“The Icon” Sting is one of the best wrestlers to have graced the squared circle. He has been wrestling professionally since the mid-1980s and is currently signed to AEW where he still performs death-defying moves
Sting has won a total of 15 world championships in a career spanning five decades and still going strong. He is currently wrestling in AEW and also working as a mentor to the promising Darby Allin. Sting was ranked No. 1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1992
In this article, we will take a look at 5 things you must know about the WWE Hall of Famer – Sting.
5. Sting has the most WCW pay-per-view appearances to his name
World Championship Wrestling and Sting are synonymous with each other. Sting appeared 99 times in WCW’s supersized fight nights and this included 89 matches between his debut match at Starrcade 1987 and his last one at the German Millenium Final in 2000.
Sting worked in WCW and its predecessor Jim Crockett Promotions for 14 long years. He was touted as “The Franchise of WCW” and won a total of 14 championships in the promotion during his tenure.
Sting was a six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, a two-time WCW Intercontinental Champion, and the NWA World Heavyweight champion on one occasion.
4. Sting had no interest in pro wrestling until he saw a WWE live event
The Vigilante was into bodybuilding after having played football and basketball in high school. He even co-owned a Gold’s Gym health club back in the time.
He didn’t have television access to professional wrestling at home. However, his interest in the sport grew when he visited a WWF event where he saw the likes of Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, and The British Bulldogs.
The rest is history as they say. Sting became a legendary name and even now at the age of 63, continues to match wrestlers half his age with aplomb.
3. Sting is the first inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame
Sting was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2012. He was the first one to be inducted into the class and later only four other wrestlers joined him – Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarret, and The Dudley Boyz.
Sting’s influence on the promising promotion, TNA was exceptional. He won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on 4 occasions. He also won the TNA World Tag Team Championship with Kurt Angle on one occasion.
2. The legendary Sting wrestled in only one match at WrestleMania
WrestleMania is often called “The Showcase of the Immortals” and Sting’s legacy is certainly immortal. However, he appeared in only one WrestleMania match in his career.
This was against Triple H at WrestleMania 31. Triple H had D-Generation X at his corner while nWo came out to have Sting’s back. After a gruelling match, The Game won as it wasn’t a fitting WrestleMania moment for the wrestler from Omaha, Nebraska, United States.
One year later, on April 2, 2016, Sting headlined the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2016.
In an interview on AEW Unrestricted, Sting noted that he didn’t want to be inducted into the Hall of Fame because he wanted to continue wrestling, something that Triple H assured him that he’d still be able to do after being inducted:
I was reluctant to do it because I was still scheduled to work and wrestle. I said to Triple H, ‘I’m still wrestling.’ He said, ‘yeah, we think it’s gonna be good. Just because you’re inducted doesn’t mean you’re retiring or it’s over.’ I was like, ‘Okay, I can do that.’ So I did it.”
Interestingly, Sting announced his retirement in his Hall of Fame speech and never wrestled for WWE again.
1. Sting didn’t sign with WWE owing to WWE’s content contradicting his Christian beliefs
Sting went on to be a hardcore Christian towards the late 1990s and was even a missionary in his church. He even hosted the famous ‘Praise the Lord’ Show on TBN on three different occasions.
According to many sources, the product WWE had back in the early 2000s contradicted Sting’s beliefs and that was the reason why he chose World Wrestling All Stars and TNA afterwards.
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