrcade in 1997, was one of the best storylines of the entire era. Hogan and the entire nWo were cemented at the top of the card while Ric Flair was still a force to be reckoned with. A young buck named Goldberg was rising faster than almost anyone in history and perhaps Sting felt that he needed a change. What if Sting goes to WWE at the height of the battle? Would WCW have survived even the remaining years without him in the locker room?

Scenario No. 2: WCW has folded and Sting signs with WWE in 2001 as part of The Invasion. Imagine the possibilities here. Shawn Michaels returned the following year and that would have been an amazing matchup. Perhaps The Undertaker rids himself of the biker gimmick to combat this new and mysterious figure on a Monday night. Sting and The Rock in their primes would have been amazing, as would have Sting and Triple H, not that watered-down version we got at WrestleMania 31.

Another part of this is what would have happened to TNA. While some big names ended up there later on, Sting came in early and really gave that promotion some real legitimacy. Finally, after so many years, The Icon finally came to WWE in 2014 but were matches against Triple H and Seth Rollins what we ever really had in mind?