The foundation of World Championship Wrestling through thick and thin, Sting has
always been the franchise.  He never jumped ship no matter the offer and was the only
one between 1988 and 2001 to never had done so.  Both Ric Flair and Lex Luger went to
the WWF, but eventually returned home.  Sting and the legendary Bruno Sammartino can
be compared in one major way.  They both took organizations onto their back single-
handedly and carried promotions to another level.  Sting did it with WCW and Sammartino
did it with the WWWF.

  Through the years, though, Sting has gone through some changes.  From the blond
hair and energetic attitude to the darkness and the bat.  Despite the alterations, Sting has
always remained among the best, even with the flow of highly paid wrestlers through the
organization.  It wasn’t until ’99 that he turned against the fans in a clear and concise
way.  Sting held the NWA World Title, the WCW World Title six-times and the WCW
International World Title two-times.  He also captured every belt that he was eligible for in
WCW.

  1986 was Sting’s rookie year.  Among a host of other future stars, he might have been
the most underrated.  The Ultimate Warrior and Lex Luger were also in that year’s crop of
wrestlers.  He struck a relationship with the Warrior and the two joined a group of four
wrestlers known as “Power Team USA” out of Los Angeles under the guidance of Rick
Bassman.  Early in the year, the group disbanded.  Sting and the Warrior went to the Mid-
Southern Territory and altered their names.  Their tag team became known as the
Freedom Fighters.  Sting was known as Flash and the Warrior was known as Justice.

  After a short stint, both men traveled to the UWF and became the “Blade Runners.”  
Warrior changed his name to “Rock.”  Sting continued to use the name Flash.  Later,
Rock traveled to Dallas to compete in the World Class organization, but Flash decided to
stay.  He changed his name to Sting and went under the tutelage of Eddie Gilbert.  The
two excelled as a tag team.  On July 20, 1986 in Tulsa, a defeat over the Fantastics gave
them the UWF World Tag Team Championship.  The title was held-up after a rematch
against Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers on August 17th in Tulsa.  A deciding match was
held on August 31st and Sting and Gilbert regained the belts.  Nearly a month later in
Tulsa, they lost the title back to the Fantastics.

  Sting formed an alliance with Rick Steiner.  The two teamed in the vacant UWF World
Tag Team Title Tournament in February 1987.  They lost in the finals on the 7th to Chris
Adams and Terry Taylor.  Sting regained the championship with Steiner on April 12th in
Atlanta, beating the two who had taken them in the tourney final.  Sting and Steiner lost
the title on May 17th in Tulsa to the Lightning Express.  The trio of Sting, Gilbert and
Steiner were hated by the fans of the UWF.  Gilbert, being the most experienced of the
three, began to rub off on both of the younger athletes.  Sting later broke up with both of
the others and attempted to chase Gilbert and Steiner out of the UWF.

  He was booked to wrestle on the Starrcade 1987 card on Thursday, November 26th in
Chicago.  Sting teamed up with the Freebirds against Larry Zbyszko, Gilbert and Steiner
before an estimated 8,000 fans.  The match was declared a draw after 15-minutes of
heated brawling.  During the NWA’s Bunkhouse Stampede on January 24, 1988 in New
York, Sting teamed with Jim Garvin to beat the blood thirsty Sheepherders.  On January
26th, the war between Sting and the Four Horsemen began.  He called out to Ric Flair
during a Horsemen party in Raleigh, North Carolina.  When the champion refused to
respond and James J. Dillon tossed champagne in his face, Sting gave the manager a
splash in the corner.  He became a huge crowd favorite and was an immediate contender
for Flair’s NWA World Title.

  When the title shots began to evolve, many more jumped on the band wagon and
predicted that Flair’s days were numbered.  On March 27th, Sting received an important
match against the champ in Greensboro, North Carolina during the first Clash of the
Champions.  The event rivaled the World Wrestling Federation’s WrestleMania IV pay-per-
view and was highly important to the NWA.  Sting wrestled Flair to a 45-minute draw.  
Their match was a classic and immediately a top contender for “Match of the Year.”
Speculation came soon afterwards that he was going to replace Lex Luger in the Four
Horsemen and protect Flair instead of challenge him.  It didn’t happen.

  Sting was also a contender to both Mike Rotundo and Larry Zbyszko’s single’s titles.  
Rotundo’s crew, the Varsity Club,  Rick Steiner and Kevin Sullivan, and Zbyszko's
manager, Baby Doll were always there to protect their men.  And their individual crowns.  
Sting and Luger teamed for the first time on April 22, 1988 in Greenville during the third-
annual Jim Crockett Memorial Cup Tag Tournament.  The two beat Ivan Koloff and Dick
Murdoch in the second round of the tournament, having advanced with a bye before
4,500 fans.  The following night was held in Greensboro.  Sting and Luger wrestled and
beat the Midnight Express, Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane.  In the semi-finals, they beat the
Barbarian and the Warlord to advance to the final round.  On the other side of the
bracketing, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard survived after a semi-final victory over the
Fantastics.  Luger pinned Anderson before 9,000 fans to capture the Jim Crockett
Memorial Cup and the $1,000,000 prize.

  The legendary Dusty Rhodes joined Sting on June 8th in Miami at Clash of the
Champions II.  The two wrestled Anderson and Blanchard for the World Tag Title.  The
popular duo won by disqualification after Barry Windham interfered.  Sting yet again took
a different partner on July 10th at the Great American Bash in Baltimore.  Nikita Koloff
joined him against Anderson and Blanchard for the tag belts.  The match ended in a
draw.  In the main event, Sting’s former partner, Lex Luger was challenging Ric Flair for
the NWA World Crown and lost after officials stopped the match.  Both Sting and Luger
were inches from winning two of the most prestigious belts in the world.  Sting challenged
Windham for the United States Title in Albany, Georgia at the third Clash of the
Champions on September 7th.  He beat the champion by disqualification.

