UKFF TOP 50 Wrestlers ... EVER!

[Prince Nana]

Wow. Best write up I've ever read. Bossman was my hero as a child. Everything written was exactly as I remember it and felt it. What a guy he was. And I NEED that blue shirt.

 

Agreed, it almost doesn't matter who ends up in the top half of the rankings, very little can top that write up. I love Boss Man. Well done, Ian... I'll be supporting the big man in the Rumble this year for sure.

 

a couple of yers back somone on youtube did a top 500 wrestlers list and did video motages of them all put a lot of work in and they were very good.

 

like any list you could argue about a place here and there but at the end of the day they were tributes and could be taked on there own or in any order they like.

 

So yeah these lists are more about remembering the heros of the past rather than worring who is going to get the top spot so much.

 

Which we all know is going to be Shark Boy.

[Green]

Just catching up with this but it's certainly one of the better greatest wrestler lists I've seen. Big Boss Man was probably the highlight so far. I think he's got the Rumble in the bag this year.

[ShortOrderCook]

Yeah, just posting really to show my love for that Bossman write-up too. Really enjoyed that, although i've yet to read the Jarrett one. I'm really rather gutted i didn't get my votes in. Will D'Lo still make it!?!

 

Great shout Ian on the 'did they have shit on the market' bit. That's really made this thread.

[steve rayson]

Pun of the 90s on that Brutus video 'Shear Excitement'.

 

I hope Marc Rocco gets in, but doubt it somehow as he hasn't appeared already.

 

In a fair world, Rocco would be number one, but I doubt it.

 

Amen!

[Kirby]

What's the crack, is this getting finished or what?

[Whiskey_Jim]

What's the crack, is this getting finished or what?

well judging by the fact these rankings have been coming in clutches complete with detailed well researched write ups its going to take a little while to get through.... patience is a virtue.

[ravishing1]

Just checked the 5 wrestlers that I listed and I am so pissed off with myself for not adding ravishing rick rude on there.

Im sure someone must have put him on their lists

[IANdrewDiceClay]

25. Sting

Prime Years: 1988-1997

Info: Sting's a larger than life person. He's everything a wrestler should be for me. He's bat shit mental, wears colourful outfits and beats his chest. Steve Borden started his career off in California as part of the Rick Bassman lead Powerteam USA, along with Jim Hellwig (The Ultimate Warrior), Mark Miller and Garland Donoho. When Miller and Donoho, Hellwig and Borden formed a tag team, called the Freedom Fighters and went to Jerry Jarrett’s Memphis territory. Sting didn’t have much of a clue at the time. Both were massive jacked up bodybuilders and hardly had a match under their belt, so you could imagine how terrible they were. Sting never spoke to much, leaving the Hellwig to wax lyrical on his own. They didn’t last long in Memphis, with Lawler complaining that Hellwig was hurting wrestlers and they were completely useless muscle heads. So off they went to Bill Watts territory, now billed as the face painted Blade Runners (Sting and Rock) where they were usually palling up with Eddie Gillbert. The Warrior was again the heat magnet of the duo. Sting was a popular guy in the locker room, which was the opposite to Warrior who made enemies with Bill Watts right away, when Watts asked him to get down on all fours and sell a kick (a rib where Watts would have booted him in the ribs for real) and Warrior told him he’d have to use force to get him on all fours. Although if you believe the rumours, it would usually cost you $150 for the night to get Warrior Jim on his hands and knees.

 

Rock and Sting didn’t seem made for the world of wrestling in duos anyway, looking at how their careers went. Rock would end up in World Class as the Dingo Warrior, while The Stinger was off to the UWF where he teamed with his pal Eddie Gillbert. Sting would find better mentors to learn from as far as his ring work went. Gillbert and later Rick Steiner would hold tag team gold with him in the UWF. When the UWF was bought out by Jim Crocket Promotions, Sting turned baby face on his former pal Gillbert. This is the version of Sting, we became to know and love. He had the blonde hair, the colourful outfits and the short Sgt. Pepper Jackets and over the top antics. He wasn’t anything special just yet, but people could see he had potential to be a future star. Especially in an era where colourful personas and the Californian surfer boys were the in thing. He unique for the time period as well. A bodybuilder from Venice Beach, who didn’t turn stomachs with his bald head and coked up eyes, and someone who could go to a standard. He was never someone who could made a decent match into a very good match or a very good match into a world class match, but as far as the headliners go at the time, he was better than a lot of them.

