Sting vs. Triple H at WWE WrestleMania 31 Announced During 2015 Fastlane

It has been assumed for the past few months that a Sting vs. Triple H match at WrestleMania XXXI was in the cards, and it has finally been made official on the heels of their confrontation at WWE Fastlane Sunday night.

WWE's WrestleMania account provided news of the announcement:

BSO's Robert Littal provided his reaction to something most fans knew was coming for a while: 

Mike Killam of Wrestlezone.com felt the segment left something to be desired: 

"

When Undertaker stormed the ring and pointed at the sign, it was an all-time great moment. That segment was... uninspired. #WWEFastlane

— Mike Killam (@MikeKillam) February 23, 2015"

After many years of resisting the urge to make the jump to WWE, Sting finally crossed over last year. Most fans wondered what his first appearance on WWE programming would be like, and that question was answered at Survivor Series.

With Team Authority seemingly on the verge of defeating Team Cena, The Icon arrived to make things right. He and The Game had an epic staredown that culminated with Sting incapacitating Triple H by way of the Scorpion Death Drop. He then draped Dolph Ziggler over Seth Rollins, which allowed Team Cena to pick up the victory.

Sting's involvement seemed to suggest that a match against Triple H was on the horizon, which excited many, including Chuck Carroll of CBS DC:

That sent The Authority temporarily out of power, but they were able to get their jobs back thanks to Rollins. Upon doing so, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon fired Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan for their involvement with Team Cena.

Cena was given a chance to win their jobs back in a handicap match, which set the stage for Sting's second appearance. The Vigilante saved Cena from what looked like a sure loss on Raw, and he once again foiled Triple H's plans.

With The King of Kings officially fed up, he challenged Sting to a face-to-face confrontation at Fastlane. Everyone anticipated the eventual announcement of a WrestleMania match, and now all doubt has been removed.

While there is certainly plenty of excitement involved with the announcement of Sting's first WWE match, it stands to reason that some fans may be disappointed The Undertaker isn't his first opponent.

Even Sting himself has admitted The Phenom is his dream opponent, but he has also mentioned Triple H as someone he would like to lock up with, according to Brian Fritz of The Orlando Sentinel.

"

I do believe I have enough left in my tank for one more match and I would love for that match to be against Taker. If that can't happen, Triple H, I think. I just would like to have one more match. I would love to say I had one match under the WWE banner and, of course, WrestleMania. Who wouldn't want to say that they wrestled at WrestleMania at least one time?

"

Sting vs. The Undertaker would have been massive, and there is still a possibility that it could happen at WrestleMania XXXII. With that said, the match quality of a soon-to-be-56-year-old Sting against a 45-year-old Triple H will likely be better than it would have been against an almost-50-year-old Undertaker.

In addition to that, Triple H still has enough cachet to make a match against Sting at WrestleMania a huge deal, per Scott Fishman of The Miami Herald:

Even Triple H himself is confident that a bout with Sting at WrestleMania would absolutely tear the house down:

The conflict between them has been in place since November, and that should make for an entertaining build toward the match as well.

It is difficult to say how fit and able Sting is to mix it up in the ring since he hasn't wrestled in quite some time, but he'll luckily be stepping into the ring with a guy, who, while used sparingly, put on great matches whenever he had the chance last year.

Sting vs. Triple H is a marquee encounter, and fans will have the opportunity to witness it in all its glory at WrestleMania XXXI.

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