  A belt continued to elude him.  Sting again teamed with Rhodes at Starrcade in Norfolk
on Monday, December 26th at the Scope against the NWA World Tag Team Champions.  
The champions were not Anderson and Blanchard, but Animal and Hawk, the Road
Warriors.  They won by disqualification, but did not capture the belts.  In Cleveland at the
Clash on February 15th, Sting teamed up with Michael Hayes and Junkyard Dog against
Genichiro Tenryu and the Road Warriors, the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team
Champions.  Before the match, Kevin Sullivan locked Sting’s team in their locker room and
the Varsity Club took their place against the six-man champions until they were able to
break out.  The match ended in a no-contest.  Five days later at the Chi-Town Rumble,
Sting pinned Butch Reed in a singles match at the UIC Pavilion.

  On March 31st in Atlanta, Sting beat Mike Rotundo and captured the NWA World
Television Title.  At “Rajin’ Cajin” in New Orleans on April 2nd, he beat Rip Morgan.  A
serious challenge from The Great Muta came up in mid-1989.  Muta had joined the
organization earlier in the year and build quite a reputable win streak.  The two
youngsters faced off during the Great American Bash in Baltimore on July 23rd.  It was a
controversial, technical match.  Both men were pinned at the same time and officials
decided to hold the belt up afterwards pending a rematch.

  At the Omni in Atlanta, Muta beat Sting on September 3rd to capture the held-up TV
Title.  He took sides with Flair in his war against the J-Tex Corporation led by Gary Hart,
which Muta was apart of.  At the Clash on September 12th in Columbia, Sting and Flair
beat Muta and Dick Slater by disqualification after Terry Funk interfered.  Promotions
continued for Halloween Havoc on October 28th in Philadelphia.  Sting and Flair would be
facing Funk and Muta in a special “Thunderdome” Cage Match with Bruno Sammartino
assigned as the special referee.  Sting and Flair were victorious.

  Starrcade ’89 was one of the most interesting pay-per-views of the year.  An “Iron Man,”
round robin tournament was planned between four top grapplers.  Sting would have to
wrestle Muta, Flair and Lex Luger each one time.  A point system was in place and the
man with the most points in the end, would be the winner.  The event was held on
Wednesday, December 13th in Atlanta.  Sting opened the event against the Great Muta
and won by pinfall.  The victory handed Muta his first loss in the NWA.  In Sting’s second
match of the night, he wrestled Luger and was defeated by pin.  Flair was his final
opponent and Sting pinned the NWA Champion.  He ended with 40-points and won the
competition.  With his pinfall victory over Flair and the overall victory, Sting was the
number one contender to the NWA World Title.  Luger came in second with 35, then Flair.  
Muta ended with zero points.

  In Gainesville, Georgia on January 2, 1990, Sting was made an offer by Flair and the
Andersons.  It was an event that could never be forgotten.  The three members needed a
fourth to complete the Four Horsemen.  Sting was invited and he accepted.  The
Horsemen wanted Sting to be a member to keep him from getting shots at Flair’s World
Title.  After all, he was the number one contender.  Sting, nevertheless, made four and
the Horsemen were running again.  On February 6th, Sting joined his allies at Clash X in
Corpus Christi, Texas.  

  During the early moments of the event, all four of the Horsemen members went to the
ring.  Ole Anderson spoke to the crowd, laying the situation out.  Sting had been
previously named to wrestle Flair at the upcoming February 25th WrestleWar card for the
World Belt.  The Andersons and Flair decided that it wasn’t going to happen.  They gave
Sting a choice.  To back out of the WrestleWar event or pay the consequences.  He was
no longer a Horsemen, either.  Sting declined and was beaten for it.

  Later, during the main event, Sting ran out and attempted to climb the steel cage to get
at Flair and the Andersons.  There, he suffered a serious leg injury, rupturing his left
patella.  The Horsemen battered Sting until officials were able to halt the attack.  Not only
would the injury cause Sting to miss his WrestleWar date, he would be out for several
months.  Lex Luger was awarded the February title shot.

  On February 25th in Greensboro, Luger faced Flair for the title.  In an attempt to
motivate Luger, Sting went to the ring on crutches.  A few hand slaps across the face
assisted in just that.  The Andersons ran to the ring and began harass Sting.  Luger, who
had locked in his torture rack, witnessed their actions and ran out to help his friend.  
There, at the 38:08 mark, he was counted out.  Flair retained his belt.  At a television
taping on April 23rd in Marietta, Sting was again attacked by the Horsemen.  They didn’t
want him to ever return.

  The Steiners, Brian Pillman, Tom Zenk, El Gigante, Paul Orndorff and the Junkyard Dog
rallied around Sting, forming a group known as the “Dudes with Attitudes.” Preparations
for Sting’s comeback were in order.  He was going to wrestle Ric Flair for the NWA World
Title on July 7th in Baltimore at the Great American Bash.  Special stipulations were also
in order.  The Dudes with Attitudes were going to surround the ring and prevent a
Horsemen attack.  Ole Anderson was going to be handcuffed to the seven-foot El
Gigante.  At the 16:06 mark at the Baltimore Arena, Sting pinned Flair and captured the
NWA World Title.  It was a historic event and a tough win.  Sting’s chest was bright red
from the horrendous chops he received.

  Over the weeks that followed, Sting began to be verbally attacked by a mysterious voice
known as the “Black Scorpion” over public address systems all over the country.  No one
had any idea who it was.  At the Clash in September 1990 in Asheville, Sting met the
supposed Scorpion in a title match.  He won, but it turned out to be a false, masked man,
posing to be the Scorpion.  The berating continued.  At Halloween Havoc on October 27th
in Chicago, Sting wrestled Sid Vicious.  During the bout, both wrestlers battled away from
the ring and disappeared from the view of fans.  Seconds later, Vicious appeared with
Sting in toe.  The men stumbled back into the ring and Vicious pinned the champion for
the belt.  A second Sting, in the same uniform and look, appeared from the back with rope
tied around his wrist.  The referee concluded that the second Sting was the real one and
the match continued.  A Stinger Splash was delivered and then a pin.  The fake Sting was
none other than Vicious’ partner in the Horsemen, Barry Windham.  The real Sting
retained.

