The Career of Sting part 1

When you talk about wrestlers who continually stay on top of their game and in peak physical condition, the name Sting immediately comes to mind. Time and time again, the Stinger faces some of the toughest competition out there, and he constantly chalks up the victories.

The beginning

Steve Borden was working as a private trainer at Gold's Gym in Venice, California, and he also competed in body building contests when he along with Jim Hellwig (Ultimate Warrior) was discovered. The two were taught the basics of the sport by Ric Bassman, before they made their wrestling debut in November 1985 in the Californian independent scene.

In the independents Borden and Hellwig joined two other wrestler and formed Power Team USA. In early 1986, Power Team USA dissolved but Hellwig and Borden remained together and formed the Blade Runners. Hellwig took the name Rock while Borden took the name Flash. Later they moved on to the Universal Wrestling Federation, where they sided with Eddie Gilbert and Rick Steiner, Borden had by that time changed his in-ring name to Sting. Bill Watts and Eddie Gilbert were the ones responsible of UWF and since Hellwig kept having problems with them he left the federation.

Sting decided to stay with the UWF and together with Eddie Gilbert he won the UWF Tag Team Title, when they defeated the Fantastics (Tommy Rogers and Bobby Fulton) to capture the title on July 20th, 1986. Sting and Gilbert had many rematches with the Fantastic, and after a bout on August 17th, 1986, the title was held up, but Sting and Gilbert defeated the Fantastics in yet another rematch for the vacant title. But the Fantastics was still a thorn in the side for Sting and Gilbert and September 27th, 1986, the Fantastics regained the title and ended the feud.

But Sting wasn't finished with tag team wrestling so he teamed with Rick Steiner, and together they won the UWF Tag Team Title from the team of Chris Adams and Terry Taylor, April 12th, 1987. But just as the other two title regains, Sting and Rick Steiner weren't able to hold onto them for long, because the Lightning Express (Tim Horner and Brad Armstrong) relieved them for the title, May 17, 1987.

The partnership with Gilbert and Steiner also exploded shortly after the loss of the UWF Tag Team Title, the breakup resulted with Sting ending up as a face. At the same time the UWF were doing joint cards with the National Wrestling Alliance, which put Sting in the national spotlight. Sting wanted to get at the NWA World Champion, Ric Flair, but JJ Dillon, manager of the 4 Horsemen, instead sent the NWA US Champion, Lex Luger, to take out the big mouth, but the battles ended with no clear cut winner. But the feud got Sting to go with the NWA.

NWA/WCW

Sting was now a part of the second biggest federation at the moment, and the national attention made him sparkle. Though Sting and his partners Michael Hayes, and Jimmy Garvin lost to Rick Steiner, Eddie Gilbert, and Larry Zbyszko at the first NWA Pay-Per-View, Starrcade, November 26, 1987, Sting still wanted to go after the NWA World Champion, Ric Flair.

JJ Dillon didn't think that Sting had what it takes, so at one of the Stinger's matches in January 1988, Dillon came to the ring and made fun of Sting and even threw champagne in his face. Sting then dragged Dillon into the ring and beat the living daylights out of him. Flair then said OK to fight Sting at a TV taping, Sting really took it to Flair and even though Flair got away with the title, Sting had him in the Scorpion Deathlock for about 3 minutes. Flair was then carted off on a stretcher.

These incidents led to their match at Clash of the Champions I, March 27th, 1988. Sting put on one of his best performances in this match, and Flair was taken to the limit, when the time ran out, 45 minutes the two had fought each other without a winner. Sting and Lex Luger then teamed up at the 3rd Annual Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament Cup, and the team was a success they defeated Ivan Koloff and Dick Murdoch, Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane, and the Power of Pain to get to the final. In the final Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard waited, but Sting and Luger was able to defeat the experienced team and win the tournament.

Sting continued his feud with the 4 Horsemen, and he teamed with various partners trying to dethrone the Tag Team Champions, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, but never got the duke. The same thing can be said about his challenges for the US Title, which another horsemen held, Barry Windham.

In October 1988, Sting was asked, by NWA officials, to take the place of Dusty Rhodes in a six-man tag team match against the Varsity Club (Kevin Sullivan, Mike Rotundo, and Rick Steiner), Sting would tag with the Road Warriors. The Road Warriors wasn't pleased with the situation and refused to tag in Sting, who by accident was tagged in during the match. Sting cleaned house and he was about to put the Scorpion Deathlock on Rotundo, when the Road Warriors attacked him. This was the setup for a short feud with the Road Warriors, the feud died out after Starrcade, where Sting and Dusty Rhodes defeated the Road Warriors by disqualification.

March 31, 1989, Sting got a shot at the NWA TV Champion Mike Rotundo, who offered Sting $10,000 if he could beat him within 10 minutes. Sting then brought Lex Luger and Rick Steamboat to ring to stop interference from Kevin Sullivan and Steve Williams. Sting won the match and the title within 10 minutes, with a basic roll-up, but he never saw the money.

