Smark Out Moment

Welcome to the sixth installment of BELT OR BURY, wherein you must choose between two different options for a particular wrestler in question: a) should they be given a push to a higher spot on the card and a championship or b) should they be jobbed out or possibly even released? Factoring in that wrestler's past as well as their potential future, do they have anything left to offer but aren't being utilized well enough, or should they step out of the limelight and be pushed aside in favor of others?



HISTORY & CURRENT STATUS: The inspiration for Sting being the latest featured person on this segment is his current status as #1 contender to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for Night of Champions. He will be facing Seth Rollins for his first ever shot at any WWE championship, let alone the top prize in the company.

If you ignore all of the WCW lineage that WWE inherited as being under its umbrella, Sting's record in WWE is 0-1 after having lost to Triple H at WrestleMania 31. If he weren't already such a legend, that would be less than impressive and he obviously wouldn't be receiving a title shot at all. However, is he really going to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at this stage in his career?

BELT OR BURY = BURY. The nature of this beast of a segment is how brutal it can be. I like Sting and I want him to succeed in WWE, but he's been painted in a shitty corner. I can't see the upside of him defeating Seth Rollins for the championship, so I can't endorse it and by default have to go with the reverse option.

Let me clarify by stating that by "bury", I don't mean to job the guy out left and right to people like Bo Dallas for the next few years and never have him win a match. Alternatively, I mean that he should not currently win this specific championship at this moment.

If he did, can you really picture Sting defending it against Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell match at this stage in his career? He's not likely to be part of that event at all, let alone defending the top title in the company in a Hell in a Cell match for God's sake. If you have him win it and then drop it there, it's a kind of pointless run. If you have him drop it on Raw beforehand to avoid him showing up at the event, then it's even more pointless. That doesn't just go for if he drops it back to Seth Rollins, either. If he were to drop it to Sheamus, then that's no better (it's actually worse).

Sting should have never lost the match against Triple H at WrestleMania. If he had won that, then he could have just lost this match due to interference and stayed looking strong. He still can lose this in that kind of fashion, but it would be better if he doesn't get pinned and it ends in a disqualification, which is something that I'm also not a fan of at all, because I don't like seeing DQ endings or no-contest finishes on pay-per-views. Really, this whole situation was made so much worse by having Triple H go over, and Sting's going to have to look bad a second time just because WWE likely won't be able to think of a way to book this where everyone wins.

If Sting were challenging for the United States Championship, I would say go ahead and give him the belt for a quick reign. You can play around with that title more than the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which shouldn't ever be hot potatoed around and devalued. Hopefully, down the line, WWE can put him in a position where it would make sense for him to win the title, as I'd be up for a reign from Sting, but right now is just possibly the worst time imaginable for him to be in this position.

Sting shouldn't have lost at WrestleMania so that he could have had more flexibility of losing a match like this without looking like he's getting the bury option.


Stay tuned for our podcast debate about this subject on Smack Talk!