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This is considered by some as the beginning of the end for WCW. Hogan was heavily criticised for not doing a clean finish which confused and irritated fans who had waited over a year to see Sting take down the nWo. The finish actually involved a recently-introduced Bret Hart coming down to the ring after Hogan "won" the match through a supposedly fast count by referee Nick Patrick, ostensibly to "make things right" and protect Sting from being "screwed," a la the Montreal Screwjob. Unfortunately, the "fast" three-count which Hogan used to win was quite obviously a normal-speed count, requiring the announcers to act as though it was fast, since that was the finish they had been told - though everyone viewing the show had just seen a clean pinfall. Rather than the triumphant victory that one would expect the most popular wrestler in the company to gain over the hated man he had been chasing for over a year, as Sting had Hogan, the finish was confused and chaotic, with the live audience visibly displeased at the entire spectacle. Hart "restarted" the match, and Sting quickly won the title, but given the circumstances, excitement was rather muted. It is rumored that Hogan paid Patrick a sum in cash backstage before the show in exchange for failing to execute the planned finish, with the intent of protecting Hogan's image. The entire debacle resulted in the title being held up for another Hogan-Sting pay-per-view match, which many WCW fans took as a slap in the face and a hapless attempt to draw additional money to see the result WCW had failed to deliver the first time around.
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