It really doesn't matter who wins, it was about what the match represented.
The match represented a petty beef that Vince McMahon has with a dead company, Triple H's boner for entrances from mid 90's WCW, and Sting deciding that he doesn't want to wrestle forever and wants to live off royalties from the company that's still around.
Sting vs. Undertaker would have been a much better choice. Neither guy is full time, Sting gets his WM match, Undertaker gets a WM win, and you get one plodding and formulaic match instead of two.
fans got to see basically a live recap of the Monday Night Wars of yesteryear
Uh what?
When were Sting and the nWo ever on the same side? Their feud is the whole reason for WCW's best PPV buyrate ever and a major reason why WCW was winning in the ratings.
Shawn Michaels was never in DX at the same time as X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws. One iteration happened because the other ended.
Triple H didn't become a main eventer until the Monday Night War had a clear winner and by that point, WCW was experimenting with making Sting a heel. The timelines only make sense if you ascribe to WWE revisionist history.
Thank you. For ages now we've bitched and moaned about how the mid-card belts have been meaningless, and now that they're on two guys who could actually elevate them and make them feel important again, people wanna bitch and moan that two main eventers are carrying around dead-weight titles?
John Cena won the US Title at WrestleMania
11 years ago. While I don't necessarily mind him in a muted role, it's more of a vanity plate for him at this point.
Daniel Bryan won the World Title in the main event last year. Giving him the IC Title seems like a consolation prize. Considering that the fanbase turned on Reigns because Bryan didn't win the Royal Rumble, I'd say it makes no sense to take the belt off Barrett when Bryan is clearly better off being higher on the card. They ruined the slow momentum they had building for Reigns and stunted the growth of the other guys in the ladder match out of being stubborn.