WWE Refusing To Call Sting ‘The Icon,’ Changing His Nickname To ‘The Vigilante’
Any time any WWE superstars and commentators have mentioned Sting’s name after his debut at Survivor Series, they can’t just call him Sting, as they’re being directed to call him “The Vigilante” Sting. Rumor has it that WWE is refusing to call Sting by the nickname that he’s used for nearly his entire career, which is “The Icon,” because they didn’t come up with the original nickname.
Vince McMahon and WWE has a long history of either trying to bury or not use ideas that weren’t their own, and were successful in other places. Now, it would seem that WWE is doing the same thing with Sting. During his tenure in World Championship Wrestling, Sting was referred to as “The Icon.” Sting also used that same nickname while he wrestled in TNA.
Unless Sting signed over the rights to his name over to WWE, which is unlikely, WWE doesn’t own the name Sting or the nickname “The Icon.” So it’s likely that WWE is trying push “The Vigilante” as Sting’s new nickname because it’s something that they can own the rights to should Sting leave WWE in the future and try to wrestle somewhere else, which, at Sting’s age, is very unlikely.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer said that WWE’s primary reason for not using “The Icon” as Sting’s nickname in WWE is simply because they didn’t come up with it themselves, which has been WWE’s mentality for several years now. One example of that is WWE never doing a War Games match, which WWE fans have been wanting to see for a long time now. But, because the War Games match was made famous in WCW, WWE never wants to acknowledge its existence.
When Sting made his WWE debut, the direction was made pretty clear. He’ll be facing Triple H at WrestleMania 31. Many people believed that the reason behind Sting wrestling Triple H at WrestleMania is The Undertaker is dealing with too many nagging injuries and will likely be physically unable to wrestle come March 29. However, that may not be the case, as it’s been reported that The Undertaker is scheduled to take on Bray Wyatt at the big event this coming spring.
Most WWE fans will be disappointed when they hear that The Undertaker is going to be able to have a match at WrestleMania 31, but it won’t be against Sting. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer explained the reasoning behind WWE not giving their fans the long-awaited dream-match between Undertaker and Sting at WrestleMania 31, and the reason is simple. Triple H can carry Sting to a good match, and at this point in his career, The Undertaker cannot.
WWE choosing to not make a Sting vs. Undertaker match doesn’t rule out the possibility of Sting and Undertaker doing something either leading up to WrestleMania, or the night after WrestleMania. Now, obviously that something wouldn’t be a match, but, WWE could have the two have some sort of confrontation just to please the fans.
Sting’s match with Triple H at WrestleMania 31 will likely be the last match of his career. WWE could add a retirement stipulation to the match between Triple H and Sting, with the conditions of the match being that if Sting loses, he must retire and John Cena must reinstate The Authority, and if Triple H loses, he must retire. If WWE added that stipulation, it would likely give away the result of the match ahead of time and Sting would likely lose his one and only WWE match, so, it’s possible that the match between Sting and Triple H will just be a straight match, with no added stipulations, and Sting will come out on top.
[Images via WWE]
