Worst in the World: Lex Luger vs Sting-World Wrestling All-Stars The Retribution

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

In terms of parity, professional wrestling was in the absolute mud in 2001. WCW: Sold to the WWF and closed down earlier that year. ECW: Went bankrupt earlier in the year. New Japan: In the early stages of Antonio Inoki's push to blend mixed-martial arts and pro-wrestling (i.e. Inoki-ism) that damaged the company's reputation in the long haul. All Japan: Still reeling from the mass defection that led to the creation of Pro Wrestling NOAH. AAA & CMLL: Fairing well enough, but are noticeably not as hot as they were in their glory years. TNA & Ring of Honor: Still months away from opening. Basically, if you weren't the WWF or Pro Wrestling NOAH, you were struggling for attention. That lack of parity meant there was a massive opening for a hot new wrestling promotion to make a name for itself, and one company that went all-in on that effort was World Wrestling All-Stars.

The brainchild of Australian concert promoter Andrew McManus, World Wrestling All-Stars was a Brisbane-based company that opened in October 2001, just half a year after WCW and ECW closed down. Looking to fill the void left by WCW & ECW, WWA made an instant push for recognizable names from the two companies. McManus even reached out to Vince Russo for the position of head booker. Russo wouldn't end up working for WWA, however, and instead recommended former WCW writer and future TNA & WWE producer Jeremy Borash for the job. WWA would run live touring events throughout October in the lead-up to their pay-per-view debut, Inception, later that month. While WWA didn't bomb right away, however, the company never caught on, and only a year and a half after the Inception pay-per-view, the company held its last show in May 2003. So...what happened?

For starters, while the plan to sign ex-WCW and ECW talent was good in theory, the available talent pool wasn't exactly the best. The answer as to why is obvious, as just about every big name from WCW & ECW was either signed to the WWF or, in the case of the WCW stars, were sitting out the remainder of their AOL-Time Warner contracts. WWA would still manage to have some big names on their first show like Jeff Jarrett, Road Dogg, Shane Douglas, Konnan, and Buff Bagwell, and would eventually see names like Sting and Scott Steiner appear after their AOL-Time Warner deals expired, but as for the rest of the roster, it was primarily WCW's midcard and ECW holdovers who don't translate well to non-hardcore companies (i.e. Sabu.) Another problem that arose from using ex-WCW and ECW guys was that, being a smaller company, the WWF could easily take them in a bidding war. As such, multiple plans for the WWA were scrapped because of that. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall were originally going to appear at their second pay-per-view, The Revolution, in 2002 but had to pull out after signing with the WWF for the nWo reunion. Later that year, Eddie Guerrero popped up following his release from the WWF to win their International Cruiserweight Championship, only to vacate it about a month and a half later when he returned to the WWF. And finally, Scott Steiner would win the World Heavyweight Championship, holding it for a record 190 days before vacating the title when he (you guessed it) signed with the WWF. This lack of ability to maintain their top names was always going to make this venture an uphill battle.

However, those circumstances can't take all the blame, as the booking deserves its own scrutiny. Vince Russo might not have been booking the show himself, but considering he was the one to recommend Borash to McManus, it's not a stretch to assume the two had similar philosophies when it came to booking. As a result, some of the booking is an absolute mess. Take the Inception pay-per-view, which featured a tournament for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. I specifically say "for the vacant" championship and not to crown the inaugural champion because they had already crowned Road Dogg the inaugural champion during the preceding live event tour...only to then strip him of the title so they could have the winner of this tournament be the champion. That tournament would be entirely comprised of gimmick matches such as a dog collar match and a Guitar on a Pole match, the latter of which being how you know one of Russo's buddies is booking the show. Also in the tournament was Juventud Guerrera, who was the International Cruiserweight champion...only for him to be stripped of the belt...and then his first-round ladder match in the Heavyweight Championship tournament with Psicosis would also be for the vacant Cruiserweight Championship. In case that's not clear, Juventud Guerrera and Psicosis had a match in the first round of the World Heavyweight Championship tournament that was also for a totally different championship that wasn't going to be defended in the rest of the tournament. This is a real thing the WWA did. They thought this was how they were going to compete with the WWF.