  During the early moments of Clash of the Champions XIII on November 20, 1990 in
Jacksonville, Sting had an interview with Tony Schiavone.  The Black Scorpion came over
the public address system and spooked the crowd, a verbal confrontation before their
December Starrcade Match.  The biggest event of the year was held on December 16th at
the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.  Sting wrestled the mysterious man in a steel
cage bout with former World Champion, Dick the Bruiser assigned as the guest referee.  It
was a wild bout and Sting won by pinfall.  In the post match fight, the Scorpion was
revealed to be Ric Flair.

  At a house show in East Rutherford, New Jersey at the Meadowlands, Sting dropped the
NWA World Title to Flair on January 11, 1991.  Flair did cheat to get the victory, and
footage was shown on NWA Television across the nation.  Sting reformed a tag team with
Lex Luger after several years on January 30th in Gainesville at the Georgia Mountain
Center.  The two popular athletes challenged Doom for the NWA World Tag Team Title.  
They won by disqualification after Sting’s partner was attacked by Dan Spivey.  Sting and
several of his “Dudes” partners teamed on February 24th in Phoenix to compete in War
Games against the Horsemen.  On his side were the Steiner Brothers and Brian Pillman
against Flair, Vicious, Windham and Larry Zbyszko, a late sub for Arn Anderson.  The
bout was stopped by the official after Pillman was knocked unconscious after two Vicious
powerbombs.

  The “Stinger” and other WCW wrestlers traveled to Japan for a huge event on March
21st at the Tokyo Dome.  He wrestled the Great Muta in a throwback match before an
estimated 64,000 fans.  The old rivalry was continued for one night and Sting was
defeated.  During the first SuperBrawl show in St. Petersburg, Sting and Luger took on the
Steiners in a World Tag Team Title Match.  The classic bout was held on May 19th and
ended when Scott Steiner pinned Sting.  Many fans were shocked to see babyfaces
wrestle other babyfaces.  It was such an irregular act that when it happened, audiences
rejoiced.  Everyone, in the end, remained pals.

  Sting entered a feud with former NWA United States Champion Nikita Koloff.  On June
12th in Knoxville, he beat Koloff by pinfall.  Their rematch occurred on July 14th at the
Great American Bash, a year anniversary of his win over Flair for the World Title.  Sting
lost to Koloff in a special Russian Chain Bout.  Also at that event, Luger turned on the
fans and won the vacant WCW World Title.  With Luger’s win, went the U.S. Title to
vacancy.  Sting participated in the tournament to determine a new champion.  He beat
“Stunning” Steve Austin on August 25th at the Omni in Atlanta to capture the belt.

  Johnny B. Badd challenged him on September 5th in Augusta and was turned away.  He
traveled to the Orient for a defense of his U.S. Title against Akira Nogami in Yokohama on
September 23rd.  Sting defeated his opponent.  During the Halloween Havoc show in
October, Sting teamed with the Steiners and El Gigante against Big Van Vader, Abdullah
the Butcher, Cactus Jack and the Diamond Studd.  The four way bout was a special
“Chamber of Horrors” cage match.  His team was victorious.

  The Clash of the Champions on November 19th in Savannah was a memorable one for
Sting and his fans.  He was attacked early in the event by Luger and rushed by an
ambulance to a nearby hospital.  Sting was scheduled to defend his championship against
Rick Rude later in the night, but since he was gone, the title was in a state of limbo.  
Officials could have stripped the belt from him and awarded it to the challenger.  Instead
of taking a painful loss in such fashion, Sting stole the ambulance and rushed back to the
arena.  He later lost the belt to Rude in the ring, but his fight was courageous.  If it was
possible, Sting’s popularity rose because of it.

  Sting tossed WCW World Champion, Luger over the top rope in the final moments of the
Starrcade Main Event, to win the Battle Bowl on December 29, 1991 at the Scope in
Norfolk.  Sting had teamed with rival, Abdullah the Butcher earlier to defeat Brian Pillman
and Bobby Eaton to enter the final event.  Abdullah, though, attacked Sting before their
match and there was not a single tag between the two.  He ventured back to Japan for the
huge WCW/ New Japan Card in early January.

  Sting teamed with his once arch nemesis The Great Muta on January 4th at the Tokyo
Dome to defeat The Steiner Brothers.  Sting pinned Scott in front of an estimated 60,000
spectators.  He was granted a title shot against Luger on February 29th in Milwaukee at
the Mecca Arena.  Sting beat the champ and captured his second World Championship.  
The SuperBrawl II Match ended at the 13:02 mark with a pinfall.  He brawled with members
of the Dangerous Alliance, led by Paul E. Dangerously, after the event.

  Sting was beaten by Rick Rude on March 6th in a non-title cage match in Los Angeles’
Great Western Forum.  On March 15th at the Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, Sting pinned U.S. Champion, Rude in a match for his championship only.  He
had a very successful string of victories of his top contenders in late March, early April
1992.  He pinned U.S. Champion, Rick Rude in defense of his World Title only on March
31st in East Rutherford at the Meadowlands Arena.  Two nights later on the 2nd of April in
Norfolk, Sting pinned Big Van Vader.  In Washington D.C. the next night, Sting again
pinned Vader at the Armory.

  Before 6,000 fans at the Memorial Coliseum on May 17th, he teamed with Rick
Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes, Koloff and Windham against Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton,
Larry Zbyszko, Steve Austin and Rude at WrestleWar.  He forced Eaton to submit for the
War Games victory.  Things were good and he was at the top of his game.  At Beach Blast
on June 20th in Mobile, Sting beat Cactus Jack on his own turf.  The rules were a falls-
count-anywhere match.  It was a wild victory.

