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All the back and forth in the Observer HOF thread about Sting got me interested in this period of WCW -- the peak of his long long career (certainly the best business he ever did). Not everything going on in the company, but solely everything involving him and what led to dramatic transformation, literally going more than a year before he would wrestle a match in America.
You will be able to see everything from the epic nature of the angle to outright crap that unfortunately was found regularly at the end of it all.
So, in this thread, I'll be looking at WCW (as best I can, I'm using YouTube and Dailymotion which surprisingly has nearly every bit of footage from the period I'm looking at) starting in September 1996 and going through 1998.
What I intend to do is take it a month at a time, (got everything already covered so it's just a matter of formatting shit and posting it) feel free to drop in and discuss STING, your memories or comment on the angle and videos.
First, a (relatively) quick summary of what brought Sting to this point…
Sting got his start in the Continental Wrestling Association out of Memphis where he teamed with pre-Ultimate Warrior Jim Hellwig. Together, they were jacked and looked like superheroes -- or bodybuilders, same stuff.
They ended up in the Universal Wrestling Federation, Bill Watts' group out of Louisiana next. Hellwig left in 1986 (for WWF, where he was groomed to take Hogan's spot) so Sting was back on his own as a singles wrestler. Some time later, he went heel and joined a stable with Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt. He turned back face in 1987 and teamed with Chris Adams against Gilbert and Terry Taylor.
Gilbert was a big supporter of Sting's, saying he was poised to be a big star in the business. Around this time in the middle of 1987, Jim Crockett (NWA owner) purchased the UWF from Watts and the booker was Dusty Rhodes, who also saw potential in the 28-year-old.
Fast forward to March 1988 and the famous Clash of the Champions match happened where NWA Champion Ric Flair fought Sting to a 45-minute TV draw. That match is largely noted as the single event that 'MADE' Sting a star. The rest of the year had Sting working with Flair and the rest of the Horsemen (Barry Windham Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson). He was even working with Dusty against the Road Warriors, who turned heel for a period.
Finally, after working his first tour of Japan (AJPW), he won his first NWA title when he beat TV champion Mike Rotundo (IRS) in March 1989. He worked often against The Great Muta until he dropped the belt in September.
Later, he started teaming with Flair for the first time after Ric was attacked by Terry Funk and Muta (Gary Hart's stable) --- the two teams battled inside the THUNDERDOME CAGE MATCH at Halloween Havoc 1989 --
This was when Sting joined the Four Horsemen. At Starrcade 89, he beat (champion) Flair to become #1 contender.
In February 1990 at Clash 10, Sting was kicked out of the Horsemen for his refusal to pass on the title shot. He blew out his knee later in the show and plans changed since he would have beaten Flair at some point to become champion.
Luger was pushed in the spot but lost his title match (behind the scenes, it was b/c Flair refused to do the job, saying he was going to wait for Sting). On TV, Luger and Sting became buddies.
Finally, in July 1990, Sting beat Flair to become the NWA Champion at the Great American Bash. He worked with Vader and Sid in main events the rest of the year…..until of course the ridiculous Black Scorpion gimmick transpired. A guy in a mask referred to as the Black Scorpion attacked Sting and they wrestled at Starrcade. Sting beat him and when he was unmasked, it was revealed to be Flair.
_________
1991 is when WCW formally left the NWA and this weird period where they had WCW and NWA belts.
Flair beat Sting for the championship in January. Afterwards, Sting teamed with Luger for a while (including the great match against the Steiners at the first Superbrawl) before feuding with Nikita Koloff.
That summer, Sting beat Steve Austin to win the WCW US Title before dropping it to Rick Rude about three months later. At Starrcade, he won the BATTLE BOWL!!!!
By 1992, Sting was considered the franchise of WCW, especially since Flair bolted for WWF in the fall of 1991. So, he feuded with Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance and separate from them, WCW Champion Lex Luger (he turned heel).
Sting won the WCW Championship in February and formed STING'S SQUADRON with Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes, Windham and Koloff to fight the Alliance. Their WarGames match at WrestleWar 92 was ***** according to Dave Meltzer.
Next, he defended the title against Vader who legit injured him with a splash. In July, Vader won the belt…..leading Sting into programs with Cactus Jack and Jake Roberts (COAL MINERS GLOVE) before beating Vader (who dropped the belt in August) at the Starrcade 93 KING OF CABLE TOURNAMENT.