 

Sting’s most famous opponent has to be Ric Flair. Sting and Ric Flair had a belting 45 minute draw on the first Clash of the Champions television special in 1988. Flair made him look like the biggest star in the business. Sting says to this day that Flair made him. Flair’s still doing jobs for Sting in 2011. After this draw, Sting was put on the build run. He had some wicked chemistry with the Great Muta. They had some crackers, which are usually met with Youtube comments such as “Muta>Cena” and “The Attitude era was great, unlike now”, even though it was 9 years previous. Sting would join the Horsemen as well, even though that was to set the ball rolling for a turn and his eventual “passing of the touch” from the Nature Boy. Two years after his the Clash of 88, Flair and Sting would lock up once again at the Great American Bash. To mark the occasion Sting wore the best outfit he’s ever had. The Stars and Stripes Red, White and Blue outfit. It was another cracking match, and probably Sting’s finest hour. No selling all of Naitch’s trademark offence, one small package later saw babies thrown in the fair and the Baltimore fans jumping up in celebration for their heroes moment.

 

Unfortunately, the title reign wasn’t a success at all. Attendance wasn’t as high as they’d hoped, the buyrate for the Bash wasn’t favourable for the Next Big Thing being born and to make matters worse, Sting wasn’t Ric Flair when the bell rang. Eight months later, Slick Ric regained the belt. Although Sting would win the belt again, when Flair jumped to the WWF, he spent most of the next few years in bouts against Big Van Vader, Rick Rude and Cactus Jack he was well at home with the talent mentioned, although his drawing ability left a lot of be desired still. Contrary to popular belief, Sting wasn’t always Mr. Happy Go Lucky. He wasn’t happy at all in 1993 and 1994, where there was talk of him walking out and going to the WWF. He had lost his smile. His match with Vader was telling, where he beat the Big Man and stormed off after the bell went when he heard less than favourable chants directed at him. No smiling and ironic Cena-esque winking at the Sting. He just got his belt and fucked off. As far as the locker room goes though, Sting is everyone favourite person. All the WWF headliners years later commented on how much of a help Sting was. Triple H, Mick Foley, The Undertaker, Steve Austin were all under Sting's watchful eye in the early 90s when they were breaking in, and they were all greatful for the way he carried himself around lowly wrestlers.

 

If Sting wasn’t pleased with his position in the company in early 94, he couldn’t have been best pleased when Hulk Hogan turned up. Sting became a permanent upper carder when the Hulkster climbed on board. When you saw Sting, he was either wrestling in the upper tier, in tag team action or standing by Hogan being his cheerleader when Hogan decided to burn a copy of the Observer or something. Sting and Hogan did eventually wrestle, but it was given away on free TV, and wasnt very good. Actually most of Sting and Hogan's matches were terrible. Their best match was when Sting was in his 50s and Hogan couldn't take a bump. Sting’s career began a shift in mid-96 though. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash ‘invaded’ WCW, and Sting added so much credibility to the WCW charge. Sting was believable in the role of WCW defender. Savage was a WWF guy, Hogan was filming the SECRET AGENT CLUB~, so the Stinger’s role in this war of attrition was boosted. This was obvious when the three WCW soldiers marched into battle against the New World Order in the inaugural brawl at the Bash at the Beach 1996, Savage and Luger adopted the Stinger’s war paint for the showdown. Famously, Hulk Hogan marched out at the end and leg dropped Savage to turn heel, but Sting had agreed to turn heel if Hogan got cold feet. There wasn’t much chance of Hogan backing out, because of how cold his career had gone, but Hogan being Hogan, he kept everyone in the dark until the final minute. Bischoff comments in his book how much of a professional move this was by Sting, to do this if WCW had to make a quick get out decision.

