Sting's Success In AEW Shows That WWE Wasted Him

One could easily argue that in just three short months, Sting's AEW tenure was more exciting and successful than his six-year stint with the WWE.

Sting's brief stay with the WWE is full of "what ifs." Thankfully, AEW has found creative ways to fully maximize the popularity of The Vigilante as he enjoys the final chapters of his illustrious wrestling career.

And as time goes on, it's becoming more and more evident that WWE completely wasted Sting's star power.

There is, quite frankly, no excuse for it. WWE had a perennial fan favorite and beloved superstar on their hands for six years, and they constantly failed to make the most of it.

Booking Him Strong

AEW has done a remarkable job making Sting look as dominant, powerful and intimidating as ever. It's a nice throwback to his glory days in WCW during the Monday Night Wars.

He has used his signature bat to get past his foes and challengers. In some instances — including his AEW debut at the Winter Is Coming special — Sting hasn't even had to get physical.

Why was it so hard for WWE to do this? They inexplicably had him lose his company debut match to Triple H at WrestleMania 31.

Yes, it's fair to assume that Vince McMahon used the match as a way of reminding the world that he beat WCW in the Monday Night Wars. But there's no excuse for it. A wrestling legend like Sting should have won his debut match, especially on a stage as giant as WrestleMania, plain and simple.

Sting didn't win any singles matches during his WWE tenure. Yes, he had to initially retire after suffering a neck injury at Night of Champions 2015. But that match took place 10 months after Sting's WWE debut (at Survivor Series 2014). How did WWE not book him for at least one singles victory during that span?

The Dream Match That Never Was

After Sting's WWE debut, countless fans and pundits began to speculate on a possible dream match against The Undertaker.

WWE had the opportunity to run this match at WrestleMania 31. But of course, they just had to have Triple H defeat Sting in the match, while Undertaker defeated Bray Wyatt in a not-so-thrilling bout.

Even after his initial retirement, Sting made it clear that he was interested in coming back for a match with The Undertaker.

On Sting's Last Ride, the WWE Hall of Famer detailed his desire to come face-to-face with The Undertaker in the ring:

"You know if everything lines up just right. Vince, Triple H, ‘Taker, and Sting, maybe we could do this.

Maybe we could just do a little, let’s just do a face-off. Let’s get you guys involved in this or that. So maybe I could do it. Maybe I could do that. I don’t know, again, if it’s just ego and pride or whatever, but I feel like I could do it all these years later."

Sting's first AEW match was a cinematic bout at Revolution, where he and Darby Allin defeated Brian Cage and Ricky Starks in a street fight.

WWE could have easily ran a cinematic showdown between Sting and The Undertaker. This was also something that greatly interested the former, and a large number of the WWE Universe would have been all for it.

But we're left to wonder "What could have been." WWE just couldn't give Sting or its millions of fans the dream match for the ages, even though the chances were there to run it.

Proper Usage & Showing Respect

Sting announced his in-ring retirement at the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Little did some of us know at the time that this would be one of his final appearances on WWE programming.

Sting's final live TV appearance with WWE took place on the Feb. 25, 2019 episode of Monday Night Raw; he was one of the many legends in attendance for Ric Flair's 70th birthday celebration.

What was stopping WWE from having Sting make more frequent appearances like that?

They're happy to bring back other Hall of Famers like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels, every so often. So why was Sting practically nowhere to be seen during his final four years with WWE?

Thankfully, AEW has properly utilized Sting. More importantly, they're showing great respect to one of the all-time greats in the wrestling business.

Sting is featured on AEW nearly every week. Even when he's not getting physical, he's doing something interesting, one way or another. His partnership with Allin has been a grade-A success thus far.

When you look at everything Sting has done in AEW, you just can't help but ask yourself "Was it so hard for WWE to do the same?"

Fortunately for Sting and countless wrestling fans, those "what ifs" in WWE don't really matter anymore. Because The Vigilante is getting the proper respect and treatment he merits from AEW.

NEXT: Chris Jericho Says He Wouldn't Have Done Steve Austin's Podcast If He Couldn't Talk AEW