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FAREWELL TO THE STINGER

I watched wrestling as a kid, but grew tired of it when I started to realize whoever came out last would always win. In college in the 80’s the rise of the WWF was something I knew about because it was a HUGE part of pop culture, but I was more excited about being introduced to “art films” indy music, and comics had a creator owned explosion that grew comics from just the two big super hero companies to a whole lot of different genres.

Two things pulled me back into pro wrestling. First, I worked at a group home for teenagers, and at that time, a local channel had wrestling on Saturday nights. They would NOT go out for activities until that was over, and since I was the n00b, I got stuck working Saturday nights. This was back before cell phones and laptops, so I would read while they watched, and eventually I started watching as well.

At the same time, a lot of the local wrestlers came into the Shinder’s I worked at for magazines, and some were comics fans. We’d chat comics since I was the comics guy, and they would talk about the stuff going on behind the curtain. One of them said I’d be a great manager, but after one training session, I realized I would never be able to “take a bump” because I couldn’t fall correctly and probably gave myself a concussion in how I failed to tuck my chin.

My wife had left and in doing so, a friend of hers she’d moved into our apartment stayed, and to this day I do not understand how that happened. So, at night she wasn’t going to biker bars to try to meet whoever she would life with next, she would want to watch wrestling. So, being immersed in it, I grew to enjoy it. I watched as someone who liked stories, and knew a little about the skills involved.

Eventually the group home kids moved onto something else, I quit working at Shinder’s, and the stateroom moved out. By then, I was a fan. I’d watch Prime Time for Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon’s banter, and the Saturday night WCW show on TBS, where Sting was the top babyface. His stories were AWFUL, but he had a charisma and a talent that made me like him. His chemistry with guys like Ric Flair and Arn Anderson was amazing, and he was always the Over The Top good guy. 

I also liked that he wasn’t so blatantly aiming his stuff at Kids like Hulk Hogan did.  Hogan’s schtick always struck me as Saturday Morning Cartoon stuff while Sting came off more as one of those hyper positive guys at the gym. Yes, he appealed to kids, but wasn’t telling viewers to eat their vitamins and say their prayers. He was talking about either winning or getting revenge and came off as a likable guy. 

Through the years, he got stuck in a lot of bad stories, and no one ever had more friends betray him than Sting, but he was always great to watch. Not a guy who did incredible moves or had matches that knocked your socks off, but I guy who knew how to tell a standard good guy/bad guy story in the ring in such a way as to get the crowd to buy in.He overcame the campy stuff, the miscues, and the downright stupid because of his natural charisma.  

His run on top of WCW was always talked about in terms of the attendance being low, but he was also surrounded by a lot of bad stuff and the post 80’s decline in the wrestling business. Many of the PPVs he headlined had 2 hours of bad stuff that he had to try to save in the main event, which was a lot to carry.

When WCW had its big run with the Invading NWO story, Sting was a guy who they kept in the shadows As the one guy WCW had that could finally defeat the bad guys. They built that story for over a year, and when it was time to pay it off, Hulk Hogan screwed it up. The story was supposed to be that when Hogan covered Sting, the referee would give a “fast count” and Bret Hart would come from the back to make the match start again and Sting would win.

In the end, when Hogan covered Sting, the ref counted normally, making the whole story fall apart. Hogan denies it, but it sure seemed like he’d told the ref not to do the fast count  We’ll never know for sure, but no matter HOW it happened, it happened and it cut Sting’s legs out from under him.  So, a YEAR of build was ruined because Hogan had to be the focus of the company and couldn’t just take the loss to give fans what they wanted.

Sting wrestled the last WCW match on the last Monday Night Nitro, had a stint in TNA where he tried to help them become a viable second wrestling company in the 2000’s, but it didn’t quite work. He finally went to the WWE, where they had him lose at Wrestlemania as a sacrificial lamb to Vince McMahon’s bloated ego. He got injured soon after and his WWE run was finished and it looked like his career had ended with a whimper, as most people Vince didn’t create had to deal with in his company.

All Elite Wrestling started up, and when Sting came in, he was treated as a Big Deal. He came in with Legend status, and at 62 – 65 years old, he did things no one at that age should be doing. He had a young talent as his tag team partner, and every story about Sting is that he’s been happy working with the younger talent and is a great backstage presence.

Sting has been on a three year farewell tour, and AEW had let him have a winning streak because at this point, no one wants to buy a ticket to see Sting to see him lose. Sting also worked with younger talent, knowing that for them, a match with Sting is a career accomplishment. He didn't get put in the World Title picture, and until recently, he wasn’t given a title of any type, but about a month ago, he was given the tag team titles for his final run.

Last night was his last match, and I think the only other person who was in the business when I started watching is Dusty Rhodes’s oldest son Dustin, who’s also talking about retirement. His retirement is a big deal and as a fan, I am happy that he has gotten this big goodbye run to end with a big farewell, rather than the disappointment we got when he finally signed with WWE.

His match was a big brawl with tons of insane spots all around the arena. He got multiple comebacks for the fans to cheer for. The Young Bucks were brutal, unlikeable heels who made it person, stacked the odds against him, and yet Sting as able to get in his signature finishers, and stand tall at the end.  The tradition in wrestling is to go out on your back, putting over a younger talent, and Sting has been a traditional wrestler. But, with this long goodbye, no one wanted to see that.  

Sting had a career where many big moments were denied to him.  He was a good soldier for WCW and then TNA and now AEW, and fans wanted to see him get the love and respect he had earned in his long career.  

It’s also a big marker of time for me, since he’s the last of the guys I started watching. Most people know I am an emotional and sentimental person, so when the camera faded on his final match, I was thinking a lot about it. Sting can beat Ric Flair and Lex Luger, but time eventually gets the last pinfall.

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