 

The nWo kickstarted WCW’s rise to unprecedented heights. Wrestling was changing as well. ECW was developing a different style, the WWF were developing a harder edge to their product, and WCW was filled with a renegade stable brandishing spray paint and beating up the roster in gang attacks. The surfer Sting was dead in the water and needed a change. They pulled the old double Sting trick in the War Games match of 96, when the nWo used a fake Sting to attack Lex Luger on the previous Nitro. Sting pleaded with Luger and the Horsemen that it wasn’t him, but they weren’t having any of it. The beauty of it was that, the nWo were super strong. Hall, Nash and Hogan were seem as unbeatable. The Horsemen and Luger were in big trouble in the War Games when their clock began counting. All they had to hope for was Mongo or Benoit, because Sting was in the ring wasn’t he? When the clock his zero, Sting ran down the aisle and on his own destroyed fake Sting, the World Champion Hogan and Hall and Nash. Sting in the space of 30 seconds beat up the whole New World Order and at the end of this beat down as they all lay begging for mercy, Sting walked out. “Is that proof enough, right there?” he asked before getting the “Go and fist your arsehole, Lex” hand gesture. The following episode of Nitro, Sting announced himself as a free agent, willing to listen to offers for his services. Off he popped to film a scene in Liar, Liar, which never made it to the final cut and we didn’t see Sting for a while later. He would eventually return with a different look. Sting credits Scott Hall for inventing the whole gimmick. Hall had seen Brandon Lee movie, The Crow, and told him to come back as a tortured soul to rid the WCW of his tormentors. Sting did this and he began carrying a baseball bat, wearing a trench coat, wore a full white face, and dressed in all black. He also never spoke and never wrestled, choosing to hang out in the rafter or just come down on a wire to attack someone who even mentioned his name.

 

Everyone question “who’s side is Sting on?” After months of waiting, we got our answer. At Uncensored 97, the nWo was celebrating in the ring at a win over WCW and Sting destroyed them all with Scorpion Death Drop’s and Baseball Bats, as the fans were going completely mental. The look in Hulk Hogan’s eyes said it all. The nWo was in trouble. It was about 9 or 10 months before Sting actually returned to ring action. The build for the Hogan vs. Sting battle was built up perfectly. People were chopping at the bit for their eventual match. And it happened. Sting captured the WCW World title in a hatchet job of a match, which included a fuck finish, Bret Hart getting involved, who nobody wanted to see near this bout and a legit 3 count on Sting, where the referee was to quick for a slow count. On the flip side, Sting angered Hogan by showing up in the worst shape of his career and skin whiter than his face paint. This title reign was more disappointing than his first one was. Sting got stripped of the belt and they redid the match at Superbrawl to try and salvage some credibility from it, but the moment had gone. Sting was back to being just another wrestler soon after.

 

With mute Sting getting on everyone’s nerves, they decided mix his old persona up with his new on somewhat. When the nWo spit and formed a nWo Hollywood and an nWo Wolfpac, the Stinger joined up with his pal Lex Luger, Kevin Nash, Randy Savage and Konnan, when he rejected Hogan’s offer to jump on board. Sting actually had a trial run the week before when Nitro went off air and the place went ballistic. So the week after Sting really did join the Red and Black and the fans were going potty for their hero joining up with the new cooler version of the New World Order. But by joining Nash’s squad, it didn’t do much as far as his main event prospects. Sting was relegated to upper card bouts with The Giant and a feud with Bret Hart which was a dream match for years but was completely disappointing in execution. Sting worked an injury angle and nipped off to find the Lord. When he came back he wasn’t bothered anymore. Sting obviously didn’t give a fuck for the rest of his tenure. He turned heel and didn’t say anything that made him sound like a heel. When he turned heel, the next night on Nitro fans were chanting “We Want Sting” as the commentators scrambled around saying things like “the fans want Sting to get his butt kicked it sounds like”. Sting went on strike in late 1999 for reasons nobody even knows. He just walked out pissed off with something, even though nobody got his own way like he did. He did return though. He had a feud with Vampiro which was filled with all kinds of shenanigans where he went through the motions. He never liked Vampiro and didn’t like that WCW was filling up with face painted goons like Vamp, the KISS Demon and the Insane Clown Posse. Sting’s stunt man got set on fire in a piss poor Human Torch Match. Sting returned in a ski mask and then took the ski mask off to reveal there was fuck all wrong with him. In typical WCW fashion, they put up a legitmate poll when Sting was out selling his burns and Sting won. Shitting themselves they acted fast and had Sting "taken out" and unable to compete. Mental. Sting suffered a shoulder injury in late 2000 and was all set to return at THE BIG BANG!!! That never happened though, since WCW was bought out by the WWF. He fittingly had the final ever WCW match again Ric Flair.

