Text By Neil Cathan

What if...Sting Beat Hogan Clean at Starrcade '97?

Part III

"Outsiders" is probably the best word to describe the tone of WCW of late. The Outsiders themselves, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash are living up to their name, engaging in violent brawls with their former comrades in the nWo, in particular Randy Savage and Hollywood Hogan. Of the nWo, only Konnan has chosen to stand with them, and even he's made that clear that it's because he wants out from under Hogan's thumb, not out of any loyalty to them. Meanwhile Sting continues to choose to be an Outsider to the WCW locker room, a choice that has enraged Lex Luger, mking him feel disrespected. This came to a boiling point at Superbrawl, in the aftermath of Sting's title defence against Scott Hall and Hollywood Hogan. As Sting walked away from the nWo mass brawl in the centre of the ring, he was ambushed by Lex Luger. Meanwhile, Bret Hart, a man who has come to WCW recently from outside of it, is struggling for dominance with WCW's top dog, who resents Bret's attitude.

 

February 23^rd, 1998: WCW Monday Nitro

Nitro opens with Lex Luger, microphone in hand, walking towards the ring. He raises his microphone to speak as he heads down the ramp, even as the audience soaks him with boos and jeers. "I guess I should explain my actions last night"

He doesn't get to finish. Sting rushes from the entrance onto the ramp, baseball bat in hand. He smashes Luger to the ground, and lays into him as he lies there, as the audience give him a huge pop. He raises his arms, before stalking backstage, the damage done.

About halfway through the show, Bret Hart makes his way to the ring. He steps through the ropes, is handed a microphone, and begins to pace up and down.

"Ric Flair, congratulations! Last night, you came up against the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. You came up against the excellence of excecution. You came up against the former WWF world champion, and future WCW world champion. You came up against the hitman, Bret Hart, and on that night, you were the luckier man. That's all. So why don't you come out here, and give me the rematch you know I deserve, because I don't like the thought that anyone out there might actually think you're better than me."

Sure enough, the opening organ chords of Also Sprach Zarathustra blare over the sound system, and out struts Ric Flair, who proceeds to strut up and down at the top of the ramp.

"Now, I'm not as young as I used to be. My memory ain't what it used to be. But I seem to remember a certain arrogant Canadian who beat me by luck. Who told me this meant he was better than me, and that he was going to go onto bigger and better things. So, since last night clearly proved I'm the better man, why should I waste my time fighting you again, when I could move onto bigger and better things than you?"

"Because Ric, you're a proud man. And you can't stand, any more than I can, this thing between us not being properly settled."

"You got me there, Bret. So sure, I'll give you your rematch, and at Uncensored, I'll prove to the whole world who the man really is."

With this, Flair struts back off the stage, as the fans pop at the first announced match for Uncensored.

At the end of the show, Hollywood Hogan, Randy Savage and Eric Bischoff all come down to the ring, to a chorus of boos. Hogan takes up a microphone, and addresses his point.

"I still got no gold around this waist, brother, and that ain't right, and it's all the faults of those damn punks Hall and Nash! So Hall, Nash. I know you're hiding back there somewhere. Why don't you see if you can find the balls to"

He's cut off by the music of The Outsiders, who stride angrily down the ramp to the ring, holding microphones. The tension in the ring is thick enough that you could cut slices of it off and butter them. After what feels like an eternity of a staredown, Nash raises his microphone.

"You know what? We're done talking."

Him and Hall swiftly drop their microphones, attacking Hogan and Savage viciously. Scott Norton, Buff Bagwell and Vincent rush from the back, flooding the ring. It's not long before the numbers game takes The Outsiders down, but out comes Konnan with a steel chair to even out the odds a little. He manages to down Virgil and Bagwell before Norton is able to kick the chair from his hands. He buys Hall and Nash a little time to recover though, and the brawl kicks off again with new found ferocity. Suddenly, from out of the crowd come Raven, Hammer, Billy Kidman, Lodi, Reese, Scotty Riggs, Perry Saturn and Sick Boy: The Flock. The Flock storm the ring, taking everyone involved in the brawl out, regardless of their allegiance. They then dissapear just as quickly back into the stunned crowd, and Nitro goes off the air on the image of the downed nWo.

March 2nd, 1998: WCW Monday Nitro

The nWo are in their locker room as Nitro starts, and Bischoff storms in.

"Just what the hell was that last night, huh?"

Bagwell answers

"We got ambushed. Could have happened to anyone. No way we could have seen that coming."

"Sounds like a damn excuse to me!"

"We were too busy dealing with Hall, Nash and Konnan, and those little rats bit us in the back, because that's all they know how to do. Last week was a week ago. What happened happened. This is now, what matters is how we deal with them. Let's go take care of this now."

