WCW Starrcade 1997 featured a match between Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Sting, with Hogan ultimately winning the match and retaining the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
In a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Bischoff addressed the controversy surrounding the finish, explaining that the decision was made in order to protect the integrity of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. According to Bischoff, the finish was meant to establish Hogan as a dominant champion, while also setting up a potential rematch between the two wrestlers in the future.
“We got to a point where both Hulk and I didn’t feel like Sting’s head was in the game,” Bischoff said. “It didn’t look like he was really, I don’t want to say excited about what he was about to do, but we had been building this up for over a year, and everybody else was excited about it. And when we finally sat down to talk about what we were going to do, and how we were going to do it, it didn’t feel like we were connecting.”
“It was a judgment call. It’s one I wish I wouldn’t have made, I wish I had gone the other way with it obviously. But I’ve also learned, in the process of learning how to be grateful, to look at the brighter side of things. It was an unfortunate situation, but we made the best of it.” Sting is of course still going strong in AEW today, even at age 63.
Eric Bischoff on Insight
While the finish of the 1997 WCW Starrcade event remains a point of contention among wrestling fans, Bischoff’s explanation provides insight into the reasoning behind the controversial decision.
H/T to Ringside News
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