Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and WWE Hall of Famer Sting never crossed paths during their respective careers, given that “The Icon” never made it to WWE until after Johnson had moved on to Hollywood. But according to Jim Ross, “The People’s Champ” actually pitched for a match between himself and Sting way back at WrestleMania 21 in 2005. Ross explained on a recent Grilling JR podcast that Johnson pitched the match before his WWE contract expired in 2004. At the time Sting had already briefly wrestled in TNA but had just wrapped up receiving money from the lucrative Time Warner contract he signed back in WCW.
“Bookers find out that the top talents who are gonna draw the money and put an ass every 18 inches know exactly who they can and cannot work well with,” Ross said. “Meaning that a great attraction like The Rock fighting another great attraction like Sting at the biggest event of the year like WrestleMania for the first time ever is money. Here’s the key though. Rock knew in his heart that he could get a match out of Sting, who had been dormant for quite a while, without any problem. Full confidence, and I believe that too.”
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Ross said WWE had been trying to recruit Sting since WCW closed in 2001, but a deal between the two wouldn’t materialize until late 2014. The former WCW World Heavyweight Champion wound up wrestling just four matches for WWE, including two pay-per-view losses to Triple H and Seth Rollins. Ross chastised WWE for how poorly they used “The Icon” during his brief time in the company.
“… It may have been because you know, the WWE didn’t ‘create’ Sting,” Ross said. “They didn’t give him his name, they didn’t give him this persona. Nothing. And if that was a factor, I hope it wasn’t, but if it was that’s embarrassing. I thought we could have done a lot more of that situation…
“I was very disappointed in Sting’s run,” he later added. “He deserved better. Sting deserved better than he got in WWE, but I’m sure he got paid very very well.”
Though he hasn’t wrestled since 2015, Sting recently gave fans some hope for the long-awaited dream match between he and The Undertaker.
“If there was a ‘Taker situation at WrestleMania, I would listen to that phone call,” Sting told Sports Illustrated back in December. “I could get in condition and I could pull it off.”
