Arn Anderson revealed on the latest episode of his ARN podcast that Vince McMahon told WWE’s commentators to “bury” Sting during his WrestleMania 31 match against Triple H.
The much-anticipated encounter saw Triple H (w/D-Generation X) pick up a surprise victory over Sting (w/the nWo) to bring an end to a story that was largely built around WWE vs. WCW.
Anderson, who wrestled for WCW for 12 years and worked as a WWE producer for 17 years, was highly critical of the booking of the match, particularly certain lines that McMahon requested his announcers say about Sting.
“All it did was give the announcers – and I know this was fed to them – they just buried Sting. ‘Minnow in a big pond.’ Just total condescending. ‘Guy’s out of his element.’ ‘This is WrestleMania now.’ ‘You’re just a small minnow in a huge lake.’”
WWE vs. WCW: 'One last nail into the coffin'
Arn Anderson explained that Vince McMahon wanted to “nail one last nail into the coffin” to ensure fans knew that WWE defeated WCW in the Monday Night Wars.
The 61-year-old added that McMahon was also keen to make it clear that six-time WCW World Champion Sting was not on the same level as WWE’s top Superstars.
“They [WCW] led for all those weeks but, in the end, here’s your last remaining guy and he was your biggest star, and we [WWE] just crushed him before your very eyes at the biggest event of the year.”