Back ستينغ (مصارع) Arabic ستينج (مصارع محترف) ARZ استینق (اویونچو) AZB Steve Borden BAR Стинг (кечист) Bulgarian স্টিং (কুস্তিগির) Bengali/Bangla Sting (wrestler) Czech Sting (wrestler) Danish Sting (Wrestler) German Στινγκ (παλαιστής) Greek
| Sting | |
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&sq=Kodak Black &lang=en&file=File:20230122sting1_(cropped).jpg) Sting in 2023 | |
| Birth name | Steve Borden[1] |
| Born | March 20, 1959[2][3] Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.[4][5] |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 3 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Blade Runner Flash[2] Blade Runner Sting[1][2] Steve Borden[2] Sting[6] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[6] |
| Billed weight | 250 lb (113 kg)[6] |
| Billed from | Charlotte, North Carolina "Every Man's Nightmare" Venice Beach, California[6] |
| Trained by | Red Bastien[1] Rick Bassman |
| Debut | November 25, 1985[7] |
| Retired | March 3, 2024 |
| Part of a series on |
| Professional wrestling |
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Steve Borden (born March 20, 1959), better known by the ring name Sting, is an American retired professional wrestler. Borden is 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. Although the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; renamed WWE in 2002) purchased WCW in 2001, Borden did not sign with them at the time. 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). He last performed in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) from 2020 to 2024 before retiring. Borden wore face-paint throughout his career, and in 1996, changed from the multi-colored paint of his "Surfer" persona to the monochromatic paint of the "Crow" gimmick; he also incorporated elements of The Joker in the later part of his time in TNA.[8]
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 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.[9] Dubbed "The Franchise of WCW",[6] he held 15 championships in 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.[10] Against Hogan, Borden headlined WCW's highest-grossing PPV event, Starrcade, in December 1997.[11] Upon the WWF's acquisition of WCW in March 2001,[12] Borden and rival Ric Flair were chosen for the main event of the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro.[6] Borden would later face Hogan and Flair in their last televised matches, which occurred in TNA, defeating both,[13][14] 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[15] and instead toured with World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA),[16] winning the WWA World Heavyweight Championship, before joining the then-upstart TNA in 2003.[1] 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.[17] He was also the inaugural inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2012 before leaving the company in early 2014. Previously described by WWE as the greatest wrestler never to have performed for that promotion,[18] 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 the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort.[19] Borden headlined the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2016 on April 2, where he announced his first retirement;[20] 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 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 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".[21]
- ^ a b c d "Sting". Canoe.ca. Quebecor Media. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c d "Sting". WCW.com (via Wayback Machine). World Championship Wrestling. 2000. Archived from the original on November 10, 2000. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Cite error: The named reference
StingTimelinewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Sting: General Information". Wrestlingdata.com - The World's Largest Wrestling Database. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
- ^ "Sting: Wrestlers Database". CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f "Sting". WWE.com. WWE. 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
- ^ "Sting". cagematch.net. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
- ^ Chin, Mike (February 13, 2023). "Looking Back At Scott Hall's Role In Developing The Crow Version Of Sting". SE Scoops. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
ignwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Artus, Matthew (September 13, 2015). "6 surprising facts about Sting". WWE. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
hoopswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Marvez, Alex (March 23, 2001). "Wrestling's Death Match Is Over — WWF The Champ". Sun-Sentinel. Tribune Publishing. Archived from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- ^ "Matches: Hulk Hogan". CageMatch.net. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
- ^ "Matches: Ric Flair". CageMatch.net. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
- ^ Peltz, Jamie (February 11, 2003). "Radio Review: Sting says he'd love to wrestle Triple H, Austin, Taker". PWTorch.com. Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
- ^ Schramm, Chris (January 12, 2006). "Sting ready for one more run". Canoe.ca. Quebecor Media. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
After his WCW/Time Warner/AOL contract expired in March 2002, Sting was not completely away from pro wrestling. He was a major part of the World Wrestling All-Stars tour in Europe in 2002-03.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Sting official TNA profile". Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
- ^ Linder, Zach and Finkel, Howard (June 5, 2013). "10 greatest wrestlers to never wrestle in WWE: #1 Sting". WWE.com. WWE. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Dilbert, Ryan. "WWE Night of Champions 2015 Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
- ^ Martin, Damon (April 3, 2016). "Sting announces his retirement during WWE Hall of Fame induction". Fox Sports. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
- ^ Howell, Nolan (May 31, 2013). "Bully Ray focused and ready for Sting at Slammiversary". Slam! Sports. Archived from the original on May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
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