By Steve Vasilevski, PWTorch Specialist

STING
Nickname: The Icon
Born: March 20, 1959
From: Venice Beach, California
Trained By: Bill Anderson

Career Accomplishments: Two Time NWA Champion, Six Time WCW Champion, TNA Champion, Three Time WCW Tag Team Champion, TNA Tag Team Champion.

Career Highlight: Winning a World Championship is the ultimate honor in professional wrestling. Winning your first world title from the legendary Ric Flair is a moment that, try as he might Sting could never recreate. All the elements were there. An intensely personal rivalry between two men who were stars in the fans eyes. The up and coming, clean cut Sting versus the extravagant veteran Flair. To top it all off the execution was also top notch, with a thrilling bout ending with Sting capturing his first world title. Though Sting would go on to eight more title reigns in his career, neither he nor many others to follow could recreate the magic of the Great American Bash that night.

Career Low Point: You'll be hard pressed to find co workers of Sting say a bad word about him, but when Sting showed up to the 1997 Uncensored PPV clearly not in the best shape of his career, the word unprofessional comes to mind. Whether or not it was due to Sting's frustration with the politics that drove WCW at the time or it was pure indifference, the Sting that showed up on that night was not a fair representation of the Sting that had earned a reputation for being a stand up guy. Eric Bischoff, at the time President of WCW himself stated in his autobiography that both he and Hogan were appalled and disappointed that Sting would show up in the shape he was in. On top of all that, the mind blowing disorganization of WCW didn't help matters when referee Nick Patrick was supposed to fast count Sting… and DIDN'T! It looked more like Sting had robbed Hogan out of the title and that blunder took away from what should have been a milestone moment in Stings career.

What If: At some point in his career Sting joined WWE?

Throughout any period in his career, Sting jumping to WWE would have been a headline making decision. The question is what would Sting have turned into when he entered the WWE system? Would McMahon have allowed Sting to be the crow-like character WCW fans embraced or would he have received the Goldberg treatment and be forced to insert humor in a character that is better portrayed without the comedic element? It's strange to imagine that since Sting is one of the few headliners of WCW's peak to never step foot in a WWE ring, but the potential for some outstanding moments and matches have been there for Sting if he had ever decided to take the plunge.

A Sting-Bret Hart feud circa 1997 would have been memorable for several reasons, regardless of the fact that the WCW version never did anything for either the wrestlers or the fans and never really got off the ground. The Sharpshooter versus the Scorpion Deathlock was s story waiting to be told and say what you want, but the WWE would have been the perfect place to tell that story.

Another tremendous story that was never told would have come in the form of a Sting- Shawn Michaels program. The rebellious DX leader would have been perfect foyer for Sting to stand up against. To this day the match would be the talk of the wrestling world and it's a shame that it seems like we will never see it. Another rivalry that makes a lot of sense would have been for the 1999 version of the Undertaker to face off against Sting. Undertaker was playing the evil heel and Sting taking exception to the Ministry of Darkness makes sense in an era what a lot of things didn't. Would the Undertaker have put Sting over to establish Sting as a top star? Probably not. Then again, Sting is a lot more polished than many of the other WCW stars of yesteryear and 'Taker may have spared him the Diamond Dallas Page treatment.

There were and still are many avenues that Sting could have gone down if he signed with WWE, but unfortunately that has never happened and chances are it never will. Many people don't have faith that McMahon would have used Sting the right way and that fear is justified but I know this - Vince would never have been short sighted enough to turn Sting heel.

Any comments or questions send them to vasilevski.torch@gmail.com.

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