  During the Great American Bash on July 12th in Albany, Georgia, Sting lost the WCW
World Title to Big Van Vader.  He was pinned at the 17:17 mark.  Vader was a mammoth
grappler from Colorado.  Not only did he use his power, but agility and amazing speed.  
On September 2nd at Clash of the Champions XX in Atlanta, Sting teamed with Koloff and
the Steiners against Vader, Super Invader, Jake Roberts and Rude.  The fan favorites lost
in an elimination match.  Sting entered a feud with Jake Roberts.  At Halloween Havoc, the
two competed in a “Wheel of Death” match in Philadelphia.  The wheel stopped on a “Coal
Miner’s Glove Match.”  Sting pinned Roberts.

  He entered the “King of Cable” Elimination Tournament and wrestled U.S. Champion,
Rick Rude on Wednesday, November 18th in Macon in the semi-finals.  Sting won by
decision, advancing to the finals.  He wrestled Vader on December 28th in Atlanta for the
King of Cable Championship at Starrcade.  Sting won the event.  He teamed with Cactus
Jack and Dustin Rhodes on January 13, 1993 in Milwaukee to beat Paul Orndorff, Vader
and Barry Windham in a cage match.  Sting lost to Vader in a title match on February 21st
in Asheville at SuperBrawl.

  Members of WCW traveled to Europe for a tour.  Sting beat Vader in London at
Wembley Arena on March 11, 1993 to capture his third World Title.  Vader regained the
title in Dublin on March 17th.  Harley Race, Vader’s manager, used a pair of brass knucks
on the defending champ to knock him out.  Vader hit a powerbomb, then scored a pin.  
Sting traveled to Japan for the huge “Wrestling Dontaku” event held on May 3, 1993 in
Fukuoka.  He wrestled Scott Norton to a double-disqualification.  Hulk Hogan also wrestled
on the card, as the WWF World Champion, and many wondered if a Sting-Hogan match
could be signed while the two were in Asia.  It never happened.

  Sting won over the Prisoner on May 23rd at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta before 7,000
fans.  He teamed with Rhodes and newcomer Davey Boy Smith on June 16th in Norfolk in
a loss to Vader, Rude and Sid Vicious.  Sting continued his partnership with Smith into
Beach Blast on July 18th.  The two beat Vader and Vicious in a tag team match at the Gulf
Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi.  During the spring, Ric Flair had returned to WCW.  
Sting partnered with the “Nature Boy” on August 18th in Daytona Beach.  They went over
the Colossal Kongs in a tag bout.  In the main event of Fall Brawl ’93, Sting teamed with
Smith, Rhodes and the Shockmaster against Vicious, Vader and the members of Harlem
Heat in a War Games contest.  Sting’s team were victorious.

  Reminiscent of Halloween Havoc ’90, the 1993 edition sanctioned the match between
Sting and Vicious in New Orleans.  He won by pinfall without an appearance from Barry
Windham dressed in face-paint.  On November 10th in St. Petersburg, Sting teamed with
Davey Boy Smith against the WCW World Tag Champions, the Nasty Boys.  Rick Rude
had attacked Smith before the contest and put him out of contention on his own.  The
Nasty Boys seized the moment and pinned the “Bulldog.” Ironically, Sting teamed with
Jerry Saggs of the Nastys during the Lethal Lottery portion of the 1993 BattleBowl on the
20th of November, 1993 in Pensacola.  They defeated Keith Cole and Ron Simmons to
advance to the final stage.  He was one of the final two remaining with Vader and was
eliminated by the champ.  Sting teamed with Road Warrior Hawk at Starrcade on Monday,
December 27th, challenging the WCW World Tag Champion, Nasty Boys.  They won by
disqualification.  Flair captured the World Title in the main event from Vader.

  1994 had arrived and many did not know how things were going to turn out.  As it
happened, ’94 was going to turn out much different than ’93 had.  Sting teamed with Flair
on January 27th in Baton Rouge to beat Vader and Rude in an elimination match.  He
pinned Rude in the final.  At SuperBrawl IV on February 20th, Sting, Rhodes and Brian
Pillman beat Steve Austin, Paul Orndorff and Rude in Albany, Georgia.  Pillman pinned
Austin in the thunderdome cage bout.

  Sting regained a claim to a World Title on April 17th at Spring Stampede in Chicago.  He
defeated Rick Rude for the WCW International World Title, formally known as the NWA
World Title at the Rosemont Horizon.  Both the new champion and the prior traveled to
Japan for the May 1st Fukuoka Dome show.  An estimated 53,000 fans were present to
see Rude’s win over Sting to regain the International World Belt.  WCW Officials reviewed
the match and declared that Rude had used the title belt to hit Sting, and gain the winning
fall.  On May 22nd, Sting was returned the belt in Philadelphia.  He refused the title, but
was willing to fight Vader later in the night for the vacant title.  Sting beat Vader to capture
his second International World Title.

  During the Spring of 1994, speculation about a possible signing of Hulk Hogan to WCW
began.  When the signing was final, everyone knew about it.  A parade was held in Disney
World.  World Championship Wrestling was about to change.  Sting wrestled Ric Flair in a
WCW International vs. WCW World Heavyweight Title Unification Match at Clash XXVII on
June 23rd in Charleston.  The “Stinger” lost the important contest.  On July 17th, Hogan
beat Flair to capture the World Title in his first ever WCW match in Orlando.  Sting was
not on the card.  He returned for a September 18th three-way elimination match to
determine the number-one contender to the World Title.  Sting lost to Vader in the finals.  
He did not wrestle on the Halloween Havoc show.

  On November 16th in Jacksonville, he teamed with David Sullivan and Hulk Hogan to
beat the Butcher, Kevin Sullivan and Avalanche.  Mr. T was the special guest referee.  
Sting won over Avalanche by disqualification on December 27th in Nashville at Starrcade.  
Back in Japan before more than 62,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome, Sting wrestled the
legendary Antonio Inoki on January 4, 1995.  Inoki beat Sting in the classic encounter.  
Sting beat Tony Palmore earlier in the show.  At Caesar’s Palace on January 25th at the
30th installment of Clash of the Champions, Sting beat Avalanche by submission.  On
February 19th, he teamed with former WWF Champion and newcomer to WCW, Randy
Savage to beat Avalanche and Bubba Rogers.  Sting got the pin on the former before an
estimated 13,000 fans.