The ring action didn't fare much better. Sure, their cruiserweight division headlined by guys like Guerrera, Nova, Jerry Lynn, and a young AJ Styles ended up producing some solid matches (the four-way on the final WWA pay-per-view actually earned four and a quarter stars from Dave Meltzer), but when it came to the bigger names, most of which were past their prime in the early 2000s, the actual wrestling was not up to par. So that brings us to this match; Lex Luger vs Sting for the vacant WWA World Heavyweight Championship at The Retribution, the WWA's fourth & penultimate pay-per-view that took place on December 6, 2002 in Glasgow, Scotland. Both men had sat out the remainder of their AOL-Time Warner contracts (though the WWF apparently had no interest in bringing back Luger, so that could've been extra motivation to sit out), and this run in WWA would be both men's first matches following their contract's running out, and The Retribution would be both men's first televised match since WCW. Sting's post-WCW career is obviously well-known, as he'd go on to spend eight years in TNA before joining WWE & AEW in the years after his run in WWA. Luger, however, had a significantly less notable, significantly smaller run after WCW closed, only wrestling 13 matches between 2002 and 2006. Luger was well past his prime at this point, and outside of a one-off appearance in a TNA tag match, none of these matches are all that memorable. His most notable post-WCW moment wasn't even a match, it was the infamous promo blooper for the CyberSpace Wrestling Federation, unless you count him battling with t-shirts that are too tight and locked doors as a match. His seven matches in the WWA in 2002 would be his last non-one-off run in a company, but given how bad this match I'm covering is, I can't imagine anyone would've been upset if Luger had decided to retire after WCW closed. Well, that was an essay of an intro, so let's get into this.

The two shake hands before the bell rings, only for Luger to try to jump Sting when he turns his back on him. Sting, however, avoids the ambush and starts kicking Luger in the legs, giving us some classic LEX LUGER SELLING, loudly yelling every time he gets hit. Sting continues to strike away at Luger before dropkicking him, causing Luger to retreat to ringside. Luger eventually runs back into the ring, only to quickly take a drop toe hold followed by a clothesline, causing him to roll out of the ring again. Well, that was a hot start, let's cool it down a bit. Luger grabs a mic and says that Sting is cheating before calling Scotland "England" for some cheap heat. It works, getting a big response from the crowd. The referee has completely stopped counting Luger out at this point. Sting demands the mic and corrects Luger, saying that they are in Scotland for a cheap pop. He says that the Stinger is in the house before saying Luger is in need of a Glasgow Kiss (Scottish slang for a headbutt to the nose, in case you were wondering what the origin of Drew McIntyre using that for his headbutt was.) They really just had a whole cheap heat/cheap pop promo in the middle of this WORLD TITLE MATCH!

Luger gets back on the apron, only to get knocked back down by Sting. Luger drags Sting to the outside, but gets his Irish whip reversed, allowing Sting to whip him into the guard rail. Sting goes for the Stinger Splash, but Luger dodges it, sending Sting into the guard rail. The Stinger Splash into the guard rail has to have one of the worst success rates of any wrestling move. I honestly don't think I've ever seen Sting hit it and not end up hitting the rail himself. If he can't hit it on Lex Luger at his most immobile, then he should probably just retire it. Luger throws Sting back in the ring, but Sting fires back and kicks Luger to the mat. Sting goes to the top rope for a frog splash, but Luger counters by getting the knees up. Luger then tries to distract the referee so he can low blow Sting, only for him to hit the low blow well before the ref has stopped looking at them.

Luger kicks a downed Sting and hits an elbow drop for a near fall, but Sting fires back up and avoids a clothesline. The two end up colliding in the middle of the ring, knocking Luger down before Sting comedy pratfalls head-first into Luger's dick. Sting fires up, hitting the inverted Atomic Drop and two clotheslines before hitting a bulldog. Sting goes for the Stinger Splash, but Luger drags the referee into the corner with him to take the splash. The referee is down as Jeff Jarrett runs down to ringside, a guitar in hand. Sting goes for another Stinger Splash, only for Jarrett to smash the guitar over his head. Jarrett throws Luger into the cover as the referee comes to, but Sting kicks out. Jeff Jarrett's guitar shot didn't end the match? Maybe Borash didn't have the same affinity for Double J that Russo did.

Luger lifts Sting up for the Torture Rack, only for Sting to hit the referee as he goes up, knocking him down again. Sting plants Luger with the Scorpion Death Drop. Sting makes the cover, but the referee is still down, which means he also doesn't see Jarrett enter the ring and smash another guitar over Sting's head. Jarrett only ran down with one guitar, so it's very convenient that the WWA has guitars at ringside for just such an occasion. Jarrett drags Luger onto Sting as the referee recovers and counts the three. The WWA really put their world title on a barely mobile Lex Luger in a match where he legitimately hit one move. It is not surprising this company went out of business about five months after this event.

