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157-633: The Varsity Club formed in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions by Kevin Sullivan after he recruited Rick Steiner who was of University of Michigan 's and Syracuse University 's Mike Rotunda in early 1988. The group would wear the letterman jackets of their respective alma maters and brag about their superiority to other wrestlers on the roster because of their amateur wrestling background. In Rotunda and Steiner's case their claims were legitimate, as they both wrestled in college, while Sullivan's claims were more

314-628: A Coal Miner's Glove match at Halloween Havoc , Sting defeated Vader, who had lost the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in August, in the "King of Cable" tournament final at Starrcade . The Sting-Vader feud continued into 1993, with Vader, who was again WCW World Heavyweight Champion, defeating Sting in a bloody Strap match at SuperBrawl III . Sting exacted revenge by beating Vader for

471-533: A Gold's Gym health club. Borden had no interest in professional wrestling and no television access to it within his home community, but decided to pursue a career in the industry after being taken to an "incredible" World Wrestling Federation (WWF) event in Los Angeles where he saw Hulk Hogan , The Iron Sheik , The British Bulldogs , André the Giant and others perform. Borden, originally wrestling under

628-402: A baseball bat as a weapon, began appearing in the rafters at WCW events and began painting his entire face with black and white corpse paint . In retaliation, nWo Sting, who was still imitating Borden, began painting his face this way as well. Sting's new gimmick was directly inspired by the title character of the 1994 film The Crow , and Borden credits Scott Hall for suggesting the idea of

785-459: A diving elbow drop to help DDP win the match and the title. Sting defeated Page on the April 26 episode of Nitro to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship for the fifth time. Later that night, Sting defended the title in a four-way match featuring DDP, Goldberg, and a returning Nash. DDP pinned Nash, allowing DDP to win the title without directly beating Sting. Sting's 90-minute reign was only

942-568: A new world order in professional wrestling. The name stuck, and Sting became one of WCW's stalwarts against the New World Order, or nWo for short. As part of this, Sting and Luger went up to rivals and Four Horsemen members Ric Flair and Arn Anderson some time after Bash at the Beach and asked them to team with him, saying that they needed to put aside their personal differences for the greater good of WCW. Flair and Anderson agreed and

1099-538: A "free agent" as he refused to join the nWo although WCW Vice President Eric Bischoff , also one of the leaders of the nWo, declared he would not be allowed back in WCW if he didn't. For the next few weeks, the two were seen in the rafters together and coming to the ring together. This story, however, petered out at SuperBrawl VII in February; Sting and Savage had come to the ring together to watch Roddy Piper face Hogan in

1256-545: A Battlebowl championship ring. Sting then became embroiled in a feud with the Dangerous Alliance , headed by manager Paul E. Dangerously . The stable targeted Sting because he was the so-called "franchise" of WCW, and the Alliance vowed to destroy both Sting and the promotion he was the face of. At the same time, Sting was being targeted by Luger, who had once again turned heel and, as WCW Champion, viewed Sting as

1413-636: A baseball bat, wielded by Lex Luger, eleven months later. Sting returned to Nitro in March 1999, sporting the black and white Crow -inspired attire he debuted in 1996 and began to participate in more mic work. By this time, the nWo storyline had faded, and Sting was not aligned with any of its factions. Sting competed in the main event of April's Spring Stampede , a Four Corners match for the World Championship, against Hogan, DDP, and champion Flair. Savage served as special guest referee and delivered

1570-537: A black and white nWo shirt, but he soon tore off the shirt to reveal the red and black of the nWo Wolfpac. Sting began wearing red and black face paint and tights as a member of nWo Wolfpac. Sting and The Giant won the WCW World Tag Team Championship at Slamboree in May when Hall turned on his teammate Nash. Sting and The Giant then split due to each man joining opposite sides of the nWo, and

1727-649: A brief feud with Don and Ron Harris . In September 2000, Williams and Rotunda reformed their team, under the name Varsity Club 2000 , in All Japan Pro Wrestling . Williams had been a regular in AJPW since the original stable's break up and Rotunda started touring after leaving WCW. Despite winning the promotion's annual World's Strongest Tag Determination League tournament in December, they were never able to enjoy much success due to Rotunda's injuries and

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1884-532: A brief reformation in WCW in 1999 when Sullivan, Rotunda and Steiner teamed together at Starrcade on December 19, 1999. The three men were ”Hacksaw” Jim Duggan ’s surprise partners, showing up in their old letterman jackets and accompanied by a cheerleader , Leia Meow ; they made her do pushups and bounce on a trampoline at ringside. The Club turned on Duggan at the end of the match, leaving him easy prey for The Revolution . The Club disbanded in late January 2000 after

2041-546: A casket, attacking Vampiro. Sting went on to feud with Jeff Jarrett and then Scott Steiner. Steiner attacked and injured Sting in November 2000. Sting remained absent from WCW programming until the final episode of Nitro on March 26, 2001. By this point, WCW had been purchased by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and the final match in WCW history pitted Sting against his longtime rival Flair;

2198-554: A disqualification, giving neither man the championship. Eventually, Muta won a No Disqualification match against Sting at a live event in September by using a blackjack to get the win and the title. In the main event of that year's Great American Bash, Flair defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Terry Funk , who was a member of Gary Hart 's J-Tex Corporation . After Flair got

2355-508: A falling out between the two (with Steiner siding with Gilbert). Shortly afterwards, following a match against Terry Taylor in mid-1987, Gilbert interfered on Taylor's behalf, costing Sting the match. Taylor and Gilbert then ganged up on Sting until Taylor's former tag partner Gentleman Chris Adams came to Sting's aid. Adams cleared the ring and then asked Sting if he was with him or against him in his feud with Taylor and Gilbert. Sting turned face by declaring his allegiance to Adams. Behind

2512-578: A heel. The duo beat Harlem Heat for the WCW World Tag Team Championship on the January 22 episode of Nitro . The team often retained the championship as a result of Luger's cheating tactics, to which Sting remained oblivious. When Luger was temporarily unavailable for WCW Uncensored in March, Harlem Heat member Booker T teamed up with Sting to successfully prevent the titles from changing hands. Sting and Booker T developed

2669-414: A main event pitting Hogan and himself against Nash and Vicious. Sting vacated the presidency the following week because he only wanted Flair out of the position rather than wanting the power for himself. Along with Goldberg, Sting and Hogan feuded with Nash, Vicious and Rick Steiner for the next month. Sting began to question Hogan's trustworthiness and credibility in the weeks leading up to Fall Brawl . At

2826-489: A match against Anderson and Brian Pillman at Halloween Havoc . Anderson and Pillman had attacked Flair earlier in the night, rendering Flair unable to come out for the first part of the match. Sting fended off his opponents until Flair emerged. Later in the match, Flair turned on Sting and reformed the Four Horsemen with Anderson and Pillman, later adding Chris Benoit to fill out the group. Sting defeated Flair on

2983-457: A match against the club. Steiner finally reached his breaking point near the end of 1988, when he attacked Rotunda, turning face as a sympathetic underdog. At Starrcade 1988 he received a match with Rotunda for the TV title. Despite being locked in a cage at ringside, Sullivan had an ace up his sleeve. The ace was former opponent Steve Williams, a University of Oklahoma alumnus who had just joined

3140-627: A match for the WCW World Championship. As Sting left, Savage did not follow suit, instead opting to go to the ring and help Hogan win the match, thus going back on his word and joining the nWo. Over the next couple of weeks, Sting would accompany the nWo, indicating that he too had joined the group. However, at Uncensored in March 1997, as the nWo celebrated a victory in the main event battle royal which guaranteed them title shots whenever they desired with their newest recruit, Chicago Bulls NBA star Dennis Rodman , Sting rappelled from