Their feud went into the spring with Sting winning the WCW belt in March (Vader regained it previously) in Europe before dropping it back in Ireland days later. Davey Boy Smith - The British Bulldog left/was fired by WWF for steroids and became Sting's big babyface buddy.
Eventually, Ric Flair returned in 1993 and with his career on the line (lol), beat Vader at Starrcade in one of the best WCW matches of the 90s.
Sting worked with Rude and Vader in 1994, winning the WCW International Heavyweight title before losing it to Flair, who turned heel again, at Clash 27. Finally, after Hulk Hogan came over in the spring of 1994, Sting teamed with him against the FACES OF FEAR and DUNGEON OF DOOM!!!
In 1995, Sting won the US Title from Meng and then the NITRO era began in September. Eventually, Flair and the Horsemen would again trick him and they feuded again. He won the US title again in November but dropped it to Kensuke Sasaki in Japan. At Starrcade 1995, they did the U.S. vs. JAPAN gimmick and Sting beat Sasaki to win the WORLD CUP OF WRESTLING.
In early 1996, he won the WCW Tag Titles with Luger on Nitro from Harlem Heat. Throughout their reign, Luger would do heel things behind Sting's back…and Harlem Heat won the gold back. [/SPOILER]
FINALLY ---- THE OUTSIDERS ARRIVED in the spring, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. They hinted having a 3rd man join them and people wondered….
Bash at the Beach, it was Luger, Sting and Randy Savage vs. Hall, Nash and their mystery 3rd man. Some thought it was Luger, some thought it was Sting, etc. It was Hulk Hogan, who finally turned heel and the NEW WORLD ORDER OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING, BROTHER was born.
At Fall Brawl in September, it was Sting, Luger, Flair and Anderson (the 4 set aside their differences) against Hogan, Hall, Nash and a mystery 4th member. The nWo teased WCW that it was Sting with the help of FAKE STING (the 4th member) who attacked Luger in the parking lot.
Sting tried to tell everyone it wasn't him but Luger didn't believe him. Finally, in the War Games match, Sting ran down and cleared house of the nWo, flipped off Luger and asked "Is that proof enough for you right there?" before leaving ringside. The nWo beat Luger, Flair and Anderson.
This takes us to the SEPTEMBER 16, 1996 edition of Nitro……………………....where after about 7 years in (or just a step beneath) the main event as a white meat babyface, things began to change.
You will be able to see everything from the epic nature of the angle to outright crap that unfortunately was found regularly at the end of it all.
So, in this thread, I'll be looking at WCW (as best I can, I'm using YouTube and Dailymotion which surprisingly has nearly every bit of footage from the period I'm looking at) starting in September 1996 and going through 1998.
What I intend to do is take it a month at a time, (got everything already covered so it's just a matter of formatting shit and posting it) feel free to drop in and discuss STING, your memories or comment on the angle and videos.
First, a (relatively) quick summary of what brought Sting to this point…
Sting got his start in the Continental Wrestling Association out of Memphis where he teamed with pre-Ultimate Warrior Jim Hellwig. Together, they were jacked and looked like superheroes -- or bodybuilders, same stuff.
They ended up in the Universal Wrestling Federation, Bill Watts' group out of Louisiana next. Hellwig left in 1986 (for WWF, where he was groomed to take Hogan's spot) so Sting was back on his own as a singles wrestler. Some time later, he went heel and joined a stable with Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt. He turned back face in 1987 and teamed with Chris Adams against Gilbert and Terry Taylor.
Gilbert was a big supporter of Sting's, saying he was poised to be a big star in the business. Around this time in the middle of 1987, Jim Crockett (NWA owner) purchased the UWF from Watts and the booker was Dusty Rhodes, who also saw potential in the 28-year-old.
Fast forward to March 1988 and the famous Clash of the Champions match happened where NWA Champion Ric Flair fought Sting to a 45-minute TV draw. That match is largely noted as the single event that 'MADE' Sting a star. The rest of the year had Sting working with Flair and the rest of the Horsemen (Barry Windham Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson). He was even working with Dusty against the Road Warriors, who turned heel for a period.
Finally, after working his first tour of Japan (AJPW), he won his first NWA title when he beat TV champion Mike Rotundo (IRS) in March 1989. He worked often against The Great Muta until he dropped the belt in September.
