Sting vs. Triple H: A Loss Would Erase the Vigilante's Credibility with WWE Fans

For 14 years, fans eagerly anticipated the moment they would see Sting step foot inside a World Wrestling Entertainment ring.

As the franchise player at Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling, the iconic star fended off the urge to prove himself in Vince McMahon's promotion. Doubts about the boss' willingness to use him the right way, coupled with the loyalty he felt to fans and the company he championed for well over a decade, prevented him from making the decision.

Now at WWE, a company that has spent months telling the audience how important he is to the history of the business and how great he has been throughout his career, it is imperative that Sting defeat Triple H at WrestleMania when they clash in a heated grudge match as part of the top-heavy card.

If not, the entire company, from the creative staff to management, will have failed Sting and his fans.

Worse yet, they will have completely erased any credibility he may have had with the casual audience.

The last thing the WWE Universe will accept is seeing a star with whom they may not be familiar, one hyped as an all-time great whose purpose is to end Triple H, lose in his first match.

A loss would prove the COO right, validate his statements about Sting being a loser. He would be the guy from WCW who, like the company he represented more than anyone else, died at the hands of Triple H.

Sting needs to win the match. He needs to definitively defeat Triple H and celebrate his victory with WWE fans, the same fans who have accepted him as the legend he is.

That scenario, played out on the WWE Network and in pay-per-view telecasts, is exactly the type that will not only make the moment more special but will add to the aura of The Stinger and make every match he wrestles that much more meaningful.

A Triple H victory destroys that; it destroys anything the company could ever hope to achieve with the Sting character and kills any chance of a match between the former WCW world champion and The Undertaker.

The Game defeating Sting would set the latter back in the same way that John Cena's win over Brock Lesnar back in 2012 hurt The Beast Incarnate. It took Lesnar two years to recover from that loss, two years that a much-older Sting simply does not have.

At this point, anything WWE Creative comes up with for Sting must be carefully looked at, examined and analyzed from every angle before it airs. If it is not, a single slip-up could be responsible for the downfall of a character whose twilight should be spent making a lot of money in WWE, performing for a fanbase that loves him, respects him and wants nothing more than to see him contribute.

For the sake of the Sting character, not to mention Steve Borden's working relationship with Vince McMahon, it is more significant than ever that Triple H resist the urge to stroke his own ego and that WWE Creative fends off the desire to get crafty or sneaky with its booking.

Sting beats Triple H by submission. The crowd goes nuts. The end.

It really is not hard to imagine, and if it turns out differently, someone should have his booking privileges revoked.