Wrestling Legend Arn Anderson Says Vince McMahon Told WWE Announcers To “Bury” Sting

Hall of Famer Arn Anderson claimed that Vince McMahon told his announcers to “bury’ Sting in his WWE debut match.

 

After Vince McMahon bought out the rival WCW promotion in 2001, he successfully recruited the vast majority of their marquee main event talents.

This included Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Booker T, Scott Steiner, Ric Flair and Goldberg. But there was one notable name that never came aboard, none other than the Man They Call Sting.

But after an illustrious run with TNA that spanned over a decade, Sting finally made the jump to WWE in 2014 – debuting at the Survivor Series pay-per-view.

He confronted and attacked Triple H, who interfered during the main event, thus setting the stage for a match at WrestleMania 31.

The match itself had some great moments, but it still left a bitter taste in the mouths of many wrestling fans and former WCW talents.

Vince had the New World Order and D-Generation X interfere during the match, and when Triple H emerged victorious via pinfall, some believed that the WWE chairman was simply aiming to remind everyone who won the Monday Night Wars.

On his ARN podcast, WCW legend and WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson criticized the company for their managing of the Sting-Triple H match.

Anderson even suggested that Vince McMahon told the announcers to “bury” the former face of WCW.

“All it did was give the announcers – and I know this was fed to them – they just buried Sting. ‘Minnow in a big pond.’ Just total condescending,” Anderson said. “‘Guy’s out of his element.’ “This is WrestleMania now.’ ‘You’re just a small minnow in a huge lake.’

“They (WCW) led for all those weeks but, in the end, here’s your last remaining guy and he was your biggest star, and we (WWE) just crushed him before your very eyes at the biggest event of the year.”

After losing his WWE debut match, Sting went on hiatus before eventually clashing with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. The Vigilante faced him for the title at Night of Champions 2015, and despite suffering a serious neck injury, Sting managed to finish the match.

He lost via pinfall, and it unfortunately marked the end of his in-ring career. Sting retired at his 2016 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and despite rumors that he’d come back to face The Undertaker, nothing ever came to fruition.

Sting Deserved Better In WWE
It was very disappointing to see WWE mismanage and misuse a legend like Sting, one of the all-time fan favorites.

While Vince was happy to give major pushes to WCW talents like Hogan and Goldberg, he just wouldn’t give Sting the opportunities he deserved.

Although it was great to see the Vigilante in WWE (we never thought it would happen, after all), it’s hard not to look back in disappointment. WWE could have done so much better with him.