He stands, and is joined as he heads towards the door by Vincent and Scott Norton. He looks towards Hogan and Savage, who haven't moved.

"You coming?"

"Brother, we got bigger fish to fry. We got to keep an eye on what those damn traitors are gonna do."

Buff is angry "I miss something? Do the nWo no longer run as a unit?"

"Look brother, what is it? You scared of doing something on your own? Need someone to hold your hand?"

Buff prickles at this, and looks ready to start trouble, but Scott Norton places a hand on his shoulder. He turns to face his tag partner instead.

"What, I'm just supposed to let that one ride. You're with Hogan on this one, right? And you" he turns to Vincent "Well, you're gonna do whatever anyone else wants you to, aren't you? I don't need this. I'll go handle this alone."

Raven battles Big Bubba Rogers in a Raven's Rules match next. The two brawl around the ring frantically before Raven is able to put Rogers away with a DDT clean in the middle of the ring. Buff Bagwell storms down the ramp, chair in hand, and blasts Raven across the head after the match. Rogers, who has no love for the nWo, stands up to Buff, and receives the same treatment. Bagwell turns around as Raven is reaching his feet, and puts him back down with another shot, drawing blood. From the crowd appear the Flock now, jumping the rail and storming the ring. Bagwell goes down to the mob attack, and it isn't long before Saturn has handcuffed Bagwell to the turnbuckle. Raven crawls to the turnbuckle opposite Bagwell, and motions for a microphone as he slumps bleeding in the corner. Bagwell is beaten into a sitting position, and Raven looks him directly in the eye as he speaks.

"The era of the New World Order is over. You brought ruin to WCW, and in order to survive in this ruined landscape, we became scavengers. Those who feed on scraps. But the scavengers have been given the greatest chance we could have.  Thanks to the hubris of your group, you can no longer trust each other, no longer rely on each other. And so begins a time of revolution. Revolution's have been a theme in history. It was beheading in France, but here, I find that your order has cut off it's own head. Leadership has collapsed, and you are no longer able to maintain your stranglehold. So now begins the era of The Flock, the era of the Raven. We will seize power from you, much as you seized it from this company."

Raven begins to walk towards Bagwell, and Saturn pulls Bagwell up by the hair to stand and face Raven. Raven places his hand on his bloody face, and marks Bagwell with his bloody hand.

"This is a declaration of war. We fired the first shot last week, and we are declaring it now. This war will end when The Flock is established as the most powerful group in professional wrestling. Your time has ended. Our time is come." The Flock leave through the crowd, and referees rush the ring to free Bagwell from his handcuffs.

We cut backstage, where Bret Hart has something to say

"So, Flair. This thing between you and me, for some reason, is still unsettled. Apparently at this next Pay Per View, every match has some gimmick, some angle to it. Well, so be it. Ours will be simple. Submission match. There is nothing ambiguous about a submission, and after you tap out on March 15^th, at Uncensored, there will be no question that I am the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be."

The last person to come out and speak their piece tonight is Lex Luger, who approaches the ring with something obviously on his mind.

"Sting! You hide up their in your rafters. You take this stance of being above us all there, being better than us all. So at Uncensored, I will teach you that pride comes before a fall. You and me, scaffold match."

The spotlight focuses on Sting, revealing his spot in the rafters. He raises his microphone, and says two simple words.

"I accept."

March 9^th, 1998: WCW Monday Nitro

Nitro opens with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash on the street outside the building.

"Hey yo, this is the bad guy and Big Sexy coming to you live from outside the arena. And don't it just feel like we always been outside, Kev? We came in here as the Outsiders, and since we started this war, we've been pushed to the outside of our own group by that egomaniac Hulk Hogan, and his little lapdog, Randy Savage."

Nash weighs in  "Yeah. But they're the ones always looking for a way out these days, Scott. Every time we've confronted them, they've run away, or relied on someone else. That's why we're laying down a little challenge here, boys. This Sunday, at Uncensored, you two get in the ring with us in a cage match. Ain't no running, ain't no relying on your friends, ain't no getting out until we're done with you."

Also with something to say later on in the show is Ric Flair.

"Wahoo McDaniel! Terry Funk! Ricky Steamboat! Barry Windham! Lou Thesz! Harley Race! All got two things in common Bret. They're all great men, and some of the greatest wrestlers of their time, just like you, Bret, and ain't no-one can take that away from you. They all also tapped to the figure four, Bret, just like you will this Sunday, when I prove once again to the whole world why I still am the man."

The nWo make their way to the ring in the second half of the show. Hogan takes up a microphone, and starts talking.