The Verdict

Not quite as bad as I was expecting (this was the first match I've ever had recommended twice, after all), but this is still a pretty rough outing. Luger couldn't/wouldn't really do anything, with the most athletic thing he does all match being lifting Sting up for the Torture Rack for a maximum of two seconds. The rest is just basic, low-effort kicks and some of the most blatant stalling you'll ever see. On top of that, the ending of this match is ridiculously overbooked. Two ref bumps and two guitar shots just reeked of 2000s WCW in the worst way. Which, considering who was booking this show, is not surprising in the least. The only upside is Sting who, while not doing anything spectacular, still put in the effort. It's a pretty weak match on its own, and it's a terrible main event & world title match.

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
2. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
3. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
4. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
5. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
6. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
7. The Concrete Crypt Match-The Great American Bash 2004
8. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
9. Mordecai vs Hardcore Holly-The Great American Bash 2004
10. Luther Reigns vs Charlie Haas-The Great American Bash 2004
11. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
12. The Gimmick Battle Royal-WrestleMania X-Seven
13. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
14. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
15. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
16. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
17. David Arquette & Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff
18. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
19. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
20. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
21. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
22. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
23. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
24. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
25. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
26. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
27. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
28. The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
29. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
30. EVIL vs Tomohiro Ishii-Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Day 1)
31. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
32. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
33. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
34. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
35. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
36. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
37. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
38. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
39. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-In Your House 14: Revenge of the Taker
40. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
41. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
42. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
43. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
44. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
45. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
46. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
47. The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber-Elimination Chamber 2015
48. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
49. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
50. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
51. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
52. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
53. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
54. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
55. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
56. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
57. The 2022 Women's Royal Rumble
58. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
59. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
60. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
61. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
62. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
63. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
64. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
65. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
66. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
67. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
68. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
69. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
70. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
71. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
72. Santino Marella vs Heath Slater-WWE Friday Night SmackDown (9/27/2013)
73. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
74. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
75. Allie vs Leva Bates-Fyter Fest 2019
76. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
77. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
78. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
79. Kenzo Suzuki vs Billy Gunn-The Great American Bash 2004
80. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
81. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
82. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
83. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
84. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
85. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
86. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
87. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
88. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
89. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
90. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
91. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
92. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
93. Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
94. Sting vs Hulk Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1999
95. Hulk Hogan vs Jeff Jarrett-Bash at the Beach 2000
96. Michael Nakazawa vs Alex Jebailey-Fyter Fest 2019
97. The 2022 Men's Royal Rumble
98. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
99. Konnan vs Stevie Ray-Slamboree 1999
100. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
101. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
102. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
103. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
104. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
105. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
106. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
107. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
108. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
109. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
110. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
111. Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
112. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
113. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
114. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
115. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
116. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
117. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
118. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
119. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
120. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
121. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
122. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
123. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
124. The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
125. Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 2)
126. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
127. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
128.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
129. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
130. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
131. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
132. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
133. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
134. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
135. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
136. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
137. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
138. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
139. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
140. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
141. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
142. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
143. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
144. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
145. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
146. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
147. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
148. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
149. Lex Luger vs Sting-WWA The Retribution
150. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
151. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Monday Night Raw (4/14/1997)
152. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
153. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (1/25/1997)
154. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
155. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
156. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
157. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
158. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
159. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
160. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
161. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
162. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
163. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
164. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
165. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
166. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
167. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
168. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
169. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
170. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
171. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
172. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011 
173. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
174. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
175. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
176. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
177. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
178. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
179. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
180. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
181. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
182. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
183. "Donald Trump" vs "Rosie O'Donnell"-WWE Monday Night RAW (1/8/2007)
184. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
185. Toru Yano vs Jado-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 1)
186. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
187. Sable vs Torrie Wilson-The Great American Bash 2004
188. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
189. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
190. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
191. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
192. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
193. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
194. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
195. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
196. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
197. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
198. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
199. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)

Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoyed and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered on the Worst in the World in the comments. In two weeks, I'll be doing a New Japan triple feature, as I'll be taking a look at three of the worst-rated matches of 2021, all of which feature one of the company's most divisive wrestlers. Until then...