On Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 4:58 PM EST
The Sun in the UK has an interview up with TNA World Heavyweight Champion Sting where he talks about the realism in the "veterans" vs. "young wrestlers" storyline in TNA, how many times Vince McMahon has tried to sign him and more. Here are some highlights:
On the realism of the Main Event Mafia vs. the young wrestlers:
"When I came back to wrestling, after WCW folded, I did have a choice. There was WWE and there was TNA. I would have probably gone into the WWE if it was about money. I came here very humble, believe me. But I wasn’t welcomed with big, wide open arms from everybody. I didn’t know it was going to be that way, but it was. It would surprise you if I named some of the guys that didn’t receive me that well. You’d never guess. There are a lot of the young guys that want us ‘dinosaurs’ to move out of the way, once and for all. And you know what? I can sympathize in some ways. I can. When I was a young Sting, back in the day when it was Ric Flair, Macho Man Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Dusty Rhodes, The Four Horsemen and all those guys, I had those moments of frustration. But I still always respected what they did. So yes, there’s a lot of realism in this story."
On the difference in this storyline to the one in WCW:
"That’s a really good question. I’ve never heard it asked quite like that, it makes me even think. I don’t know. Only time will tell. I do believe it’s different. We do have the past, whether or not you are the younger generation or you are my generation - old school, new school, whatever – you’re still going to look and remember what happened with WCW. Even me. I’m not pointing the fingers. I was part of it. I was in with the whole bunch of us, and what happened, happened. Nobody wants that to be repeated."
On how close he has come to signing with WWE in the past:
"Yes, I was really close at least three, four times over the years. A few times in the early 1990s, when I chose TNA and once at a real key moment when WCW had overtaken WWE as the No1 group in wrestling. And I was pretty much at the peak of WCW, in their peak days. I forget how many weeks in a row WCW beat them in the ratings wars but it got really bad for WWE - WWF at the time. That was a key moment, and I was really close to jumping."
On what stopped him from ever going to WWE:
"There was always something in me that thought that Vince McMahon wanted me more to undermine WCW than he wanted me as a talent. I just always believed that. I saw a lot of guys from WCW that went to WWE and that happened. Anyone who made it to a higher level within WCW and then tried to jump over – it just didn’t work. The other thing was that WCW ended up giving me what I wanted in my contract."
If he has plans to retire soon like Ric Flair:
"Yes, because I cannot go on much longer. I don’t want to embarrass myself, or embarrass Spike or embarrass TNA. We all know it’s a wave that is coming in to shore. I don’t know when exactly it will hit, but it’s gonna hit. I thought probably this year. Actually it’s over the last couple of years it seems the thought has been in-and-out, in-and-out, in-and-out these thoughts of retirement and everything else but under the circumstances I think that I want to stick it out for one last – and this is THE last – hurrah. I don’t know when it will end for sure, but as long as I stay healthy into 2009. But how far into 2009 I don’t know."
To check out the full interview, click here.