3297-608: A matter of Kayfabe . Rotunda was the Florida Champion , but when he defeated Nikita Koloff (with Kevin Sullivan's help) to win the NWA World Television Championship , he gave the Florida title to Steiner. The team seemed cohesive initially under Sullivan's leadership, but began to experience dissension as Rotunda and Steiner bickered over who was the “Captain” of the team. In February 1988,

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3454-573: A mutual respect that showed itself when Sting and Luger granted Harlem Heat a rematch. During the tag title run, Sting received a world title shot against The Giant at Slamboree in May, but lost after accidental interference from Luger. Harlem Heat eventually won the titles back on the June 24 episode of Nitro . In the summer of 1996, Sting was the first WCW competitor to stand up to The Outsiders : Kevin Nash and Scott Hall , who had recently competed in

3611-528: A number of its co-owners (including Barnett and brothers Jack and Jerry Brisco ), thus gaining control of GCW's flagship Saturday night time slot on TBS. This tactic—co-opting the time slots of rival territories in their own "backyard"/local TV markets—was part of the WWF's national expansion strategy. To McMahon's surprise, however, the move backfired with TBS. When the WWF aired its first show on TBS on July 14, replacing World Championship Wrestling , viewer backlash

3768-669: A one-hour draw in Atlanta's Omni on New Year's Day. He would also have his first experience in Japan with a brief tour in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), with his most notable match in AJPW against Dan Spivey at Nippon Budokan in June 1989. After a long push, Sting won his first title in the NWA when he defeated Rotundo for the NWA Television Championship at a live event in March. In mid-1989, The Great Muta challenged Sting at The Great American Bash . The match

3925-399: A partnership, had also withdrawn from the NWA. JCP also began to run shows in new markets from coast-to-coast (often in less-than-sold-out arenas), greatly increasing travel costs and other overhead. JCP's first pay-per-view endeavor, 1987's Starrcade , was scheduled in its traditional Thanksgiving slot, but ran into unexpected competition from the WWF's inaugural Survivor Series PPV, which

4082-545: A promotional crossover, Sting was rescued by his buddy RoboCop . After Borden's recovery, Sting finally defeated Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on July 7, 1990, at The Great American Bash . Sting went on to feud with title contenders Flair and Sid Vicious . Vicious appeared to defeat Sting in a title match at the 1990 Halloween Havoc , but the "Sting" that Vicious pinned was revealed to be an impostor played by Horseman Barry Windham . The real Sting appeared soon after and pinned Vicious to retain his title after

4239-519: A recent arrival who was eager to help. Though Scott's role was initially limited to moral support, he and Rick would later go on to become one of the most accomplished tag team in the promotion's history. The Steiners celebrated when Rick and "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert won the US Tag-Team titles from Williams and Sullivan on February 28. In early 1989, the group added University of Georgia alumnus Dan Spivey to their ranks in an effort to dominate

4396-699: A regional promotion centred on the Carolinas and Virginia . Although the business was always called Jim Crockett Promotions, it used a variety of pseudonyms as brand names for specific TV shows, newspaper and radio ads, and even on event tickets, themselves. Among those brand names that JCP created were "Championship Wrestling", "All Star Wrestling", "East Coast Wrestling", "Eastern States Championship Wrestling", "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling", "Mid-Atlantic Championship Sports", "Wide World Wrestling", and "NWA Pro Wrestling", NWA World Wide Wrestling", and "NWA World Championship Wrestling" following its membership in

4553-525: A rematch for the title at Bash at the Beach 1995 . Sting competed on the first-ever WCW Monday Nitro in a match where Flair defeated Sting by disqualification as a result of a run-in by Arn Anderson, who attacked Flair. At Fall Brawl , Sting teamed with Hogan, Luger, and Randy Savage to defeat the Dungeon of Doom, consisting of Kamala , Zodiac , Shark and Meng, in the event's WarGames match . In October 1995, Flair convinced Sting to team with him in

4710-621: A rematch from Starrcade. In the same month, WCW seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance, in the process of recognizing a WCW World Heavyweight Championship and a WCW World Tag Team Championship . Sting then took part in what many consider to be the best match of 1991, teaming with Luger to face The Steiner Brothers at the SuperBrawl I pay-per-view for the world tag-team titles. The Steiners won by pinfall after Koloff, who had been feuding with Luger, interfered in

4867-479: A secondary company out of Knoxville, Tennessee . The promotion featured such stars as Mulligan; his son Barry Windham (then billed as Blackjack Mulligan Jr.); Kevin Sullivan ; Wayne Ferris ; The Mongolian Stomper ; Terry Taylor ; Tim Horner , and others. The enterprise lasted less than one year, however. By the 1980s, American professional wrestling was undergoing seismic and rapid change. The old, NWA-sanctioned system of separate, regional "territory" promotions

Varsity Club - Misplaced Pages Continue

5024-455: A single supercard in 1985 and expanding to the full tour in 1986. By 1987, Crockett was elected to a third term as NWA President, and gained control (either through purchase or working agreements) of the St. Louis Wrestling Club , Heart of America Sports Attractions ( Bob Geigel 's Central States brand), Championship Wrestling from Florida , and Bill Watts 's Mid-South Sports (which operated under

5181-562: A six-man tag team match against Gilbert, Steiner, and Larry Zbyszko that ended in a 15-minute time-limit draw. Having established himself as a rising star, Sting was one of the few UWF alumni to be pushed in the NWA. At Clash of the Champions I in March 1988, Sting challenged Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . The match ended in a draw after the 45-minute time limit expired and

5338-405: A slight pause, first called out the nWo Sting as a "cheap imitation," before telling the nWo, "the real Sting may or may not be in your price range," and then concluded by saying "the only thing that's for sure about Sting is nothing's for sure". With that, Sting left the ring and would not speak (on the microphone ) on WCW programming again for over a year. A silent, almost ghostly Sting, carrying

5495-639: A subsequent Nitro with the Scorpion Deathlock , refusing to let go until Luger persuaded him to do so. Sting defeated Flair again at the World War 3 pay-per-view. Later in the night, Sting competed in the World War 3 battle royal for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Randy Savage. Sting's alliances with Hogan and Savage led the Horsemen to attack them as well. Sting's second U.S. title reign lasted until November 13, when he

5652-474: A threat. Sting engaged in many matches with Dangerous Alliance members, especially Rude, who was the group's biggest star. It was during this feud that Sting won the first of his six WCW World Heavyweight Championships, defeating Luger on February 29, 1992, at SuperBrawl II . The feud ended when Sting formed Sting's Squadron, consisting of allies Ricky Steamboat , Dustin Rhodes , Windham, and Koloff, and defeated

5809-613: A violent clash as the Garvins teamed with the Road Warriors and Steve Williams to beat Sullivan, Rotunda, Al Perez , The Russian Assassin and Ivan Koloff in a Tower of Doom Match . In September 1988 the Club attacked Jimmy Garvin; Sullivan used a cinder block to “break” Garvin's leg, effectively ending the feud. Steiner began a slow face turn when he tried to save Sting from a beatdown by The Road Warriors, who turned on him after

5966-599: A wrestling company based in Memphis, Tennessee , and became known as the Freedom Fighters. Fans were slow to respond to the lumbering hulks, so the team turned heel under "coach" Buddy Wayne and soon afterwards manager Dutch Mantel . The Freedom Fighters left the CWA after an uneventful run, the highlight of which was an angle in which they broke the leg of veteran wrestler Phil Hickerson . The duo surfaced in