  At Uncensored, Sting continued his war with Rogers, a former UWF World Champion.  
He lost by pinfall in an upset on March 19th in Tupelo.  He met Rogers again on May 21st
at Slamboree in a lights-out-match and won by submission.  In the finals of the vacant
WCW United States Title Tournament, Sting defeated Meng on June 18th in Dayton at the
Great American Bash.  It was Sting’s second U.S. Title Tournament win in four years.  He
pinned Meng in 13:28.  A rematch with the martial-arts expert was held on July 16th on
Huntington Beach.  Sting beat him again.  He reunited with Road Warrior Hawk on August
4th in Daytona Beach to beat Meng and Kurasawa.

  In one of the most accomplished four-man tag teams ever assembled, Sting teamed with
Luger, Savage and Hogan on September 17th for War Games against Meng, Kamala,
Shark and Zodiac in Asheville, North Carolina.  It is safe to say that they were winners that
night at Fall Brawl.  Hogan forced the Zodiac to submit.  On October 29th in Detroit, Sting
and Ric Flair teamed to beat Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman by disqualification.  Actually,
Sting beat the other three by disqualification when Flair turned on him.

  In a match between the two most popular wrestlers of the last decade, Sting wrestled
Hulk Hogan for the first time on November 20th during a live edition of Monday Nitro on
TNT.  A masked Hogan went to the ring through the crowd, catching Sting off guard.  The
two wrestled an even match before Sting caught Hogan in the Scorpion Deathlock.  Hogan
was able to power out of the move before landing a boot.  The next move was Hogan’s
patented leg drop.  Sting moved out of the way and locked a second Scorpion Deathlock.  
It seemed as if Hogan was about to give it up when Kevin Sullivan’s Dungeon of Doom ran
out and ended the match.  The Giant was about to chokeslam both Sting and Hogan at
the same time when Randy Savage jumped into the ring with a steel chair.  He was
chokeslammed for his efforts.  Finally, Sting and Hogan worked together to end the attack
as fans cheered.

  Sting got the pin over Brian Pillman on November 27th in a tag match with Lex Luger
against Pillman and Arn Anderson.  He took the brunt of a Horsemen attack after the
match.  Hogan made the save.  Sting ran out after a number of wrestlers got involved
during the main event of the December 4th Nitro.  He ended up getting socked by Hogan.  
The two nearly came to blows.  To prove their alliance, Sting teamed with Hogan on the
11th of December in Charlotte against Ric Flair and Arn Anderson.  Hogan pinned
Anderson to win the match, but it was what happened afterwards that seem to get much of
the hype.  Randy Savage got mixed up in the post-match altercations and Sting
accidentally let a blow fly at the World Champ.  Savage slapped Sting in return.  Words
were said and any continuation of the fight was stopped with an interview.  Dissention and
ulterior motives were often referred to.

  Sting continued to team with Lex Luger on a normal basis, despite any questions.  Luger
had taken Jimmy Hart, a firm heel supporter, as his manager.  At Starrcade on December
27th, Sting played a big role in WCW’s victory over New Japan for the World Cup.  He
beat Kensuke Sasaki in the deciding match by pinfall.  He also wrestled Flair and Luger in
a three-way contest to determine who would wrestle the World Champion later in the
evening.  Flair won by countout.  Sting won a singles contest over “DDP” Dallas Page by
submission on January 8, 1996.  He received a World Title shot against Ric Flair on
January 15th.  Luger walked out and in a rage of confusion, Sting ran into a megaphone
being held by Luger and Jimmy Hart, enabling Flair’s pin.  The world wanted to know if the
smash was intentional or not, including Sting.

  Controversy continued to grow between Savage-Hogan and Sting-Luger.  Jimmy Hart
seemed to be getting more involved in the mix.  After years of on and off again
friendships, Sting teamed with Luger on January 22nd in Las Vegas to capture the WCW
World Tag Team Title from the Harlem Heat.  They received some assistance from Hart,
despite Sting not knowing what happened.  The champions won over the Blue Bloods on
January 23rd at the Clash of the Champions and then won an important match over the
Road Warriors on February 5th.  Again, Jimmy Hart and an illegal object assisted in the
win.  Sting and Luger had the challenge of two teams on February 11th in St. Petersburg
during SuperBrawl.  First, Sting and Luger out-dueled Harlem Heat to retain their belts.

  Later in the evening, they edged by the Road Warriors in a rematch when the match
was ruled a no contest.  Luger participated in a heel role in the main event of Uncensored
on March 10th, where Sting teamed with Booker T.  The duo wrestled in Tupelo against
the Road Warriors in a special Chicago Street Fight.  Booker pinned Hawk to win the long
battle.

  During the April 15th edition of Nitro, Sting and Luger rejoined forces against the Giant
and Ric Flair.  It was a wild bout.  Woman joined the action and attempted to hit Luger in
the face with some piping hot coffee.  Luger moved and Sting was there to take it.  The
match was a no contest, but more importantly was the impending question if whether
Luger had gotten out of the way on purpose to let Sting take the fall.  Sting wrestled the
World Champion, Giant on May 19th at Slamboree in Baton Rouge and was turned back
by the heavyweight leader.  He met Scott Steiner in a singles match on May 27th during
Nitro.  The match ended in a no contest when Luger interfered on Sting’s behalf and Rick
Steiner interfered on his brother’s behalf.  A tag team match was signed for the next week’
s show.

  That match was a brawl and also ended in a no contest.  In late May and into June,
Scott Hall and Kevin Nash began to appear in WCW as the “Outsiders.” Their
appearances were often unscheduled and many believed that something big was on the
horizon.  It was.  Officials selected Sting to participate in a six-man tag team match at the
Bash at the Beach against the Outsiders and their mysterious partner on June 17th.  With
Sting in the fight to save WCW were Luger and Randy Savage.  On June 24th in
Charlotte, Sting and Luger lost the WCW Tag Title to Harlem Heat in a three-way match
also involving the Steiners.

