Worst in the World: Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997

 Special thanks to Frost for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.

I've done over 150 entries of the Worst in the World. If there's one common theme in this series, it's this; the lack of expectations. With the exception of a handful of matches featured here, the vast majority of the matches I cover are generally ones that were never going to be good in the first place. Because, let's be honest, how could a match between an untrained Survivor winner and Booker T's wife or anything involving the Bushwhackers be anything resembling good. Hell, even matches involving good wrestlers like James Storm vs Chris Harris or Sting vs Jeff Jarrett have some added-on schtick that handicaps the match so badly that it can't recover. That being said, every now and then I get a match that should have been great and had legitimate hype behind it rather than interest spurred by pure schadenfreude. And outside of Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III, this might be the biggest match I've covered on the Worst in the World; Sting vs Hollywood Hogan at Starrcade 1997.

The build to Sting vs Hogan is well known at this point. Sting was the face of WCW for years, long before Hulk Hogan had even joined the company in 1994. By the summer of 1996, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall had debuted in WCW as the Outsiders, portraying themselves as an invading outside force and heavily playing off their status as former WWF wrestlers. A team of WCW wrestlers (including Sting) took a stand against the Outsiders as they faced off in a six-man tag at Bash at the Beach, with the Outsiders having a mystery partner. To the shock of the wrestling world, that mystery partner was Hulk Hogan, who turned heel for the first time since the early 80s, betraying WCW and forming the New World Order with Hall & Nash. 

The nWo ran roughshod over WCW, setting up a WarGames match at Fall Brawl that year between them and another team of WCW stars, a group that once again included Sting. However, the nWo would create tension within the WCW team, claiming they had successfully recruited Sting to their side and even added an imposter Sting to their ranks to attack Lex Luger, Sting's long-time friend and tag partner. The plan worked, as the WCW team effectively exiled Sting. That team included Luger, someone Sting himself had gone to bat for over his own loyalties and character. Come WarGames, both the fake Sting and the real Sting entered the match, but due to his team's quick dismissal of him despite his long-standing loyalty to WCW, the real Sting walked out on his team, effectively costing them the match. The next night on Nitro, Sting would cut a promo with his back to the hard camera, addressed the fans, laid into the company and the other wrestlers for turning their backs on him, and effectively walked out of WCW entirely.

For over a year, Sting wouldn't wrestle and (outside of his first appearance back) wouldn't even speak Instead, he'd appear in the rafters (well, he be in the rafters sometimes. Sometimes he'd just be in the upper decks) of the arena, watching over WCW as the nWo continued to grow and effectively take over the company. In that time, Sting's appearance changed. Gone were the flashy colors of surfer Sting, in was the black and white, dark-haired, trenchcoat-wearing Crow Sting, a look that has become iconic over the years. Sting's true allegiances were unknown until Uncensored 1997 when he interrupted a nWo celebration to attack the group. This all led to arguably the biggest match in the history of WCW; Sting vs Hogan at Starrcade 1997 for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. At the time, WCW was in the middle of their 83 week streak of beating Monday Night RAW in the ratings. A satisfying end to the Sting-Hogan storyline could've been huge for WCW. But alas, we're here almost 23 and half years later, and the company that put on this huge match is no longer in business. How did it all go so wrong? Let's get into it.

Michael Buffer does the ring announcing, calling this the biggest match in the history of professional wrestling. Hogan's out first and hands the belt to the referee...Nick Patrick. At this point, Patrick has defected from the nWo and is supposedly cleaned up his act. We'll see how that works out. And outcomes Sting with an iconic entrance, complete with thunder sound effects, an ominous child's narration, and a laser-light show

The two stare each other down before the bell rings. Hogan starts with a shove and a bandana toss to the face, so Sting responds with a slap as the crowd is hot.

Hogan circles Sting as Sting stands in the middle of the ring. After Hogan jaw-jacks with the fans, the two lock-up, with Hogan forcing Sting into the corner. Hogan throws a punch, but Sting blocks it and knocks Hogan across the ring with a punch of his own. The two go for a test of strength, but Hogan responds with a boot to the gut and starts to beat down Sting in the corner. Hogan whips Sting across the ring and hits a clothesline before continuing to beat down Sting. Hogan hits a bodyslam, but Sting avoids three follow-up elbow drops and hits a dropkick, sending Hogan out of the ring. Hogan argues with fans before slowly getting back in the ring.

The two lock up again, with Hogan taking control again with a headlock. Sting breaks free and, after being floored by a shoulder block, hits two more dropkicks and sends Hogan out of the ring again. Hogan gets back in the ring after a fan very clearly yells "FUCK YOU" at him. Sting locks in a headlock and keeps a hold of it despite Hogan's attempts to push out of it. Hogan eventually breaks free and, but Sting floors him with a shoulder block. Sting then dodges a clothesline, but Hogan catches him with a follow-up attempt. Hogan hits a suplex, but Sting no-sells it and lays into Hogan in the corner. An eye poke allows Hogan to regain control before tossing Sting out of the ring. Hogan throws Sting into the timekeeper's table before smashing him with his own bat, which isn't a DQ because I guess that's just not a thing in WCW.