Sting defended the title against all comers, but his biggest challenge came in the shape of the Great Muta. Sting and Muta clashed at the Great American Bash, where they put of a great match. Sting was declared the winner of the match, but since Muta got his shoulder up before the three count the title was declared vacant. Later that night Sting and Muta got involved in the feud between Ric Flair and Terry Funk. Sting and Flair then decided to team up to get rid of Terry Funk and Muta.

Sting and Flair met Muta and Terry Funk in the Thunderdome Cage at Halloween Havoc. In the end of the match Flair had Funk in the figure-four leglock, while Sting continuously splashed Funk from the top rope. The match ended when Ole Anderson decked Gary Hart, which made Hart drop the towel, which ended the match.

The partnership between Sting and Flair wasn't over yet, Sting came to the rescue of Flair, who was attacked by Muta, the Dragon Master and Lex Luger. Sting was the recipient of a vicious chair shot from Luger and this lead to a series of matches between the two.

At Starrcade 1989, it was time for the first and only Iron Man Tournament, it was a special tournament where the four participants had to face each other, they received points for victory and draws. In his first match Sting went up against Luger, but Luger won the match, so it didn't look good for the Stinger. But in the second match against Muta, Sting rebounded and beat Muta, his third and final match against Flair was even better. Flair didn't stand a chance against a fired up Stinger, who by the victory won the tournament.

Flair knew that his title was in danger, so he offered Sting to join the 4 Horsemen, which he accepted. But the WCW had other plans, because of Sting's victory in the Iron Man Tournament, they granted Sting a shot at Flair's World Title at WrestleWar '90. Sting accepted the match, but Flair gave Sting an ultimatum either give up the match or end your career, Sting tried to attack Flair, but the Horsemen prevented the attack and injured his left knee, this put Sting out of action for six months.

Sting was ready for action again at the Clash of the Champions XI, in June 1990, where he after Flair's match ran to the ring and confronted Flair. This was the setup for their match at the Great American Bash, because of the Horsemen's interference during the feud, the NWA decided that if Flair had to walk away with the title he had to win the match. Sting and Flair put on a great match, and in the end Flair was going for the figure-four leglock, when Sting caught him an inside cradle and scored the victory and the NWA World Title. After the match Sting stated that he thought that Flair was the greatest World Champion ever, thereby showing his respect for Flair.

In the coming months Sting defended his title against Flair and Sid Vicious, but then in late August a new challenger stopped by, he went by the name of Black Scorpion and claimed to be from Sting's past. Sting agreed to face the Black Scorpion at Clash of the Champions XII, where Sting dominated the match and he was about to unmask the Scorpion, when a man in a similar outfit showed up on the entrance ramp, but Sting was still able to defeat the Scorpion. During an interview Sting was attacked by Sid, to setup their match at Halloween Havoc, which Sting won.

But the feud with the Black Scorpion wasn't over, Sting fought the Scorpion at several occasions, but all the times another Scorpion would show up to play with Sting's mind. Sting decided that he would face the Scorpion at Starrcade in a cage to solve their problems. There were four Scorpions at ringside during the match, Sting won the match, only to be attacked by the Scorpions and Arn Anderson and Barry Windham. Sting managed to unmask the Scorpion to reveal that it was Ric Flair.

Sting wanted Flair to pay for his actions, so he agreed to a rematch with Flair, at January 11th, 1991. Flair regained the title by putting his feet on the ropes for leverage. Sting continued his feud with the Horsemen, both in singles competition and tag teams, but rarely he was able to walk away with the win.

Lex and Sting got a shot at the WCW Tag Team Champions, the Steiner Brothers, at SuperBrawl I. Even though they were friends the match was great. Sting and Lex had the Steiners beaten, when suddenly Nikita Koloff appeared, he was about to give Lex a Russian Sickle with a chain when Sting saved Lex by taking the full blow, Scott Steiner then pinned Sting to end the match. Sting was enraged and went back after Koloff and started brawling with him. This was start of a boring feud with Koloff, which dragged on for too long.

After the feud with Koloff, Sting entered a one night tournament for the vacant WCW US Title, it became vacant when Lex Luger won the World Title, Lex how ever had turned heel in the process. Sting put on a great performance that night, first he defeated Arn Anderson, then the Diamond Studd before Sting in the final beat Steve Austin to capture the title. Sting was as usually for the US Champion, declared the number one contender for the World Title, but before the match was signed something strange happened.

At WCW Saturday Night, Sting received a gift, which turned out to be Abdullah the Butcher, who attacked Sting. After defeating Johnny B. Badd at Clash of the Champions XVI, Sting received his second gift in the shape of Cactus Jack, but Sting was ready for him. These incidents led to the "Chamber of Horrors" Cage match at Halloween Havoc 1991. Sting's time was able to win the match, but the night wasn't over for Sting yet. Later that night Rick Rude made his debut in WCW and challenged Sting for a match, which Sting accepted.