  Nash and Hall appeared during the bout, but did not get involved physically.  Their
distraction was enough.  In Daytona Beach for the Bash pay-per-view, Sting, Luger and
Savage met Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and their third partner, Hulk Hogan.  The match was a
wild no contest.  The New World Order had been formed and WCW had been slightly
embarrassed.  Fans had been stunned.  Sting was attacked by Hall and Nash a few weeks
later after Luger left him alone.  He teamed with Luger and Savage later in the night on
July 29th against members of the Four Horsemen.  Before a finish could occur, Jimmy Hart
ran to ringside and told them that there was a problem.  The wrestlers ran from the ring to
the back area, where they found a number of wrestlers knocked out or injured.  The New
World Order had struck.

  Arn Anderson, Scotty Riggs, Marcus Bagwell and Rey Misterio Jr. were all casualties of
the attack.  WCW had a problem and instead of being three of them, there were now four.  
But things were twisting a little bit and Sting’s career was about to face a change.  Sting
and Luger lost a tag match at Hog Wild on August 10th in Sturgis against the Outsiders.  
Luger was pinned by Hall.  They challenged their foes again on the 12th.  Sting targeted
Hall for a splash in the corner when referee Nick Patrick pulled him out of the way.  The
corner was empty.  The Four Horsemen ran out and halted the action.  Patrick had
aligned himself with the rival group and WCW had yet another traitor on their hands to
deal with.  Sting and Luger still tried to figure out who was in the black limo, obviously
there was someone hidden in there and it was not Patrick or Ted DiBiase.

  On September 9th during Nitro, footage was shown of DiBiase speaking to someone in a
limo.  Lex Luger runs outside to investigate.  Some words were exchanged and then Sting
got out of the vehicle.  Surprisingly, Sting attacked Luger.  Other members of the New
World Order joined in the fracas, including DiBiase.  Luger fought his way out of it, and
everyone quickly scattered.  It seemed that Sting had jumped sides for the first time in the
NWA/ WCW.  Had he turned his back on his fans?  Nothing else was learned.  Sting was
scheduled to team with Flair, Anderson and Luger against the NWO at Fall Brawl on
September 15th in Winston-Salem.

  Prior to the War Games match, Sting announced that he didn’t join the rival group and
that it was an imposter.  No one seemed to believe him.  Scott Hall entered the two-ring
cage match first to fight Arn Anderson.  The rest followed.  A Sting enters the cage,
helping the New World Order cause until another version, the real version of Sting ran
out.  Sting attacked all the members of the Order and then had words for Luger before
leaving the cage.  The fake Sting preyed on Luger with help from his allies until he
submitted the match away.  It seemed that everyone was wrong.  Sting hadn’t turned on
the fans as they had thought.  Things were about to severely change.

  The next night on Nitro, Sting went to the ring and gave a speech.  He said that he was
now a “free agent.” He also had words for Lex Luger and those who questioned him.  
Sting was booked to team with Luger against Steve McMichael and Chris Benoit later in
the show and he did not appear.  Luger won by disqualification after being attacked by all
four members of the Horsemen.

  Questions continued to be asked.  Weeks went by.  He returned with a new look on
October 21st during Nitro.  A dark look with white face-paint.  Sting attacked the NWO
Sting before being confronted by the New World Order.  The group offered him a position,
but no reply was given in return.  Sting appeared during Luger’s match with Booker T on
October 27th in Phoenix, scaring Lex out of the ring and into the audience.  It seemed that
Sting wanted revenge.  Was he still to be loved or a new man to be hated?  His fans
cheered at every site, so whether he was trying to be a heel or not, they would decide.  
Sting watched from above on November 4th in Cedar Rapids.  He was high in the rafters,
picking his spots.

  Sting appeared in St. Petersburg on November 11th and attacked Jeff Jarrett from
behind during his match against Chris Benoit, landing a reverse DDT.  On the 18th of
November in Florence, South Carolina, Sting walked out of the crowd and met Luger in
the ring, face-to-face.  A baseball bat was in his hand.  Gene Okerlund scrambled to get
an interview, but no words were said.  Sting gave the bat to Luger.  A week later, Sting
attacked Rick Steiner during his Nitro match with Bubba Rogers in Salisbury.  The reverse
DDT applied gave Rogers the victory.  Sting and Steiner went back to ’87.  Both Steiners
appeared in Dayton on December 2nd and Rick made a challenge to Sting.  A camera
showed Sting up in the rafters, accepting the proposition.  Later in the night, the two
locked up.  A reverse DDT put Steiner out.  He picked up the bat he brought to the ring,
and then departed.

  Sting missed 14 straight pay-per-views, as a wrestler in the ring.  How did the
organization survive without him?  He finally returned at Starrcade ’97 on Sunday,
December 28, 1997 in Washington DC to face Hulk Hogan for the WCW World
Heavyweight Title.  Controversy surrounded nearly all aspects of the match.  Nick Patrick
counted a fall for Hogan during the bout, which would have allowed him to retain the belt,
but Bret Hart, a referee on another match earlier in the show, went to the ring and
restarted the match.  Sting then caught Hogan in the Scorpion Deathlock and forced him
to submit.  He won his fourth World Title.  James J. Dillon declared the World Title vacant
on January 8th in Daytona Beach, citing several different stories.  Sting saved Lex Luger
from an attack by the New World Order on January 24th in Dayton, Ohio.  He also put
Hogan in the Scorpion Deathlock.  It was also announced by Roddy Piper that a match
between Sting and Hogan was scheduled to determine a new champion at the SuperBrawl
pay-per-view.  He beat Hogan in several house shows across the country.

  On February 22nd, before 12, 600 fans in San Francisco, Sting beat Hogan for his fifth
NWA/WCW World Title.  He received some outside support from Randy Savage.  On
March 15th in Mobile, he successfully defended his crown against Scott Hall at the Civic
Center off I-10.  Sting entered the ring via helicopter on Monday Nitro from Club La Vela in
Panama City Beach before his match with Lex Luger against Savage and Hogan the next
night.  On March 25th, Sting beat Hogan in the main event of a card at the Baltimore
Arena.  The bout was a cage match.