6123-543: A “College Rules” match. Three months later Garvin got revenge as he and Ron defeated Rotunda and Steiner at Clash of the Champions II . The fact that it was Steiner who lost the match was further cause for friction in the club. Sullivan and Rotunda started to punish the “slow witted” Steiner (in character) and taunted him mercilessly. At The Great American Bash 1988 the Garvins/Varsity Club feud came to

6280-478: Is under a "Legends deal". Borden is best known for his time spent as the face of two American professional wrestling promotions : World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1988 to 2001 and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2006 to 2014, as well as his retirement run in AEW from 2020 to 2024. Although the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; renamed WWE in 2002) purchased WCW in 2001, Borden did not sign with them at

6437-645: The Bash at the Beach in July to take on Vicious and Savage of Team Madness . Savage pinned Nash and won the World title as a result. Hogan returned from injury on July 12 as a face to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Sting defeated Flair on the July 19 episode of Nitro to become the on-screen president of WCW. Later that night, Nash turned heel by attacking Hogan during a title defense against Vicious. Sting remained president for just one week and used his power to book

Varsity Club - Misplaced Pages Continue

6594-696: The Jim Barnett -controlled company would go national itself; GCW acquiesced to the World Championship Wrestling name change in 1982. Meanwhile, by 1983, JCP went from recording its weekly shows in a television studio to shooting on-location, in between matches at live arena events. After purchasing a mobile television production unit for $ 1 million, Crockett unveiled what became the NWA's dominant annual supercard, Starrcade . In 1984, McMahon's WWF purchased controlling interest in GCW from

6751-516: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship during his presidency; by this point, JCP's top contracted performer, Ric Flair , was locked-in as the champion. Moreover, even though Flair was obligated to perform title-defense matches in each territory against the territory's own chosen star/challenger, any title changes only occurred between other performers also contracted to Crockett, such as Dusty Rhodes and Ron Garvin . Crockett's rapid expansion had significant financial consequences for JCP. By December,

6908-629: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Crockett joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1952, and his "territory" covered Virginia , North Carolina and South Carolina . The name "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" became JCP's primary brand name in print, radio, and other advertising (the name was also used for its main television programs). The business was incorporated in the 1950s. Jim Crockett died in 1973. He left JCP to his family, with his eldest son, Jim Crockett, Jr. , taking over as chief executive. Led by

7065-496: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). By the 1980s, Jim Crockett Promotions was, along with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), one of the two largest promotions in the United States. The Crockett family sold a majority interest in the promotion to Turner Broadcasting System (which was acquired by Time Warner in 1996, later became WarnerMedia from 2018–2022, now known as Warner Bros. Discovery ), resulting in

7222-475: The Scorpion Death Drop , two jumping elbow drops, a Stinger Splash and a Scorpion Deathlock while the rest of the nWo stood around ringside. Rather than intervene and save their stablemate, they simply stood by and watched. After Sting was done, the nWo came into the ring. Ted DiBiase , Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash made Sting an offer to join the nWo and get back at WCW for betraying him. Sting, after

7379-626: The Southeast eventually suffered, as some local fans vindictively withheld their support. Booking decisions also factored into the promotion's downfall. JCP flushed away a potentially profitable angle following the acquisition of Bill Watts 's UWF by " burying " the UWF's talent. Instead of portraying them as competitive with JCP wrestlers, the UWF's wrestlers and championships were portrayed as second-rate compared to those of JCP. Meanwhile, mid-carder Ron Garvin beat perennial champion Ric Flair for

7536-630: The Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), an organization run by Bill Watts and based in Alexandria, Louisiana , where they were known as the Blade Runners . Borden changed his ring name from Flash to Sting, while Hellwig became known as Rock. They soon joined Hotstuff & Hyatt International, a heel stable headed by "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt . Together with "Russian" wrestler Kortsia Korchenko,

7693-656: The WWA World Heavyweight Championship , before joining the then-upstart TNA in 2003. Over the following 11 years, he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on one further occasion and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship four times . As a result, he became the only wrestler to have won the NWA, WCW, and TNA world titles. He was also the inaugural inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2012 before leaving

7850-580: The WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. Borden headlined the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2016 on April 2, where he announced his first retirement; he remained with the company under a legends contract until early 2020. In late 2020, Borden signed with AEW, making his first appearance at Dynamite : Winter Is Coming , subsequently coming out of retirement where he had his first match in over five years at

8007-441: The "Crow" character. Sting still maintains the core aspects and aesthetic of his "Crow" persona to this day, occasionally with different designs and use of color integrated into the face paint. In a series of unusual loyalty tests over the next months, Sting would confront a random WCW wrestler in the ring and shove the wrestler several times with his bat until the wrestler was provoked enough to advance on him. Then Sting would draw

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8164-899: The 1980s, Crockett, Jr. began consolidating the Southern member promotions of the National Wrestling Alliance. Discarding the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling brand, he began promoting his events simply as NWA shows, although his promotion remained distinct from the larger NWA entity. In August 1980, Crockett, Jr. was elected president of the NWA, and the next year (the same year Crockett moved his TV show tapings from Raleigh to Charlotte), former (and future) Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) booker Ole Anderson took over as Mid-Atlantic's booker. In 1981, Anderson booked both JCP and GCW simultaneously. In 1982, Crockett partnered with wrestlers Ric Flair and Blackjack Mulligan to start Southern Championship Wrestling,

8321-469: The 450-pound Big Van Vader . During the match, Vader splashed Sting, cracking three of Sting's ribs and rupturing his spleen. Sting recovered and defended his title on July 12 against Vader at The Great American Bash , dropping the belt to Big Van Vader after missing a Stinger Splash, hitting his head on the ring post, and receiving a powerbomb . After beating Cactus Jack in a Falls Count Anywhere Match at Beach Blast and WCW newcomer Jake Roberts in

8478-555: The Alliance (Rude, Austin, Arn Anderson, Zbyszko, and Bobby Eaton ) in a WarGames match at WrestleWar in May 1992. Dave Meltzer awarded the match his highest rating of five stars. Near the end of Sting's battles with the Dangerous Alliance, the seeds were sown for what became arguably one of the most famous feuds of Sting's career. Sting defended his WCW World title on April 12, 1992, at The Omni in Atlanta against

8635-587: The Andersons, Arn and Ole (kayfabe cousins). Sting finished out the year by winning a four-man round-robin Iron Man tournament at Starrcade '89 . In the final match of the night, Sting defeated Flair to accumulate the necessary points to win the tournament. The victory made Sting the number one contender for Flair's NWA World title, leading to tension within the Four Horsemen. Sting was summarily dismissed from The Four Horsemen on February 6, 1990, at Clash of

8792-693: The Blade Runners became henchmen in Gilbert's on-screen feud with Watts. Hellwig left the promotion in mid-1986, leaving Sting without a partner. Sting won the UWF World Tag Team Championship twice with Gilbert in 1986 and a third time with Rick Steiner in 1987. Sting and Steiner lost their tag titles to the Lightning Express after Gilbert accidentally hit Sting with his boot during a title defence, leading to

8949-440: The CWA as the Freedom Fighters. In 1986, they joined the UWF as the Blade Runners , with Borden changing his ring name to Sting. His association with JCP and its successor WCW began in 1987, which saw him win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in 1990. He rose to main event status and is described as the WCW counterpart to the WWF's Hulk Hogan . Dubbed "The Franchise of WCW", he held 15 championships in

9106-516: The Champions VI the combination of Williams and Rotunda were able to defeat the Warriors, thanks to a fast count by referee Teddy Long ., who had been bribed by Sullivan. The duo managed to keep the titles through Sullivan's outside interference and frequent disqualifications, including at their title defense at WrestleWar 1989 . However, due to the controversial way the Club won and defended