Hogan continues to beat down Sting at ringside until an Irish whip gets reversed, sending Hogan into the guardrail. Sting goes for a Stinger Splash as a follow-up, but Hogan dodges it and sends Sting into the rail before dropping Sting crotch-first across it. Back in the ring, Hogan hits an inverted atomic drop before choking Sting with his boot. Hogan hits a big boot, plays up to the crowd, hits the leg drop, makes the cover as Nick Patrick makes the count and...gets the three...Hogan wins...clean...So, here's what was supposed to happen. Patrick was supposed to fast count, giving Hogan a dirty win and justifying what follows this match because he's nWo 4 life, I guess. However, here's the count:

That is a 100% normal count. There is no chicanery whatsoever. According to Patrick himself, he was given conflicting instructions as to what to do for the count by both Sting and Hogan, while an unnamed middle man "didn't want to make a call", so we ended up with this. And because of that, what happens next is so embarrassing.

As the timekeeper tries to ring the bell, Bret Hart pops up and stops him. Hart, of course, had just debuted in WCW less than two weeks ago, and was just over a month removed from the Montreal Screwjob. Hart gets the mic and says that "it's not going to happen again" before punching out Patrick at ringside. Keep in mind that Hart is talking about a screwjob that, as we all just saw, didn't happen. Hogan tries to flee, but Hart chases him down and throws him back in the ring. Hart calls for the bell and the match restarts. Granted, Hart had been the referee in the Eric Bischoff-Larry Zbyszko match just before this, but I don't think that status carries over into the next match. Sting hits a Stinger Splash as Scott Norton & Buff Bagwell (a.k.a the great tag team name of Vicious & Delicious) run down, only to get quickly taken out by Sting. Sting hits another Stinger Splash before locking in the Scorpion Death Lock. Hogan submits and Sting wins the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The WCW roster celebrates what is supposed to be a triumphant victory for the company, but in reality, is the company and Bret Hart screwing over Hogan and the nWo after he won clean. What a shit show.

The Verdict

This should've been one of the greatest moments in the history of WCW. Sting standing tall after the nWo had come in and wreaked havoc on the company he had dedicated almost a decade of his career to at that point. Instead, we got a mess of an ending where everybody just had to play out a scenario that didn't even happen. All because Hulk Hogan couldn't put his ego aside for the sake of a good story. But let's say that everything went as planned, Nick Patrick actually fast counted, and Bret Hart actually righted a wrong to close out the show. Would this match be good? Honestly...no. 

This is about as bland and low effort as you can get with a match around this time, which is even worse considering it's the main event on WCW's biggest show of the year. There are a few nice spots, but there's nothing really worth watching if you've never seen the match. I get that the Attitude Era was not really about work rate, especially by today's standards, but compare this to WrestleMania XIV which happened three months after this. Steve Austin vs Shawn Michaels is way more enjoyable than this from an in-ring standpoint. And even if the ending hadn't been botched, I don't think that would've been the right ending either. There's no reason Sting should've been pinned for the three in any way. Sting should've gotten the win over Hogan and stood tall to close the show. I know that expecting Hogan to do something for the good of the company instead of himself is about as likely as Randy Savage coming back to life and winning the 2022 Royal Rumble, but it's what should've happened. It's Starrcade. It's supposed to be the final chapter of a story and the beginning of the next. Instead, we got an ending with so much nonsense that they had to basically re-do the match at SuperBrawl VIII two months later.

Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
2. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
3. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
4. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
5. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
6. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
7. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
8. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
9. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
10. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
11. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
12. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
13. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
14. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
15. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
16. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
17. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
18. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
19. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
20. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
21. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
22. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
23. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
24. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
25. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
26. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
27. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
28. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
29. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
30. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
31. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
32. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
33. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
34. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
35. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
36. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
37. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
38. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
39. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
40. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
41. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
42. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
43. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
44. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
45. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
46. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
47. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
48. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
49. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
50. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
51. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
52. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
53. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
54. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
55. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
56. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
57. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
58. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
59. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
60. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
61. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
62. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
63. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
64. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
65. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
66. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
67. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
68. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
69. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
70. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
71. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
72. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
73. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
74. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
75. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
76. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
77. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
78. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
79. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
80. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
81. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
82. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
83. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
84. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
85. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
86. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
87. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
88. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
89. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
90. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
91.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
92. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
93. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
94. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
95. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
96. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
97. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
98. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
99. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
100. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
101. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
102. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
103. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
104. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
105. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
106. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
107. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
108. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
109. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
110. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
111. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37
112. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
113. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
114. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
115. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
116. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
117. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-RAW (7/8/2002)
118. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
119. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
120. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
121. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
122. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
123. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
124. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
125. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
126. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
127. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
128. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
129. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
130. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
131. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
132. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
133. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
134. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
135. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
136. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
137. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
138. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
139. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
140. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
141. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
142. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
143. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
144. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
145. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
146. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
147. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
148. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
149. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
150. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
151. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
152. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
153. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009

Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoy and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered in the Worst in the World in the comments. Next time, I go to New Japan and look at a match from 2014 that keeps the spirit of Inoki-ism alive. Until then...