Later, he started teaming with Flair for the first time after Ric was attacked by Terry Funk and Muta (Gary Hart's stable) --- the two teams battled inside the THUNDERDOME CAGE MATCH at Halloween Havoc 1989 --
This was when Sting joined the Four Horsemen. At Starrcade 89, he beat (champion) Flair to become #1 contender.
In February 1990 at Clash 10, Sting was kicked out of the Horsemen for his refusal to pass on the title shot. He blew out his knee later in the show and plans changed since he would have beaten Flair at some point to become champion.
Luger was pushed in the spot but lost his title match (behind the scenes, it was b/c Flair refused to do the job, saying he was going to wait for Sting). On TV, Luger and Sting became buddies.
Finally, in July 1990, Sting beat Flair to become the NWA Champion at the Great American Bash. He worked with Vader and Sid in main events the rest of the year…..until of course the ridiculous Black Scorpion gimmick transpired. A guy in a mask referred to as the Black Scorpion attacked Sting and they wrestled at Starrcade. Sting beat him and when he was unmasked, it was revealed to be Flair.
_________
1991 is when WCW formally left the NWA and this weird period where they had WCW and NWA belts.
Flair beat Sting for the championship in January. Afterwards, Sting teamed with Luger for a while (including the great match against the Steiners at the first Superbrawl) before feuding with Nikita Koloff.
That summer, Sting beat Steve Austin to win the WCW US Title before dropping it to Rick Rude about three months later. At Starrcade, he won the BATTLE BOWL!!!!
By 1992, Sting was considered the franchise of WCW, especially since Flair bolted for WWF in the fall of 1991. So, he feuded with Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance and separate from them, WCW Champion Lex Luger (he turned heel).
Sting won the WCW Championship in February and formed STING'S SQUADRON with Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes, Windham and Koloff to fight the Alliance. Their WarGames match at WrestleWar 92 was ***** according to Dave Meltzer.
Next, he defended the title against Vader who legit injured him with a splash. In July, Vader won the belt…..leading Sting into programs with Cactus Jack and Jake Roberts (COAL MINERS GLOVE) before beating Vader (who dropped the belt in August) at the Starrcade 93 KING OF CABLE TOURNAMENT.
Their feud went into the spring with Sting winning the WCW belt in March (Vader regained it previously) in Europe before dropping it back in Ireland days later. Davey Boy Smith - The British Bulldog left/was fired by WWF for steroids and became Sting's big babyface buddy.
Eventually, Ric Flair returned in 1993 and with his career on the line (lol), beat Vader at Starrcade in one of the best WCW matches of the 90s.
Sting worked with Rude and Vader in 1994, winning the WCW International Heavyweight title before losing it to Flair, who turned heel again, at Clash 27. Finally, after Hulk Hogan came over in the spring of 1994, Sting teamed with him against the FACES OF FEAR and DUNGEON OF DOOM!!!
In 1995, Sting won the US Title from Meng and then the NITRO era began in September. Eventually, Flair and the Horsemen would again trick him and they feuded again. He won the US title again in November but dropped it to Kensuke Sasaki in Japan. At Starrcade 1995, they did the U.S. vs. JAPAN gimmick and Sting beat Sasaki to win the WORLD CUP OF WRESTLING.
In early 1996, he won the WCW Tag Titles with Luger on Nitro from Harlem Heat. Throughout their reign, Luger would do heel things behind Sting's back…and Harlem Heat won the gold back. [/SPOILER]
FINALLY ---- THE OUTSIDERS ARRIVED in the spring, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. They hinted having a 3rd man join them and people wondered….
Bash at the Beach, it was Luger, Sting and Randy Savage vs. Hall, Nash and their mystery 3rd man. Some thought it was Luger, some thought it was Sting, etc. It was Hulk Hogan, who finally turned heel and the NEW WORLD ORDER OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING, BROTHER was born.
At Fall Brawl in September, it was Sting, Luger, Flair and Anderson (the 4 set aside their differences) against Hogan, Hall, Nash and a mystery 4th member. The nWo teased WCW that it was Sting with the help of FAKE STING (the 4th member) who attacked Luger in the parking lot.
Sting tried to tell everyone it wasn't him but Luger didn't believe him. Finally, in the War Games match, Sting ran down and cleared house of the nWo, flipped off Luger and asked "Is that proof enough for you right there?" before leaving ringside. The nWo beat Luger, Flair and Anderson.
This takes us to the SEPTEMBER 16, 1996 edition of Nitro……………………....where after about 7 years in (or just a step beneath) the main event as a white meat babyface, things began to change.
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