9263-484: The Champions X: Texas Shootout after refusing to relinquish his title shot against Flair, thus restarting their rivalry. Later that evening, Borden experienced a legitimate knee injury while interfering in a steel cage match featuring the Horsemen. Borden's injury forced the bookers of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the dominant promotion in the NWA, to find a new opponent for Flair for

9420-748: The Club occurred when former member Williams defeated Rotunda at Clash of the Champions VIII . Rotunda would later turn face in 1990, becoming "Captain Mike Rotunda," and he would form a crew with Abdullah the Butcher and Norman the Lunatic to feud with a group formed by former Varsity Club teammate Kevin Sullivan, known as "Sullivan's Slaughterhouse," composed of Cactus Jack , Buzz Sawyer , and Bam Bam Bigelow , with barely any mention being made of Rotunda's and Sullivan's past association during

9577-425: The Club started a feud with Jimmy Garvin because Sullivan wanted Garvin's valet Precious . Sullivan would stalk Precious and taunt her with papers in his robe, but it was never revealed why he was stalking her or what the papers were about. Garvin got help from his "brother" ”Rugged” Ron Garvin and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams in his fight with the club. At Clash of the Champions I Rotunda defeated Jimmy Garvin in

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9734-549: The Mid-South Wrestling, and later, upon expansion, Universal Wrestling Federation brand names). Despite Crockett now having six consolidated territories under his banner and leading the NWA, JCP and the NWA were still two separate entities, and Crockett—like all NWA promoters before and since—was simply licensing the NWA brand name, whose true value was as a credibility-infusing, fan-trusted brand name for wrestling championships. Still, Crockett had an iron-clad grip on

9891-399: The NWA world title. Although Garvin was booked to be a babyface, many fans did not find him credible enough to be a serious threat to Flair. JCP apparently neglected to monitor its own lavish spending as well. Crockett flew himself and his top performers around in an expensive private jet. In addition to the expense of Crockett's personal jet, there were other extravagant purchases such as

10048-459: The October 21 episode of Nitro , Sting returned for the first time since the night after Fall Brawl in a match where the impostor Sting was wrestling Mr. JL . Sting emerged wearing a trench coat and white face paint with black marks around his eyes. He went in the ring and attacked nWo Sting (who was still imitating Sting's old mannerisms at this point) with his new finisher, an inverted DDT dubbed

10205-616: The Saturday evening WWF show, and viewers clamoring for GCW's return, began to make the WWF's move a money-losing one. Eventually, McMahon cut his losses and sold the time slot to Crockett for $ 1 million. Although this gave Crockett vital national exposure, it also allowed McMahon to finance his own marquee wrestling event, WrestleMania . This chain of events was critical in Turner's eventual decision to purchase JCP and form World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1988. An extra sense of urgency

10362-429: The September pay-per-view, Luger brought a baseball bat to the ring and Sting used it to beat Hogan for his sixth and final WCW World Heavyweight Championship, turning heel for the first time in WCW. Sting's heel turn and subsequent attitude change did not resonate with the WCW fans. They still cheered Sting despite the fact he was supposed to be the villain (reminiscent of The Road Warriors ' heel turn in late 1988). It

10519-419: The Sharpshooter and the Scorpion Deathlock. Hart cost Sting and Nash the Tag titles by interfering in their match with Hall and The Giant on the July 20 Nitro . Sting and Hart squared off at Halloween Havoc , where Hart, the United States Champion, attacked Sting with a baseball bat, putting Sting out of action for several months. Ironically, Hart would eventually be pinned by Sting after he himself fell afoul of

10676-444: The U.S. trademarks of Jim Crockett Promotions to David Crockett on August 1, 2022, after the conclusion of the Starrcast weekend. Sting (wrestler) Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Steve Borden (born March 20, 1959), better known by the ring name Sting , is an American retired professional wrestler . He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he

10833-491: The Varsity Club. Though Williams was unable to prevent Steiner from winning the TV title, his arrival signified a major recruiting coup for Sullivan. Earlier in the night, Sullivan and Williams brought gold back to the stable when they defeated the Fantastics for the United States Tag-Team titles . Steiner's run with the TV title ended a few months later as Rotunda regained the belt at the Chi-Town Rumble on February 20, 1989. He did get impressive backup from his brother Scott ,

10990-437: The WCW World Heavyweight Championship on March 11 in London , England, but lost it back to Vader six days later in Dublin , Ireland. Sting then teamed with WCW newcomer Davey Boy Smith to beat the team of Vader and Vicious at Beach Blast in a match that was set up by a mini-movie in which an evil midget blew up Sting's boat. At the end of 1993, Sting was one of the first people to congratulate Flair, who had just returned from

11147-460: The WCW banner, and I have given my blood, my sweat, and my tears for WCW! So for all of those fans out there and all those wrestlers and people that never doubted the Stinger, I'll stand by you if you stand by me! But for all of the people, all of the commentators, all of the wrestlers, and all of the best friends who did doubt me, you can stick it! From now on I consider myself a free agent. Declaring he would visit "from time to time", Sting threw

11304-708: The WWF buyout of the Toronto territory occurred, as well as after the airing of the WWF program The War to Settle the Score on MTV to high ratings. Together with the Minneapolis -based American Wrestling Association (AWA), Championship Wrestling from Georgia, and Memphis -based Jarrett Promotions, JCP created Pro Wrestling USA . However, the organization fell apart in January 1986. Crockett bought out Ole Anderson's Championship Wrestling from Georgia, on April 6, 1985, and

11461-454: The WWF was the uncontested #1 PPV content provider in America at the time, only a handful of companies committed to air Starrcade, devastating the event's profitability. After the cable industry warned McMahon to never again attempt such a move, Crockett felt it safe to restart his PPV attempts, and scheduled Bunkhouse Stampede in January 1988. However, the WWF again sabotaged JCP by airing

11618-505: The WWF's success, McMahon was financially able to lure the top talent away from rival companies. Because of this, JCP offered many of its stars lucrative contracts - paying them beyond their actual value - to prevent them from leaving the company. Another factor was the fans' exasperation with the " Dusty Finish " (a type of " screwjob " finish named after Rhodes, who did not actually invent the concept, but used it frequently for matches at regular house shows and PPV/major cards, alike). Due to

11775-459: The WWF, as WrestleMania IV's buy rate was much lower than that of the previous year's Survivor Series. However, Clash of the Champions was now the only thing Crockett could use to keep the NWA alive, though it was not even as highly watched as the WWF's Saturday Night's Main Event . On the verge of bankruptcy, Crockett sold Jim Crockett Promotions to Ted Turner in November 1988, and the promotion

11932-399: The WWF, whose alliances and agenda were unclear, and who had been infiltrating and causing chaos at various WCW events. Sting teamed with Luger and Savage to defend WCW against Hall, Nash, and a mysterious third Outsider to be revealed at the Bash at the Beach . Hall and Nash started the bout without their third partner, but the WCW's temporary three-on-two advantage was short-lived: Luger left

12089-642: The World Wrestling Federation, after his WCW World Heavyweight Title victory over Vader at Starrcade . Sting feuded with Vader and Rude through the first half of 1994. Sting won the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship from Rude in April. Rude recaptured the title on May 1 at Wrestling Dontaku 1994 in Japan , but the decision was reversed because Rude had allegedly hit Sting with

12246-697: The Year " on four occasions, a record he shares with John Cena . In 2016, Borden was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame . Slam! Sports wrote that he holds "a lofty level of prestige that few will ever touch". Borden was born in Omaha, Nebraska , and raised in Southern California . He played football and basketball in high school and later embarked on a career in bodybuilding , once co-owning

