Creativity, spectacle and trimmings aplenty are musts for WWE as it presents Seth Rollins vs. Sting at Night of Champions 2015.
That was made more evident by Sting's showing at Monday's Raw. The Vigilante still boasted the magnetic presence that has helped him shape a Hall of Fame career. He still engaged and still excelled at telling a story in the ring but reminded us that he has a third opponent in the upcoming main event: Father Time.
Despite being in better shape than he was in his final TNA days, Sting's age showed on the go-home edition of Raw. He didn't look like he could pull of a long singles bout without some major assistance from the WWE writing team.
Early in the show, Triple H announced that Sting would compete in his first match on Raw. The Stinger would face Big Show, a familiar opponent from his WCW days.
The bout lasted less than two minutes.
Sting tagged Big Show in the jaw with right hands, sending the giant into a backpedal. The slugfest was over not long after those early blows, though. Rollins charged in to lead a two-on-one assault.
As good as Sting looked in spurts here, his Stinger Splash, among other things, creates doubt as to how much he has left.
It's a move that once saw him bound from corner to corner, his legs churning until he launched himself into the air, a superhero taking flight. There was far less air under him than in the past on this night, though. The preamble was more jogging than running.
Comparing that to the far better version of the move that he hit J&J Security with in March, one has to assume that fatigue got to him against Big Show. If that's the case, that's disconcerting, considering how quickly that clash was over.
One bout soon gave way to another, as John Cena partnered with Sting against Big Show and Rollins.
After Cena took a beating at the hands of the heels, Sting charged in with his fists at the ready. There wasn't nearly the kind of electricity flowing in that moment that one would like to see there. Sting's flurry underwhelmed, as he looked several ticks slower than he once was.
In an odd moment, he clamped the Scorpion Deathlock onto Rollins and seemed unable to hold himself up. He tipped backwards, wobbling as his foe tapped out.
It's also telling that WWE chose to have Sting stand on the apron for the majority of the match. Part of that was surely a means to milk his eventual entrance into the fray, but one has to imagine some of that was to protect Sting. At this point in his career, he's not the kind of performer who can do the heavy lifting of a bout.
He will have no partner to lean on come Night of Champions. He won't be able to perform for just a few minutes.
None of this surprising. Sting is 56 years old. He wrestled his first professional match before Rollins was born.
No one is expecting him to go out there with the world champ and put on a 45-minute whirlwind match.
Still, there's reason to be a bit nervous moving forward. Justin LaBar of Chair Shot Reality is among those who is unsure of how things will play out:
To make this title bout a success, it's going to take the right kind of booking. WWE has to know that it can't just put Sting and Rollins in a long, uninterrupted contest that asks too much of The Stinger.
As the company did with Triple H vs. Sting at WrestleMania, WWE has to insert other moving parts here.
Sheamus' lurking and threatening to cash in his Money in the Bank contract is one potential direction. Having Kane or J&J Security return would expand WWE's options. The biggest key to adding depth and performing sleight-of-hand booking to the match should be Triple H.
He has a connection to both men, as a wary mentor to Rollins and a rival to Sting.
WWE has been tossing strong hints that it's leading up to an eventual showdown between Rollins and Triple H. His name has come up in promos between the wrestlers main eventing the PPV. The talk has been that Rollins is not yet as good as The Game.
If Rollins has to depend on help from Triple H, he will have that held over his head. Should Triple H cost him the title, accidentally or otherwise, the road to the COO's battle with Rollins is an easy one to construct.
Should the referee get knocked out during the action, as is so common in pro wrestling, Sting should bring his bat into the battle. Rollins should use it against him. WWE should throw in surprises, shenanigans and curveballs.
That's the best way to handle this. Fans won't be expecting a mat classic; give them over-the-top drama instead.
Writing about Sting matches on Monday night, ProWrestling.net's Jason Powell asked, "Did they manage to get viewers more excited about his title match via his in-ring work tonight, or expose him in a way that left viewers not as excited to see him on Sunday?"
The answer is both. The surreal nature of Sting being in WWE hasn't worn off. Seeing him force Rollins to submit is a tease of what could happen at Night of Champions, with Sting pulling off the improbable and adding the WWE world title to his resume.
But the action on Monday's Raw diminished some of Sting's mystique.
He looked his age. He looked like he'll have a tough time living up to all the PPV hype. He was an immortal made to look mortal by reality's slip into the in-ring fiction.
It's WWE's job to mask what Sting can't do anymore and build upon what makes him special. It's time for the creative team to get creative, bolstering this match with narrative adornments.
via http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2566798-seth-rollins-vs-sting-needs-bells-and-whistles-to-mask-vigilantes-limitations
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