  He beat Kevin Nash by disqualification on April 6, 1998 in Miami at the Miami Arena after
Hogan interfered.  Sting brawled with the NWO afterwards as The Giant and Roddy Piper
joined him in the ring.  Savage won the WCW World Title on April 19th in Denver at Spring
Stampede.  Both Hogan and Nash interjected themselves in the match helping Sting lose.  
He watched from the rafters as the NWO collided after Savage battled Hogan for the
World Title on May 11th in Kansas City.  Sting teamed with the Giant on May 17th in
Worcester to beat the Outsiders for the WCW World Tag Team Title.  Scott Hall turned on
Nash during the match, breaking up the Outsiders.

  Soon afterwards, Sting joined the Wolfpack and the Giant joined Hollywood Hogan’s
version of the New World Order…aka Black and White.  The Giant decided that he would
just pick another partner and defend the tag title, but James J. Dillon voided it.  He instead
ordered Sting to wrestle the Giant for both belts.  The winner would be able to decide on a
partner.  At the Great American Bash on June 14th in Baltimore, Sting beat the Giant and
captured the tag title.  He picked Nash to be his new partner.  On June 24, 1998, Sting
teamed with Luger, who substituted for Nash, in a tag team title defense against The Giant
and Brian Adams at the Orlando Arena.  Luger forced Adams to submit.

  Around this same time, Bill Goldberg was establishing himself as the most popular man
in the organization.  “Goldberg” chants were rocking every WCW arena from east to west.  
Promoters were ushering him towards the top and fans were loving every second of it.  
Sting and Hogan both seemed to have taken a back seat despite their time in the game.  
Sting and Nash lost the tag belts to the Giant and Hall in Salt Lake City during the July
20th edition of Nitro.  Sting found a new partner in Bret Hart and the two dethroned the
champions on August 3rd in Denver.  Officials decided to reverse their decision due to the
fact that a baseball bat was used in the finish.  Hart and Sting never officially held the
belts.

  In Sturgis on August 8th, he participated in a nine-man battle royal along with Hall, Nash,
Giant, Curt Hennig, Konnan, Goldberg, Luger and Scott Norton.  Goldberg won the event.  
By the way, Goldberg had beaten Hogan in early July for the WCW World Title.  He had
less than a year pro-experience.  Before 10,000 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in
Vegas, Sting challenged Hart for the United States Title on October 25th.  He was
defeated by the former five-time WWF World Champ.  Again, he disappeared from action.  
Sting missed both World War III and Starrcade, two of the biggest shows of the year.  

  On April 11, 1999 in Tacoma, he competed in a four-corners match for the WCW World
Title which was held by Ric Flair.  Flair defended his belt against Sting, Dallas Page and
Hogan.  Page pinned Flair to win the belt.  Randy Savage was the special referee.  Sting
wrestled Goldberg to a no-contest on May 9th in St. Louis and then a falls-count-
anywhere match to Rick Steiner, World Television Champion, in Baltimore on June 13th.
He teamed with World Champion, Kevin Nash against Randy Savage and Sid Vicious in
Sunrise, Florida on July 11th in a match in which the winner would receive the WCW Title.  
Savage pinned Nash and gained the belt.  

  Sting won the WCW Presidency on July 19th after beating Ric Flair.  He decided that he’
d rather not be the President and that he would find a replacement man who could do the
job.  No one was ever found.  Sting battled Vicious on August 14th in Sturgis and Vicious
won.  It was his first win over Sting on pay-per-view.  Sting regained the WCW World Title
on September 12th at Fall Brawl in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  It was his sixth title
victory, eighth counting the two International World Title reigns.  He had used a baseball
bat on Hulk Hogan, turning against the fans.  It marked the first official time he had ever
turned heel while in either the NWA or WCW.  He had been a heel early in his UWF days,
but that was many years earlier.  Hogan laid down for Sting to pin him on October 24th in
Las Vegas.

  Afterwards, Sting made an open challenge to anyone in the organization.  Newly
crowned United States Champion Bill Goldberg answered.  The two wrestled and
Goldberg won.  He left with the belt, but the next night on Nitro, Sting announced that their
match was a non-title bout.  The World Title was returned to Sting.  A Goldberg-Sting
rematch seemed like it would be planned for Starrcade, but things were going to change
well before December.

  Officials stripped Sting of the championship on October 25th after the champ’s assault
on referee, Charles Robinson.  A tournament was scheduled and he lost to Bret Hart in
the semis.  Hart went on to capture the World Title that same Sunday Night on November
21st in Toronto.  Sting wrestled Luger at Starrcade on December 19th in Washington DC.  
He won by disqualification after Elizabeth turned on him.  She had accompanied him to the
ring.  Sting wrestled Lex Luger again on February 20, 2000 during the SuperBrawl show.  
He won by pinfall.

  The promotion faced a huge change on April 10, 2000 in Denver.  Eric Bischoff and
Vince Russo stripped every reigning champion of their title.  The belts were put up in
separate tournaments.  The “New Blood” of the organization would be matched up against
the “Millionaires Club,” of which Sting was apart.  Joining him were Hogan, Flair, Page,
Vicious and Luger.  Sting wrestled Vicious that night in Denver.  He won by countout after
The Wall attacked Vicious and put him through a table.  Sting met Dallas Page later in the
night and was attacked by Vampiro during the bout.  Page landed a “Diamond Cutter” and
Sting was pinned.

  He wrestled Booker T and Vampiro on April 16th at the United Center in Chicago, during
the U.S. Title Tournament.  Sting won twice before losing to Scott Steiner.  He entered a
violent feud with Vampiro.  He beat his enemy at Slamboree on May 7th in Kansas City.  
On June 11th at the Great American Bash, ten years after his 1990 win over Flair for his
first World Title, Sting wrestled Vampiro in a highly controversial bout in Baltimore.  The
battled in a special “Human Torch” match.  Sting and his opponent fought away from the
ring and then up top of the video wall and into some scaffolding.  Sting was lit on fire and
tossed off.  Fans were horrified.  Many were unsure if he had really suffered such a fall.  
Had he suffered those burns?