12403-425: The belt. Sting responded with his first words (on mic) since October 1996 when he told Dillon, "You've got no guts!" Sting turned to Hogan and said, "And you... You're a dead man!". As 1998 began, the nWo began to splinter. Sting recaptured the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship in February at SuperBrawl VIII with the help of Savage, who was beginning to split from the nWo. Sting went on to successfully defend

12560-674: The broadcast to several local TV stations throughout the Carolinas and Virginia. In 1981, JCP moved to the WPCQ-TV studios in Charlotte (a station once owned by Ted Turner ). The local shows hosted by announcers like Billy "Big Bill" Ward (from WBTV in Charlotte) and Charlie Harville (at WGHP in High Point) gave way to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (known briefly in 1978 as Mid-Atlantic Championship Sports ). Mid-Atlantic

12717-498: The club began to disintegrate with the departures of Williams and later Spivey, who started to work with Sid Vicious as one of The Skyscrapers . This left Sullivan and Rotunda as the sole Varsity Club members, meaning the stable was effectively finished. The Steiner Brothers made their team debut at the Great American Bash 1989 , beating Sullivan and Rotunda in a Texas Tornado Match . The last official appearance of

12874-528: The company had bought-out the rival UWF; Crockett even moved many of his administrative employees from his Charlotte base to the UWF's former offices in Dallas. Jim Crockett, Jr. and Dusty Rhodes personally manned the Dallas office, leaving Jim Jr.'s brother David Crockett in charge of the Charlotte operations. Bob Geigel, a former NWA President who bought his promotion back from Crockett in Febrtuary 1987 through

13031-469: The company in early 2014. Previously described by WWE as the greatest wrestler never to have performed for that promotion, Borden finally joined the company in late 2014, making his first appearance at Survivor Series and having his debut match at WrestleMania 31 the following year. His last match in WWE came at Night of Champions in September 2015, which also marked his sole WWE pay-per-view main event for

13188-460: The contracts, often tearing them up in Dillon's face. Finally, during an episode of Nitro, a confused and frustrated Dillon asked Sting who he wanted to face. Sting went out to ringside, picked up a fan's sign, and pointed out one name on it: Hogan. Eventually, Sting got his wish and he and Hogan finally met in December at Starrcade for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The finish of the match

13345-464: The creation of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1988. In 2022, Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. was restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett . Jim Crockett (1909–1973) was a promoter of live events including professional wrestling , music concerts , plays , minor league baseball , and ice hockey . In 1931, he founded his own professional wrestling promotion , Jim Crockett Promotions. Crockett built JCP as

13502-484: The decision claiming that Patrick's decision should have been considered final and a rematch was granted. The match ran over Nitro's allotted time slot and the finish was aired later in the week on the inaugural episode of Thunder . Similar to the Starrcade result, two different referees declared both men as the winner. Later that night, Dillon vacated the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, forcing Sting to surrender

13659-576: The feud. Rotunda and Steiner would later feud during the first eight months of 1993 in the World Wrestling Federation , with Rotunda now playing a tax man named Irwin R. Schyster, who teamed with Ted DiBiase to form Money Incorporated . Money Inc. had been WWF Tag Champions for fourteen out of sixteen months since February 1992 and would trade the WWF Tag Team Championship titles with Rick and his brother, Scott Steiner , three times in ten days during June 1993. The Varsity Club had

13816-538: The final moments of the match when Sensuous Sherri turned on Sting and took Flair's side. Sting spent the second half of 1994 and most of 1995 teaming with WCW's newest signee, Hulk Hogan in his battles against Kevin Sullivan 's Three Faces of Fear and its successor stable, The Dungeon of Doom . At The Great American Bash 1995 , Sting defeated Meng to win another tournament for the WCW United States Championship. Sting defeated Meng in

13973-496: The finals against Scott Steiner, leading to an intense feud between Sting and Vampiro. Sting pinned Vampiro at Slamboree in May, and Vampiro beat Sting in a Human Torch match at The Great American Bash the next month; for the climax of the match, Borden switched with a stuntman, who was set on fire and thrown off the top of the frame of the stage's entrance video screen. At Bash at the Beach , he returned wearing another Sting mask as men wearing cloaks and Sting masks carried him in

14130-473: The first-ever Royal Rumble on the USA Network opposite Bunkhouse Stampede, cutting into its buy rate. Crockett then attempted to use McMahon's tactics against him, airing Clash of the Champions I —featuring a PPV-quality card—on TBS in an attempt to draw viewers away from WrestleMania IV on PPV, which took place that same night. This was one of the few tactics to actually work for JCP in its war with

14287-498: The following March. WCW officials Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff , in an attempt to save the fading company, rebooted all current storylines on April 10, 2000, and declared all titles vacant. At Spring Stampede the following week, Sting advanced to the finals of the United States Championship tournament by defeating Booker T and Vampiro in the first two rounds. Vampiro then cost Sting the championship in

14444-452: The forthcoming WrestleWar pay-per-view event. Lex Luger was chosen to challenge Flair at WrestleWar. During the match between Flair and Luger, Sting came down to motivate Luger to come back and beat Flair. Before this, Sting and Luger had been at odds. When Luger was close to winning, Sting was attacked by Ole Anderson. Luger opted to save the already injured Sting and ended up losing the match by count-out while assisting his friend. Behind

14601-427: The four wrestlers composed Team WCW for the annual WarGames match at Fall Brawl in September 1996. They would be facing the nWo's team of Hall, Nash, Hogan, and a fourth member yet to be determined. On the final Nitro prior to the event, however, the nWo played a trick on WCW claiming that Sting was joining their side. A vignette was shown where the nWo had a recording of Sting's voice playing in its limousine as Luger

14758-491: The guest referee for the match between Larry Zbyszko and Eric Bischoff earlier that evening, order the match to be restarted and Sting would emerge victorious by forcing Hogan to submit to the Scorpion Death Lock. However, Patrick did not do his part properly and instead counted the pin at normal speed, which added an unintentional level of controversy to the finish. The next night on Nitro , Hogan protested

14915-461: The heavy overuse of this end-of-match sequence, many JCP fans started to expect the swerve at any moment, whenever a popular wrestler (usually a face ) appeared to win a title match and was about to be awarded the championship belt (or any similar situation), only to have the win overturned due to a technicality. As a result, attendance at live shows began to fall — even at venues where JCP had traditionally drawn well or extremely well. By 1988, JCP

15072-488: The issues that came with expansion was a lack of investing in the kind of marketing needed to make it successful. As mentioned, major cards such as Starrcade and the Bunkhouse Stampede did not draw as well when moved out of JCP's traditional territory. According to Rhodes, JCP failed to gain the national name recognition that McMahon achieved with the World Wrestling Federation. Rhodes also pointed out that with

15229-539: The late 1970s and early 1980s, it ran regular shows in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio . Crockett and Scott also bought minority shares of Frank Tunney 's Toronto -based promotion, Maple Leaf Wrestling . Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling also aired on a Buffalo, New York station, enabling the Tunney/Crockett/Scott enterprise to bring a full slate of shows to Ontario and upstate New York . In

15386-427: The limousines provided for various wrestlers and regular business parties held by officials throughout JCP's regional offices. In addition, the large amount of capital needed to take a wrestling company on a national tour and Crockett's aggressive territorial acquisitions had seriously drained JCP's coffers. In purchasing the UWF, JCP also took responsibility for the UWF's large debt from TV contracts, etc. Compounding

15543-408: The local stars could still be seen. Championship Wrestling from Georgia's television show (which had the same name as the promotion itself), along with that of Bill Watts 's Mid-South Wrestling (to whom Turner had also granted a time slot), easily surpassed the ratings for the WWF broadcast, which only featured clips and wrestler promos instead of original matches. The steep decline in ratings for