 

Sting chilled for the next 18 months, deciding to set up a Christian retreat. He would accept the occasional payday with the WWA promotion, but he only worked 5 minute main events and went home. He opened negotiations with the WWE for a match with Triple H at WrestleMania XIX. He ended negotiations when he saw his touted future opponent fucking a mannequin in a coffin. Sting would do the occasional date for TNA, but it wasn’t until TNA got on Spike TV that Sting committed to promotion full time. Sting’s had a good run in TNA. Winning the NWA/TNA titles more times than anyone. He’s developed into one of the best talkers in the business as well. Nobody can get the best out of rotten material like Sting has been able to do in the last 6 years. These days, he still wrestles for TNA and acts their authority figure, runs a Christian Retreat, acts in movies so bad they‘ve put production companies out of business after the DVD‘s are sold and has a extensive portfolio as an estate agent. Sting is also above his job as a wrestler, he never speaks about it at all. A famous story of Sting is when Frank Trigg signed for TNA and wondered why the bloke who helped him buy a house was knocking about the Impact Zone. Trigg even asked Jeff Jarrett if “Real Estate Steve” was there to sell houses. Real Estate Steve is some man, we can all agree.

 

Did he have shit on the market?: Being WCW's big name, and one of only a small few people to ever make significant difference to TNA's business, promoters have always wanted to plaster the Stinger's lovely cheekbones on the front of anything they wanted to sell. He was always the safe bet. In the late 90s you would always see WWF merchandise all over the shelves and a token WCW piece of swag which usually had Sting's painted face on it. You would always see Sting about the shops.

They Said? “Now several of the people below are better than him at certain aspects of wrestling, but the Stinger is very much my childhood hero. From Surfer dude, to Hulkamaniacs v Dungeon of Doom, to Lex Luger's best mate, to nWo/WCW "whose side is he one?", to 'Hogan just shat himself', to Wolfpac, to baseball bat induced concussions, to dog attacks, to WWA, to TNA, to 'The Insane Icon', Sting has always been the big muscley bloke I cheer for. I'm so invested in Sting that when he turned 'heel' on that episode of Impact, I genuinely felt disappointed in Sting. That's mental, given how jaded I can be about wrestling. Sting had to be number one, he's drawn me in like no one else. On top of that, he's one of the few wrestlers that hasn't 'slipped up' and outed himself as a complete cunt, by most accounts the Stinger is a top bloke. Sting's the Don.”

[jimufctna24]

WCW vs World was one of my favourites growing up, spent hours playing as Sting.

 

Thanks for the nostalgia trip!

[air_raid]

My favourite Sting memory is that magical time in the spring when a few folk thought he was hiding in a shed and was only going to come out to wrestle Taker at 'Mania.

[ColinBollocks]

Sting at number 25 is proof this forum doesn't have a clue. You should all be ashamed of yourselves!

 

Anyway, Ian is doing a great job with this. Bravo.

[neil's bitch]

Sting is the bomb! A great write up him there, i have that very first figure also hah!

[Prince Nana]

The fact that he is only one place above the bossman is intresting.

 

I know the fact that he has never been in the WWF/E afects him in these list's but I did think he would be a bit higher.

[A Screen Up]

You're doing a fantastic job, Ian. I'm really enjoying these write ups. Now we're down to the Top 25 I think it's going to be very interesting to see where certain wrestlers are placed. I'm guessing that Hogan, Austin, Rock, Flair and Michaels will make the final five, but that still leaves the likes of Undertaker, Angle, Hart, Eddie G, Triple H, Nash etc who are favourites of many members of this forum. I can't wait to see the rest of this count down, top marks Ian!

[robbo9292]

Was there ever a dress up set from WCW because i remember as a child having a Sting baseball bat, mask and kinda like a hulk hogan tank top but obviously for Sting.