History Wrestling / Sting

But the majority of Sting's career saw him working in Wrestling/{{WCW}} from 1987 (back when it was still known as Jim Crockett Promotions) until the company's demise in 2001, where he became the company's biggest star during the [[TheNineties 1990s]]. Starting out as a bleached blonde [[{{surfer dude}} surfer bum]] type, he later transitioned into the [[Film/TheCrow Eric Draven]]-inspired look which (apart from an ill-conceived [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy Joker]] costume in 2011) he's retained to this very day. Sting stayed a member of the WCW roster up until the company's demise in 2001, feuding with the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder; he even wrestled in its last match, defeating his {{frenemy}} and fellow veteran Wrestling/RicFlair.

** Wrestling/NikitaKoloff had returned to [=WCW=] at ''[=WrestleWar=] 91'' and attacked WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger following his successful title defense against Wrestling/DanSpivey, [[DisproportionateRetribution/ProfessionalWrestling still angry about a loss to Luger from back in 1987]]. During the Sting/Luger-Steiner Brothers match at ''WCW [=SuperBrawl=]'', Koloff, who had squashed Tommy Rich earlier that night, ran down to the ring with his Russian chain around his arm to attack Luger. Sting pushed Luger out of the way and took the shot himself. Sting would feud with Koloff for the next few months until Koloff disappeared again, with Luger going on to win the WCW World Heavyweight Title at the disastrous ''WCW Great American Bash 91'' [=PPV=].

* TheMentor: To Wrestling/DarbyAllin in AEW. Before Sting's debut Darby had been regarded as an AlternateCompanyEquivalent and SpiritualSuccessor to The Icon, and during his debut he closely studied the younger man, who was the only one in the ring (out of Darby, Wrestling/CodyRhodes, Wrestling/DustinRhodes and Wrestling/ArnAnderson) who had the guts to stand up and look Sting in the eye. He must have liked what he saw, because Sting took Darby under his wing to assist and guide him during his TNT Championship reign- not fighting his battles for him, but helping even the odds against heel cheating, joining him for a cinematic street fight against [[Wrestling/{{Tazz}} Team Taz]] at ''Revolution'', and -when Darby's reign finally ended at the hands of [[Wrestling/RusevAndLana Miro]]- teaching him [[DoomedMoralVictor that it's OK to lose as long as you go down fighting]]. [[StudentAndMasterTeam The two of them also went on a long-term tear through the tag division]] that culminated in them winning the AEW Tag Team Championships together in early 2004 and holding them until Sting's retirement at ''Revolution''.

* TheMentor: To Wrestling/DarbyAllin in AEW. Before Sting's debut Darby had been regarded as an AlternateCompanyEquivalent and SpiritualSuccessor to The Icon, and during his debut he closely studied the younger man, who was the only one in the ring (out of Darby, Wrestling/CodyRhodes, Wrestling/DustinRhodes and Wrestling/ArnAnderson) who had the guts to stand up and look Sting in the eye. He must have liked what he saw, because Sting took Darby under his wing to assist and guide him during his TNT Championship reign- not fighting his battles for him, but helping even the odds against heel cheating, joining him for a cinematic street fight against [[Wrestling/{{Tazz}} Team Taz]] at ''Revolution'', and -when Darby's reign finally ended at the hands of [[Wrestling/RusevAndLana Miro]]- teaching him [[DoomedMoralVictor that it's OK to lose as long as you go down fighting]].

* ParentAndChildTeam: His sons would get involved in his final match dressed as the Surfer and Wolfpac versions of their father. Complete with a Stinger splash sequence.to both of The Young Bucks as retaliation for attacking them earlier in the feud.

* ArtEvolution: When he first debuted on ''Nitro'' wearing the "Crow" facepaint, it looked almost exactly like his old facepaint, only solid white. Pretty soon it was modeled on the film version down to the last detail, apart from a big, lawyer-friendly [[PerpetualFrowner frown]] (instead of Lee's GlasgowSmile). As time wore on, it became substantially different; for instance, the chin stripe allowed Borden to grow out a soul patch. The familiar all-white look that is most closely associated with Sting was first sported by him on the October 21, 1996, episode of ''WCW Monday Nitro''; in the beginning, the paint actually evoked The Wrestling/UltimateWarrior (there's actually an explanation for this: both Sting and Ultimate Warrior were buddies when they began in the business and they soon learned that painting their faces was cheaper than getting masks. The designs, supposedly, where usually improvised on the spot), as it appeared to be two wing-shaped white splotches covering each half of his face. This look soon transitioned to a uniform whiteness with black eyes and black lips, and gradually became scarier as the black streaks emanating from Sting's eyes multiplied, grew thicker and longer and more thorn-like, until they were almost more prominent than the whiteface itself. After going to TNA in 2006, Sting would occassionally add red streaks to the black and white in his major matches. In 2011, Sting's makeup became a less monochromatic hodgepodge of black ''and'' red interlocking streaks on a white canvas, thus brilliantly evoking both the colorful pre-1996 look and the demonic "Wolfpac" makeup. However, it soon took on a "Joker" appearance which (along with his {{panto}} behavior) didn't particularly go over with fans.

* TenMinuteRetirement: Although he went on hiatus several dozen times since WCW closed and every other match he had was billed as a possible retirement match, Steve never officially retired until 2016, and due to his injury and condition it was thought it was most likely going to be a permanent one, but even then Sting came out of retirement to join Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling in 2020.