15700-519: The main event of the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro . Borden would later face Hogan and Flair in their last televised matches, which occurred in TNA, defeating both, although Flair would later have one final match in 2022. Following the expiration of his contract with WCW's parent company AOL Time Warner in March 2002, Borden held talks with the WWF, but did not join the promotion and instead toured with World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA), winning

15857-418: The match after he was accidentally injured by a mistimed Stinger Splash. The two-on-two match continued until Hulk Hogan, who had been a face character for nearly fifteen years, emerged at ringside. Hogan appeared ready to back up the WCW wrestlers, until he attacked Savage with his leg drop finisher in one of wrestling's most famous swerves . The match was ruled a no-contest, and Hall, Nash, and Hogan declared

16014-525: The match by swinging a chain at Luger, but hitting Sting instead. Consequently, Sting feuded with Koloff throughout the summer of 1991. In August 1991, Sting defeated Steve Austin to win a tournament for the vacated WCW United States Heavyweight Championship . Sting held the title for 86 days before losing it to Rick Rude at Clash of the Champions XVII . At Starrcade '91 , Sting won the first-ever Battlebowl battle royal, for which he received

16171-523: The match was restarted. During Sting's title run, a masked man known as The Black Scorpion would taunt and attack Sting on many occasions. This feud culminated in a final showdown between Sting and The Black Scorpion at Starrcade: Collision Course in December. The cage match ended with Sting pinning and unmasking the Scorpion, who turned out to be Flair in disguise. Sting's first world championship reign ended January 11, 1991, when Flair defeated him in

16328-404: The match, Sting shook hands with Hart in a sign of respect, turning face again. Sting sought revenge against Luger the next month at Starrcade . Sting won by disqualification when Luger and Miss Elizabeth assaulted Sting with a steel chair and baseball bat, putting Sting out of action for some time. Sting ended his feud with Luger by defeating him in a Lumberjacks with Casts match at Uncensored

16485-475: The match, leaving Team WCW at a four-on-three disadvantage, which they did not overcome. The next night on Nitro , Sting came out unannounced during the middle of the show with no music or entrance pyrotechnics. He entered the ring and, with his back turned to the camera side of the audience, launched into an angry tirade about what had transpired over the last week: I want a chance to explain something that happened last Monday night at Nitro . Last Monday night, I

16642-682: The microphone down and left the ring. Days after the infamous promo, he was booked for shows in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, to take part in the Japan/U.S. Superstars Tournament, where he defeated Masahiro Chono in the first round, but was eliminated in the second round by Shiro Koshinaka . His last match of 1996 took place on September 23 at the Yokohama Arena, where he and Lex Luger teamed up to defeat Arn Anderson and Steven Regal. It would end up being his last tour of Japan. On

16799-503: The monochromatic paint of the "Crow" gimmick; he also incorporated elements of The Joker in the later part of his time in TNA. Borden started his career in 1985 as Flash in the independent promotion All-California Championship Wrestling, where he was in a tag team with Jim "Justice" Hellwig (who would later become famously known as The Ultimate Warrior) as members of the Power Team USA stable , before he and Hellwig joined

16956-491: The nWo by themselves. Sting told Luger that he did not attack him, but Luger refused to believe him. Later, during the match, Sting entered as the fourth and final man for Team WCW, after the impostor Sting had entered for the nWo. Once in the ring, Sting immediately took out all four members of the nWo. He then stopped, turned to Luger, and angrily said to him, "Is that good enough for you right there? Is that proof enough?!?" Sting then gave Luger an obscene gesture and walked out of

17113-511: The nWo, and employed decoy "Stings" to play mind games with the nWo during the closing segments of Nitro . Sting's appearances to fight the nWo at the end of almost every Nitro helped WCW keep and widen its television ratings advantage over the WWF's Monday Night Raw throughout the summer. In the midst of all this, on-screen WCW commissioner J. J. Dillon tried many times to get Sting to return to wrestling by making contracts to fight various nWo members. Sting, however, did not accept any of

17270-414: The next match. Early in 1996, Sting's appearance started to change: he grew longer, darker hair, replacing his blond flattop haircut, and he often wore black tights with a multi-colored scorpion , although he occasionally wore his colorful ones and maintained his colorful face paint . Sting teamed with his old friend Luger , who had returned to WCW from WWF in September 1995, despite Luger's standing as

17427-641: The phasing out of foreign talent left from the All Japan promotional system before the Pro Wrestling Noah split. Varsity Club 2000 team would continue to perform throughout the early 2000s in AJPW and IWA Japan , taking part as an upper-midcard tag-team fighting against the likes of Keiji Muto , Genichiro Tenryu , Mike Barton and Jim Steele , George Hines and Johnny Smith . The team would end because Steve Williams announced he had throat cancer on live TV in March 2004, needing to get surgery and

17584-659: The promotion's pay-per-view , Revolution , on March 7, 2021, a tag team victory with partner Darby Allin . Borden and Allin would continue to work as a team, going undefeated and winning the AEW World Tag Team Championship in February 2024. Sting then had his official retirement match at Revolution on March 3, 2024, retiring both as an undefeated tag team with Allin and as champion. Borden held 26 total championships throughout his career, including 22 between WCW, TNA, and AEW. Readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated named him " Most Popular Wrestler of

17741-508: The promotion, including six reigns with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and two reigns with the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship , and made more pay-per-view (PPV) appearances than any other. Against Hogan, Borden headlined WCW's highest-grossing PPV event , Starrcade , in December 1997. Upon the WWF's acquisition of WCW in March 2001, Borden and rival Ric Flair were chosen for

17898-564: The promotion. This was an attempt to fill a power vacuum created by the disbanding of The Four Horsemen . The effort got off to a rocky start when Rotunda lost the TV Title to Sting . on March 31, 1989. Throughout the spring of 1989, the club made several attempts to dethrone reigning NWA World Tag Team Champions the Road Warriors, including Sullivan and Williams' match with them at the Chi-Town Rumble. On April 2, 1989 at Clash of

18055-440: The result and issued an open challenge for later tonight. Later that night, Sting lost an unsanctioned match to Goldberg, who accepted his open challenge and then attacked referee Charles Robinson . Sting was stripped of the title the next night for attacking the official. Sting entered the 32-man tournament that was set up to award the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Sting defeated Brian Knobs , Meng, and Luger to reach

18212-496: The ring for one last match under Jim Crockett Promotions, Ric Flair's Last Match on July 31, 2022. Shortly after Flair's announcement, David Crockett and Conrad Thompson of the Starrcast wrestling fan convention filed for U.S. trademarks on "Jim Crockett Promotions" and "JCP" with respect to wrestling events, news, and merchandise. During a media call promoting the pay-per-view, Thompson stated he will give his 50% percent of

18369-556: The ring name Flash, teamed with Jim "Justice" Hellwig (who would later gain fame as The Ultimate Warrior in the WWF) as two members of Power Team USA in independent All-California Championship Wrestling. Power Team USA was a four-man unit also featuring Garland "Glory" Donahoe and Mark "Commando" Miller, plus manager Rick Bassman. Hellwig and Borden later moved to the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA),

18526-609: The ringside judges could not declare a winner. Sting lost to Flair in several non-televised rematches following the Clash and, later that year, battled other members of Flair's stable, the Four Horsemen . Sting teamed with Koloff at The Great American Bash in July 1988 to challenge Horsemen Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson for the NWA World Tag Team Championship ; Blanchard and Anderson retained

18683-428: The roof of the arena on a vertical zip-line . When Hall and Nash went to approach him, Sting attacked them as well as attacking Randy Savage when he tried to intervene, revealing his true allegiance to WCW. In subsequent weeks, Sting frequently rappelled from the rafters or came up through the ring to attack unsuspecting nWo members, came to the aid of wrestlers who were once subjected to his loyalty test as they battled