Sting and Rude should clash at Clash of the Champions XVII, but before the match, Sting received his third and final gift, which turned out to be Madusa in a very revealing outfit, Sting was surprised but suddenly Lex Luger showed up and clipped Sting's left knee. Sting was taken to hospital and was told that unless he defended his title, Rude would become Champion. Sting returned to the hospital and put up a valiant effort, but his injury was too much to handle and Rude won the match and the US Title.

At Starrcade 1991 a special event took place, namely the Battle Bowl, which was a tournament where wrestlers would be combined in tag teams and the winners would advance to a battle royal. Sting got Abdullah the Butcher as a partner but was able to advance. The combatants were split in two rings and the winners of the two rings would then clash. Luger won his ring, while Sting was having problems with Rude in his, but eventually Sting eliminated Rude, only to get a Rude Awakening for his efforts. Sting and Luger then clashed in the ring, Lex thought that Sting was easy pickings, but he found out that he couldn't hold the Stinger down, who eliminated Luger to win the Battle Bowl 1991.

With the victory at Starrcade, Sting was named the number one contender for the World Title, but the match wouldn't take place until February at SuperBrawl II, the match was a one sided affair where Sting dominated and eventually defeated Luger to win the WCW World Title. Rude then challenged Sting and even attacked him. Rude on the other hand wasn't able to defeat the Stinger.

But another challenger would come in the shape of 400 pounds on the man called Vader. During one of Vader's squash matches, Sting came down to confront Vader, because of his violent acts, Vader responded by a powerslam and left Sting laying in the ring. Sting and Vader then had matches all over the country, during a match in April, Vader caught Sting and slammed him to the mat, which resulted in Sting cracking two ribs and a bruised spleen, Vader then lost the match after he hit the referee.

Sting didn't return to the ring until Wrestle War, where he put on an excellent performance and showed that he was in peak physical condition. Upon his return Sting started feuding with old nemesis Cactus Jack, the two put up a great match Beach Blast in a Falls Count Anywhere Match, where Sting came out on top. Vader then strolled back as the number one contender.

At the Great American Bash, Sting and Vader finally clashed. In a truly great match, where Sting missed a Stinger Splash and was hammered with a vicious powerbomb for the three count, Vader was declared the new WCW World Champion. Sting was supposed to get a rematch at August 2nd, but strange things happened again. Sting came to the aid of Nikita Koloff, who was attacked by Rude and Cactus Jack, suddenly a man jumped over the railing, it was Jake Roberts. Jake attacked Sting and twice gave him a DDT on a steel chair.

The incident was only the start of their feud, the two fought all over the country, but we had to wait until Halloween Havoc before the feud ended. A giant wheel should tell under which rules the match should be fought, and the wheel landed on a Coal Miner's Glove Match. During the match Cactus Jack came to the ring with a ring, which was supposed to bite Sting, but ended up biting Jake Roberts, who lost the match and disappeared from the WCW.

The rest of 1992 Sting focused his energies on becoming number one contender for the WCW World Title, and to do that he had to win the King of Cable Tournament. First the Stinger defeated Brian Pillman and then Rick Rude before he faced Vader in the tournament final. Sting and Vader again put up a great match and showed just how good they worked together and Sting came out on top. Two days later Vader won the WCW World Title, so the feud heated up again.

Sting and Vader fought each other on many occasions, but the most memorable and brutal encounter was at SuperBrawl III in a Strap Match. Vader won the match but it wasn't without injuries, he sustained a lacerated back and a ruptured artery in his ear that required hospitalisation, but Sting was also bleeding because of the tough match. But Sting and Vader wasn't finished yet.

In March Sting and the rest of the WCW crew took off to England, where Sting defeated Vader to capture the WCW World Title for a second time, March 11. But Vader got the last laugh, when he defeated Sting on March 17 in Dublin, Ireland. Sting then aligned himself with the British Bulldog to take on Vader and Sid Vicious, but it was Sting and Vicious who started going after each other. Sting finally overcame Vicious at Halloween Havoc.

Sting then with various partners went after the Nasty Boys, without much success. Rick Rude then came back knocking on the door. February 1994, Sting, Dustin Rhodes, and Brian Pillman took on Paul Orndorff, Steve Austin, and Rick Rude in a six man cage match. After Pillman got the pin on Austin, Sting was trying to leave the cage when Rude slammed the door on his face. Rude then put his patented "Rude Awakening" neckbreaker on Sting and left him laying. Sting, incensed, requested a WCW International Title match with Rude but Rude refused, saying that he would never give Sting a title shot.

In March of 1994 the WCW took on a tour to England, where a European Cup Tournament was held. Sting was one of the favourites and he lived up to it by defeating Kane of the Harlem Heat, Ron Simmons, and Steve Austin, before he stood over against old rival Vader in the final. Sting won the final and was declared the winner of the European Cup.

During WCW Saturday Night, a female fan came out and wanted Rude's autograph. Rude, with ego soaring, signed the piece of paper unaware that it was a contract for WCW Spring Stampede for a title match between himself and Sting. When Rude found out later what had happened, he was more than mad. This incident showed some uncharacteristic deviousness on the part of Sting.