  WCW announcers gave credibility to all of it.  Sting, the hero of WCW wrestling since
1989, had taken quite a risk and might never recover from it.  Promotions of his return to
the ring began in early July 2000.  Commentators remarked about his facial disfiguration
suffered in the burning incident.  He returned on July 24th in Cleveland.  Sting appeared
under a mask and announced that the mask was coming off later in the night.  He was
named by Ernest Miller as one of ten participants in a special wcw.com poll to determine
which wrestler would face Booker T later in the night.  Basically, a popularity contest.  
Sting’s music went on when the time was right and everyone knew who won.  He was
attacked by Bill Goldberg and stretchered out.  Sting was unable to fulfill his place in the
title match.

  Officials signed Sting to meet Booker on July 31st in Cincinnati.  He ran to the ring to
save the champion from an attack by Jeff Jarrett under a mask.  He pulled it off and
revealed his face to the audience.  Jarrett used his guitar on Booker’s wife and both
wrestlers tended to her as she was placed into an ambulance.  Sting vowed revenge.  He
wandered through the First Star Center searching for Jarrett, with his trusty baseball bat.  
A match was granted.  Sting beat Jarrett by pinfall after a Scorpion Deathdrop on a chair.  
He wrestled Booker later in the night and lost by pinfall.

  In a shocking turn of events, Sting was pulled under the ring by the Demon.  Vampiro
and the Great Muta ran out and the former attacked him.  Muta, who had made his return
to the organization as a heel, attacked Booker.  Jarrett was yet another figure to jump into
the action.  Sting was placed into a coffin by Vampiro and Demon.  The wooden box was
then lit on fire.  The show ended soon after.  He had been put in yet another precarious
position.  Sting teamed with Kevin Nash against the Steiner Brothers on August 7th in
Denver.  He beat the Demon in less than a minute at New Blood Rising in Vancouver and
afterwards, he was attacked by Muta and Vampiro.  Kronic ran out to make the save.  
Sting wrestled Muta and Vampiro in a three-way match at Fall Brawl on September 17th.  
He pinned Muta.  The Insane Clown Posse and Vampiro attacked the Japanese Wrestler.  
Sting helped Muta fend off the attack and rekindled a longtime partnership.

  Sting had an attempt to get into contention for the World Title in San Francisco on
October 2, 2000 during Nitro.  A vacant WCW Title match was scheduled by Vince Russo.  
The participants were going to be Scott Steiner vs. Jeff Jarrett.  WCW Commissioner,
Ernest Miller changed the match to Sting against Booker T.  Russo’s ally, Mike Sanders
was put in charge and he did some talking with the “Commish.” Sanders and Miller
concluded that a tag team match would determine just who would wrestle each other in the
main event for the title.  Sting was going to team with Steiner against Jarrett and Booker.  
He was nailed with a guitar and pinned by Jarrett, losing his shot.  Booker T later won the
belt.

  During a Thunder Taping on October 23rd, he teamed with Booker T and Bill Goldberg
in a win over Jarrett and the members of Kronic.  Jarrett enlisted a host of wrestlers to
portray Sting during different parts of his career at Halloween Havoc in Las Vegas on
October 29, 2000.  Sting battled them off one at a time.  Many thought it was actually
pretty funny.  Jarrett was able to hit him with a guitar and pin him.  He did not wrestle at
Mayhem or Starrcade 2000.  In early January, the sale of World Championship Wrestling
was announced.  Sting’s place in the new organization was reaffirmed.  By March, the
initial reports of WCW’s sale were recanted and another buyer was found.  It was the
group which Sting had never traveled to during his fifteen years of professional wrestling,
the World Wrestling Federation.

  On March 26, 2001, WCW held it’s final Nitro on TNT.  Sting returned to wrestle Ric Flair
in the show’s main event.  The two had wrestled on the very first Nitro in September of
1995.  Sting beat Flair by submission and afterwards, they embraced in a matter of pure
respect.  WCW, under Turner and AOL-Time Warner, had closed operations.

  A new WCW under Shane McMahon and the WWF had began.  The WCW invasion of
the WWF began during the summer with seemingly top named wrestlers left off the list.

  Sting was mentioned during the Invasion pay-per-view.  Was his professional career
over?  If it was, Sting had devoted years to the mat with blood, sweat and tears.  His
popularity dominated WCW through many trying times…before Hogan and the NWO.  
Sting’s accomplishments speak for themselves.

[Updated through 2001]

TITLE HISTORY:

  -A three-time co-holder of the UWF World Tag Team Title
          w/ Eddie Gilbert (1986) defeated The Fantastics
          w/ Eddie Gilbert (1986) defeated The Fantastics
          w/ Rick Steiner (1987) defeated Chris Adams and Terry Taylor
  -NWA World Television Title (1989) defeated Mike Rotundo
  -Starrcade Iron Man Tournament Winner (1989)
  -NWA World Heavyweight Title (1990-’91) defeated Ric Flair
  -BattleBowl Champion (1991)
  -A two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion
          -Defeated Steve Austin (1991) tournament final
          -Defeated Meng (1995) tournament final
  -King of Cable Winner (1993) defeated Big Van Vader
  -WCW European Cup Title (1994) defeated Big Van Vader, tournament final
  -A six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion
          -Defeated Lex Luger (1992)
          -Defeated Big Van Vader (1993)
          -Defeated Hulk Hogan (1997)
          -Defeated Hulk Hogan (1998)
          -Defeated Dallas Page (1999)
          -Defeated Hulk Hogan (1999)
  -A two-time WCW International World Heavyweight Champion
          -Defeated Rick Rude (1994)
          -Defeated Vader (1994) vacant title victory
  -A three-time co-holder of the WCW World Tag Team Title
          w/ Lex Luger (1996) defeated The Harlem Heat
          w/ The Giant (1998) defeated The Outsiders
          w/ Kevin Nash (1998) singles match victory



Research by Tim Hornbaker
Sting Wrestling History
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