Hulk Hogan Didn’t Want To Lose To Sting Because It Would Hurt His Momentum

Hulk Hogan’s WCW run was best known for his shocking heel turn and the formation of the nWo. However, Hogan was also known for abusing his power behind the scenes since he had creative control over his contract. It has been reported many times that Hogan used this to get his own way.

One instance of Hogan using that power was the infamous match he had with Sting at the 1997 edition of WCW Starrcade. This is a moment in history that many fans will remember.

During that time, Hulk Hogan was the WCW World Heavyweight Champion and tormented the locker room as the leader of the nWo. However, Sting had made it his mission to fight against the nWo and spent several weeks attacking the group’s members before finally getting a title shot against Hogan at Starrcade.

While fans expected a great match, what they got was something nobody was expecting, as the bout fell short of expectations thanks to the chaotic ending that left fans confused.

During the closing moments of the bout, Hogan hit his leg drop and pinned Sting with nWo-aligned referee Nick Patrick counting the pinfall normally and giving the victory to Hogan. However, Bret Hart came out and claimed the referee performed a fast count and so, he ordered the match to be restarted with him as the referee.

Sting then locked Hogan in the Scorpion Deathlock for the submission victory. This ending confused fans because the referee performed a clean count. Many people have since claimed that the referee colluded with Hogan to make Sting appear weak.

The Hulkster spoke about the match on the latest episode of A&E Biography: WWE Legends where he claimed he had no idea Hart would be involved in the match.

“I don’t remember Bret Hart being involved. I don’t remember another referee coming down. I don’t remember anything like that ever being talked about.”

He also admitted that he had a problem with Sting winning because Eric Bischoff wasn’t sure about his future direction after his loss.

“I had a problem with it because if you’re gonna beat me when I’ve got this type of momentum, this is about making money.

“If you beat somebody, you beat them in a way that they’re better off after they’re beat than they were before, and Eric really wasn’t sure where we were going with this thing.”

During the same episode, Bischoff explained that Hogan “wasn’t feeling it” which is what led to the confusing ending.

“Despite the fact that Hulk Hogan did have creative control, and he never exercised it, he never threatened to use it, he had never implied that he might, it was like, ‘Yeah, it’s there, but it’s not,’ except for that night. And because Hulk wasn’t feeling it, he called an audible and it was a mad scramble.”

Despite the confusing ending, the match still became one of the most talked about WCW matches of all time. Stay tuned to Ringside News as we bring you similar stories.

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