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The Rock has faced some of the biggest names in the business. These include the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Brock Lesnar, and Goldberg. However, it turns out that there was one match that The Brahma Bull himself requested for and it was against none other than the icon Sting.
While Sting made his eventual WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania 31, Jim Ross on the latest Grilling JR podcast revealed that The People's Champion himself had pushed for a match with The Stinger all the way back in 2005. At that point, Sting was not even close to signing with WWE, but JR said that the company was trying its best to get the veteran on board. He said: (H/T 411 Mania)
"Yeah, man. Look, we were trying to recruit Sting, Conrad, ever since WCW closed their doors. And then subsequently when he finally got all his money from Time-Warner that he was owed. We knew he’d be healthy, he’d be refreshed, and he’d have a full bank account. He should be a happy guy. And we only wanted him for a part-time role at best to maximize the investment, and to not overuse a asset that had more matches in him than he had left. So yeah, we were always talking about bringing him in. Why not? But Rock and Sting would have been cool as hell."
Jim Ross said that The Rock believed he could get a great match out of Sting. He explained: (H/T 411 Mania)
"And Rock — look, the thing about this, and I may have mentioned this before. It’s worth reiterating as far as bookers are concerned. 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. 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. So anyhow, yeah it was a topic we talked about."
It's a big 'What If' but it sounds like The Rock really did want another Icon vs Icon match (like he had with Hogan) and he couldn't have chosen a better opponent than the WCW legend.