"First things first. Nash, Hall, your little challenge? We accept, brother, but you should be careful what you wish for Ð me and Savage are gonna beat some respect into your dumb hides. Now as for that little creep Raven. You want a war? Sure, but I'm busy that night. I bet some of my boys here want one though. How about it? Any of you in the mood to beat some goth ass this Sunday?"

Bagwell, Konnan and Norton all step forwards.

"Well there it is, brother. You bring two of your little friends this Sunday, you got yourself a beating. We'll even play it by those Raven's Rules you like so much."

Watching with interest from the rafters is Sting. His watching is interrupted by the arrival of Lex Luger, however. Luger violently beats him down above the ring, leaving him clinging to the rafters for life. Lex makes as if to kick Sting off, but laughs, telling Sting to "Wait until Sunday" before leaving.

March 15^th, 1998: WCW Uncensored

The scaffold structure for Sting vs Luger and the cage for the nWo tag match loom ominously over the ring during the Pay Per View's early matches. Of the four matches our story has built towards, the six man tag match is the first to take place, with Raven bringing Perry Saturn and Billy Kidman to the fight. The match starts as a normal six man tag, with tags properly exchanged throughout. Bagwelll and Norton being an established team, and neither agreeing much with Konnan's recent dissent, the tags are entirely exchanged on the nWo side between this duo, with Konnan growing increasingly frustrated. Eventually, while Saturn is stretching Bagwell with a vicious looking texas cloverleaf, Konnan's irritation gets vent, as he goes outside the ring, fetches a chair, and brings it across the head of Saturn. This gives the match invitation to become a wild brawl. Konnan and Raven pair off, Norton and Saturn, the two powerhouses of their teams, battle each other, leaving Kidman and Bagwell to sort things out between them. Saturn has the upper hand in his brawl with Norton, and Kidman takes both himself and Bagwell out with a dramatic shooting star press from the top rope through a table set up on the outside. Konnan turns a Raven Effect DDT around on Raven to piledrive him onto a chair, as Saturn locks The Rings Of Saturn onto Scott Norton. Konnan looks at his former ally and recent foe, and chooses not to help him, leaving him to tap in Saturn's hold.

The next match to take place is the cage battle between the Outsiders and the team of Hogan and Savage. The two teams make heavy use of the cage to inflict damage on their enemies, and the battle goes back and forth, before Nash and Hall pick up the victory, with Nash powerbombing Savage at the same time as Hall hits the Outsider's Edge on Hogan.

Bret Hart and Ric Flair exchange chops and forearms in the opening stages of their match. The younger Bret Hart gets the better of this exchange, and proceeds to work on the back of Ric Flair, preparing the location for the Sharpshooter. Bret escalates his offence to a series of crisply executed suplexes, which proves his undoing, as Flair is able to float over on one of them, and turn things back in his favour. He works over the legs of the Hitman, a tactic which sees him perform a figure four with Bret's legs around the ringpost, and fetch a chair from under the ring to work Bret's legs with. He tries to catch Bret in the figure four in the ring, but Bret is able to desperately kick Flair away. Flair goes to the top rope, hoping to put Bret back down with a high impact move. Bret reaches his feet uncertainly, but in time to grab Flair from the top rope, and slam him down onto the apron. Flair rolls off the apron, clutching his back in pain. Bret limps out after him, and pulls him to his feet, in order to hurl him back first back into the apron. Bret throws a punch as Flair leans against the apron before rolling him back into the ring. Bret walks over to the chair Flair had made earlier use of, picks it up and looks it over. He tells Flair "I don't need this to beat you", and tosses it casually aside, before going to Flair to lock on the sharpshooter. Flair is able to plant a kick low on Bret, downing him. Flair crawls across to his foe, and grabs hold of the leg to apply the figure four. Bret leans forwards and grabs Flair by the hair, pulling him into the roll-up that won him his first match against Flair. He follows through to stand on his feet from this counter, and, keeping hold of Flair's legs, applies the Sharpshooter. In the middle of the ring, with nowhere to go, Flair has no choice but to tap.

Leaving only the main event. Lex Luger takes the early advantage with a steel chair, until Sting is able to turn things around with his baseball bat. A thumb to the eye brings things back in Luger's favour, and he scores a DDT on Sting, before trying to hurl Sting onto the tables that fill the ring below the two wrestlers. Sting throws his head backwards, headbutting Luger, and forcing him to let go. Sting is able to then throw Luger off the scaffold himself, sending Luger smashing through the tables below. Sting stands proud and victorious above the ring, title still firmly in his hands, with the nWo all but dissolved before him. It has taken over a year, but finally, he has achieved his victory.

The End