18840-450: The sales profits just by providing the big viewing audience delivered by pro wrestling's loyal fanbase (wrestling generally did not attract large ad revenues at that time, due to negative industry perceptions of its lower-income target demographic). SuperStation TBS's parent company, Turner Broadcasting System , had asked Georgia Championship Wrestling to change its public brand name to World Championship Wrestling , helping fuel rumors that

18997-501: The same.. more DOUBT. Which brings me to Fall Brawl. I knew I had to get to Fall Brawl and get face to face with the Total Package to let him know that it wasn't me. And what I got out of that was, 'No Sting... I DON'T BELIEVE YOU STING!' Well, all I gotta say is, I have been mediator, I have been babysitter for Lex Luger, and I've given him the benefit of the doubt about a thousand times in the last twelve months! And I've carried

19154-608: The scenes, Gilbert endorsed Borden by telling a dirt sheet that Sting would be a megastar in the future. Later that year, Sting was tabbed to win the UWF Television Championship , then held by Gilbert, until Jim Crockett of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) bought the company from Watts. Crockett's booker, Dusty Rhodes , decided to put the Television title on Taylor to set up a feud between Taylor and NWA Television Champion Nikita Koloff to unify

19311-477: The scenes, WCW officials had wanted Flair to drop the title to Luger at WrestleWar, but Flair refused, saying he had promised Borden he would hold the title until Borden could return to the ring. Despite the injury, Sting was still utilized on television and pay-per-views when necessary. At the Capital Combat event in May, Sting was accosted by the Four Horsemen and thrown into a metal cage at ringside. In

19468-498: The second shortest WCW World Heavyweight Championship reign in WCW history . Sting lost to Rick Steiner in a Falls Count Anywhere match at The Great American Bash after he was attacked by Steiner's three pet dogs backstage and Steiner forced the referee to prematurely declare himself the victor, claiming his dogs had pinned Sting for him. Over the next several months, Sting feuded with Goldberg, Rick Steiner, Vicious, and Savage. Sting teamed with WCW World Heavyweight Champion Nash at

19625-399: The semi-finals to be held at WCW Mayhem . At the November event, Sting lost to Hart, the eventual winner of the tournament, by disqualification after ostensibly "bungled" interference by Luger (in fact payback for Sting's quarterfinal win). This led to a falling out with Luger. However, Hart asked for an immediate rematch, which was granted, and won by submission to advance to the final. After

19782-456: The team was forced to vacate the titles 18 days later. Sting then defeated The Giant at The Great American Bash in June to take control of the Tag Team titles and chose Nash as his partner. Throughout the summer, Sting and fellow nWo Wolfpac members Nash, Luger, and Konnan feuded with Hogan and nWo Hollywood. Sting also got involved in a feud with Bret Hart over their similar finishing holds,

19939-406: The time; he would later sign with WWE from 2014 to 2020. Prior to WCW, he wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance 's (NWA) Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP)—which became WCW in 1988—the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA). Borden wore face-paint throughout his career, and in 1996, changed from the multi-colored paint of his "Surfer" persona to

20096-660: The title against the likes of Hall, Nash, and Diamond Dallas Page (DDP). Like Savage, Nash began to pull away from the Hogan-dominated nWo, and Nash helped Savage beat Sting for the championship at Spring Stampede in April. Nash and Savage officially split from the original nWo on May 4, forming the face group nWo Wolfpac, while Hogan's heel faction became identified as nWo Hollywood. The two nWo factions vied for Sting's allegiance, with Sting's friends The Giant joining nWo Hollywood and Luger joining nWo Wolfpac. Sting seemed to have joined nWo Hollywood when he appeared wearing

20253-478: The title belt during the match; this was to cover for a real-life back injury Rude sustained in the match that forced Rude into retirement. Sting refused to have the title handed to him, and instead defeated Vader for the vacant WCW International World Heavyweight Championship at Slamboree . Soon afterward, Flair defeated Sting in a title unification match at Clash of the Champions XXVII , turning heel in

20410-400: The titles when the match ended in a 20-minute time-limit draw. Rhodes continued to book Sting in title matches throughout the year against both NWA United States Champion Barry Windham and NWA Television Champion Mike Rotunda . In the fall of 1988, Sting was attacked by Hawk and Animal of The Road Warriors after a televised match. Rhodes, as booker, identified Sting as the face who

20567-454: The titles, they were stripped of the gold that night. The club was unable to regain the US Tag titles from Rick Steiner and Eddie Gilbert, although they did force Gilbert to leave the promotion for a short time. Gilbert's departure provided the impetus for Rick to team with his brother Scott, a pairing that would go on to become very successful in the coming years. Shortly after WrestleWar 1989,

20724-481: The two had also competed on the first episode of Nitro on September 4, 1995. Sting defeated Flair and the two embraced at the end of the contest. After the WWF chose not to buy out Sting's contract with AOL Time Warner , he rejected a buyout offer of 50 cents on the dollar from AOL Time Warner, instead waiting until his contract expired in March 2002 (he announced a short-lived retirement in February of that year). Borden then entered into contract negotiations with

20881-452: The two titles. Rhodes used then-unknown Shane Douglas as the transitional champion from Gilbert to Taylor because Rhodes did not want to diminish Sting's growing stardom with a brief title run. Sometime after Sting's arrival to the NWA in July 1987, Dusty Rhodes used the opening bout of Crockett's first foray into pay-per-view , Starrcade '87 , to showcase the young superstar. Sting partnered with Michael P.S. Hayes and Jimmy Garvin in

21038-463: The value of professional wrestling for cable television in the early 1970s. WTCG aired Georgia Championship Wrestling's programming on Saturday evenings, and wrestling provided his then-fledgling enterprise (the future SuperStation WTBS ) a source of cheap live entertainment which was well-suited to the station's target demographics. Turner could run per inquiry advertisements (for products like Slim Whitman albums and Ginsu knives) and take part of

21195-454: The victory, he was attacked by Funk's stablemate, Muta. Sting came to the aid of his old rival Flair, and the two feuded with Muta and Funk for the rest of the summer and fall, culminating in a Thunderdome Cage match between the two teams, which Flair and Sting won, at Halloween Havoc '89 . The alliance with Flair resulted in Sting joining the newly reformed and now-face Four Horsemen along with

21352-436: The weapon back as if he were going to assault him, causing the wrestler to stop. Sting would then hand the bat to the offended wrestler and turn his back, offering the wrestler a chance at retaliation. When the wrestler hesitated or declined, Sting would nod, retrieve the bat and leave the ring. In January 1997, a "blackballed" Randy Savage returned to WCW for the first time since Halloween Havoc and aligned himself with Sting as

21509-697: The younger Crockett and under the guidance of a new creative force—former wrestler-turned-match- booker George Scott —the promotion moved away from generally featuring just tag teams , to primarily focusing on singles wrestling (although tag-team matches continued to play a big part in the company). By the early-1970s, JCP had gradually phased-out its multiple weekly television tapings in such cities as Charlotte, North Carolina , Greenville, South Carolina , and High Point, North Carolina , consolidating its production schedule into just one shoot (a Wednesday night videotaping at WRAL-TV in Raleigh ), and then syndicating

21666-506: Was added to Crockett's national expansion ambitions when, after Frank Tunney's death, his nephew and successor Jack joined forces with the WWF. Crockett would now have to either find other willing partner-promoters or buy them out if he wanted to run shows outside the Mid-Atlantic territory. This period also marked Crockett's first attempt to create a national promotion; Crockett and other wrestling companies needed this opportunity after

21823-785: Was also hosted by the team of Rich Landrum and Johnny Weaver . In 1978, JCP later added a short-lived show, The Best of NWA Wrestling , which was taped at the WCCB studios in Charlotte (across the street from the now- Bojangles' Coliseum , a regular venue for Mid-Atlantic live events) and featured then-active wrestler Johnny Weaver sitting down with top stars in a "coach's show" format (in which host and guest did running commentary over 16 millimeter film footage of matches from local arenas). Rich Landrum and David Crockett appeared on "Best Of", doing promo interviews for local arena shows. JCP gradually began to expand, running shows in eastern Tennessee, parts of West Virginia , and even Savannah, Georgia . In

21980-440: Was basically a re-packaged version of Mid-Atlantic , and it was also announced by Billy "Big Bill" Ward. In 1975, JCP premiered a new, syndicated show, Wide World Wrestling (renamed World Wide Wrestling in 1978). The original host of this show was former Georgia Championship Wrestling announcer Ed Capral. Subsequent Wide World / World Wide announcers included Les Thatcher, George and Sandy Scott , and Dr. Tom Miller. It

22137-450: Was being lured into the parking lot. Once he was there a man dressed as Sting, played by Jeff Farmer , attacked him and the crowd at home, as well as the live audience and commentators, were led to believe that Sting had joined up with the nWo and would be their fourth man against what was now a three-man WCW team. Sting, however, was not at that episode of Nitro, and showed up at Fall Brawl just as his teammates declared that they would face

22294-407: Was booked with a classic, controversial Dusty finish even though Rhodes (the namesake of the technique) had been fired months earlier. Sting got the three-count and was announced as the winner, but a replay showed Muta's shoulder was up at the count of two. The NWA decided to declare the title vacant. Sting and Muta battled in many rematches for the vacant Television title, but they always ended in

22451-542: Was collapsing under increasing competitive pressure from Vincent K. McMahon 's World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE )—itself a family-owned territory promotion covering the northeastern U.S. — which was aggressively expanding into a nationwide promotion. Crockett had similar expansion goals, envisioning a united NWA through JCP's buyout of or merger with all of the NWA's regional promotions. Ted Turner , whose Atlanta television station WTCG would become distributed nationally via satellite starting in 1976, had realized

22608-403: Was defeated by Kensuke Sasaki in Japan. At Starrcade , Sting defeated Sasaki, representing New Japan Pro-Wrestling , in a non-title match to win the "World Cup of Wrestling" for WCW. In the next match that night, Sting lost a Triangle match involving Flair and Luger; Flair won by count-out to become number one contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which Flair won from Savage in

22765-413: Was during this heel turn that Sting and Luger, with helpful interference from DDP, defeated supposed faces Hogan and Hart in a tag-match, Sting pinning Hart after Luger hit him with a bat. Then, at Halloween Havoc , Sting retained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Hogan after Hogan entered the ring in street clothes and lay down for Sting to pin him. After the match, Sting sounded his disdain of

22922-426: Was frequently referred to in the influential Pro Wrestling Illustrated and its sister publications by the WCW name or more commonly as "the World Championship area." As a result of the success World Championship Wrestling now had from acquiring the Saturday night time slots, Crockett (along with JCP booker Dusty Rhodes ) was able to establish an annual summer arena tour, " The Great American Bash " starting with

23079-420: Was hosted by Bob Caudle , (a longtime WRAL weatherman). Caudle was joined by a rotation of co-hosts (everyone from Les Thatcher all the way to Dr. Tom Miller ), before David Crockett (another son of Jim Crockett Sr.) became Bob's permanent co-host/ color commentary man (after ending a very brief career as a wrestler, himself). For a brief period, a secondary show, East Coast Wrestling , was taped at WRAL; it

23236-421: Was most over with the fans, despite knowing that turning the Road Warriors heel would be no easy task. Rhodes himself teamed with Sting to challenge the Road Warriors for the tag team championship at Starrcade '88 that December. Rhodes and Sting got the win by disqualification, allowing the Road Warriors to retain the titles. Sting returned to singles matches in 1989, starting the year off by wrestling Flair to

23393-694: Was on an airplane flying from L.A. to Atlanta. When I got to Atlanta, I tuned in the TV to Nitro . And I thought I was watching a rerun! It was a very convincing film. Often imitated, but never duplicated though! And what else did I see? I saw people, I saw wrestlers, I saw commentators, and I saw best friends DOUBT... the Stinger. That's right, doubted the Stinger! So I heard Lex Luger say, 'I know where he lives, I know where he works out, I'm gonna go get him.' So I said to myself, 'I'll just go into seclusion. I'll wait and see what happens on Saturday Night '. And I tuned in Saturday night, and what did I see? I saw more of

23550-457: Was on the verge of bankruptcy . In November 1988, Turner Broadcasting System purchased a majority interest in JCP for $ 9 million. The Crockett family retained a minority interest, with Crockett, Jr. becoming a consultant. Turner Broadcasting System ultimately rebranded the promotion World Championship Wrestling . In 1993, JCP ceased to exist. On May 16, 2022, Ric Flair announced he would return to

23707-457: Was out of action for most of 2004. Mike Rotunda, not having a tag partner and as well as mounting injuries, retired in May 2004 having his own retirement show. Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina , United States. Founded in 1931, the promotion emerged as a cornerstone of

23864-612: Was re-elected NWA President. This was to help counter the WWF, after it became America's dominant wrestling business in the wake of WrestleMania. Crockett then purchased both Saturday evening TBS time slots from Vince McMahon and filled the time slot with two hours of original programming filmed in Ted Turner's Atlanta studios . The programming aired under the World Championship Wrestling banner, which had been adopted by GCW before its demise. The entire company

24021-493: Was renamed the Universal Wrestling Corporation. Soon after, it was renamed again to World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The eventual downfall of JCP, leading to its eventual sale to Ted Turner (and thereby the birth of WCW) can be attributed to several key factors. Magnum T. A. — one of JCP's top babyfaces , and the performer scheduled to become NWA World Heavyweight Champion at Starrcade 1986 —

24178-418: Was scheduled to air the same night. Not wanting to possibly lose to the WWF in a direct PPV competition, Crockett decided to move Starrcade's starting time to Thanksgiving afternoon instead of the evening. However, the WWF then threatened cable companies that if they chose to air Starrcade, they would not be offered future WWF PPVs, including that year's Survivor Series and the forthcoming WrestleMania IV . Since

24335-530: Was severe, as the show's Southern fans were incensed to see their beloved stars suddenly replaced—without advance notice—by an "invading force" of wrestlers from "up North", an event that has since become known in pro wrestling lore as Black Saturday . In response to the ensuing deluge of complaints, TBS granted an upstart promotion called Championship Wrestling from Georgia (backed by holdout GCW shareholder and NWA member Fred Ward and former GCW wrestler/booker Ole Anderson) an early Saturday morning time slot so that

24492-721: Was severely injured in a car accident over two months before Starrcade (October 14), and could never wrestle again. So, JCP turned major "heel" Nikita Koloff , into a face on October 25, to take Magnum T. A.'s place while still being able to have a profitable build-up to Starrcade's main event. JCP alienated loyal fans in the Carolinas by moving Starrcade '87 and the Bunkhouse Stampede to arenas in Chicago and New York City, respectively. JCP had no real history and market presence in either of these non-southern metro areas, and its ability to drawing sellout crowds for arena shows in

24649-545: Was supposed to echo the Montreal Screwjob finish that the WWF had used to double-cross Bret Hart just one month earlier at their annual Survivor Series event. Nick Patrick , the referee for the contest, was supposed to execute a fast count on Sting while Hart, whose signing with WCW was the linchpin for the Montreal Screwjob, would come out to protest the decision and, since he had already served as

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