"Career/History" - 1996 - 1998 - People - http://maxpages.com/stingcentral/1996_to

1996 would prove to be a transition year for the Stinger. He would enter the year as the blonde haired hero everyone loved but end it with a new look and his loyalty under heavy scrutiny. Early in January of 1996, Sting won the World tag team titles with his buddy Lex Luger. At the time, Luger was on the fence between face and heel. Fans told Sting not to trust him, but he did. It was the first time when fans were not fully supporting of the Stingers actions; it was very hard for him. It would get even harder later in that year. Luger deserted him before their match with the Road Warriors at Uncensored, but Sting kept the tag belts with the aid of Booker T of Harlem Heat. Luger then began to wise up, and just in time, because on May 28, Scott Hall reared his head on Nitro. Sting was the first one to meet his challenge head on. At Bash at the Beach on July 7 three men of WCW, Sting, Luger and Macho Man, fought Hall and Nash, the Outsiders, and their mystery partner Hulk Hogan. On that night the nWo was born!

Sting focused his attention on Hogan and the rest of the nWo. The nWo grew in size in the weeks following Bash at the Beach. They convinced the Giant to join the nWo and then one week before Fall Brawl where WCW would meet the nWo in the War Games Main Event, the nWo pulled another surprise. Lex Luger was wrestling a match that night when Nick Patrick ran out and told Luger that Sting needed his help. Luger ran outside and looked for Sting, and then "Sting" came out of the nWo's Limo and beat Luger up. The nWo found an impostor Sting to fake out Luger. Even when the real Sting tried to explain it to Luger, Luger wouldn't hear it. All this right before War Games. Sting was so upset, he refused to help WCW at first, but then he come out like a ball on fire. Sting tore apart the entire nWo and then he left for them to defeat WCW. The next night on Nitro, Sting came out and addressed the crowd for the last time. He said that fans booed him and fans cheered him, but he didn't care anymore. If no one will trust him, then they can "Stick it!" From there Sting went into seclusion.

Sting did speak one other time after that night. The nWo fake Sting was wrestling when the real Sting came out dressed in a black overcoat and black and white face paint. Sting attacked the fake and out came the nWo to offer him a chance to join. Sting politely said, "The only thing is for sure about Sting, is nothing's for sure". Then he disappeared. In the following months, Sting would pop his head in whenever someone was talking about him. Jeff Jarrett insulted him, and he paid for it. So did Rick Steiner, Jim Duggan, and Lex Luger. These attacks led everyone to believe that Sting was part of the nWo. When Macho Man Randy Savage showed up this January, Sting sided with him. Macho then joined the nWo and everyone thought Sting was next. It even got to the point of Hogan giving Sting a hug on Nitro and claiming he had joined, but Sting didn't hug back. Then on March 17, at Uncensored, the questions were finally answered. The nWo won a special challenge match against two other teams that night, and as they celebrated, Sting dropped from the rafters on a cable. Thinking Sting was there to congratulate them, nWo members entered the ring, where they were met with a baseball bat! Sting dropped all of them and challenged Hogan, who he then too dropped. Sting had returned to WCW after all!! Since that night, Sting has still not been around all the time, but when he does show up, it is to aid WCW in their war with the nWo. Now the time is drawing closer, Sting will eventually meet Hollywood Hogan in the ring for the WCW World title.
When he does, the Sting legacy will once again rise.

'When a man's heart is full of deceit it burns up, dies, and a dark shadow falls over his soul. From the ashes of a once great man has risen a curse, a wrong that must be righted. We look to the skies for a vindicator, someone to strike fear into the black hearts of the same man who created him. The battle between good and evil has begun. Against an army of shadows comes a Dark Warrior, the purveyor of good, with a voice of silence, and a mission of justice.'

On December 28 1997 at Starrcade the match of the century took place: Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan. The arena in Washington DC was sold out within three days - 16.000 tickets!!!! At Starrcade it happens, what every real Stinger fan always knew: Sting cared for justice by defeating Hollywood Hogan and winning back the World Title. Here's the report about this match:

Sting d. Hollywood Hogan (World Title Match)
The most anticipated match of the decade, Hogan vs. Sting did more than drive the MCI Center crowd into a wild frenzy. Meeting for the first time since the Stinger's transformation over a year ago, the two superstars proved to be formidable and equally matched opponents. Sting was free of ring rust and fear; Hogan exhibited the skill and strength that made him wrestling's most legendary champion.
After Sting missed a Stinger Splash and struck the rail on the outside, Hogan managed to set up his opponent for his trademark leg drop. Referee Nick Patrick -- a 'former' NWO member -- gave a lightning-fast three-count and signalled for the end of the match.
But Bret Hart, making his second noteworthy appearance for the night, ran to the ring and told Hogan that he would not allow an official cheat a wrestler again. Hogan tried to leave, but Hart threw him back in the ring, allowing Sting to strike again.
Vicious and Delicious tried to stop the continuation, but were thwarted by both Hart and Sting. After several Stinger splashes, the Silent One applied his Scorpion Deathlock and got the submission. Hogan had been defeated and WCW had recovered its esteemed World Title.
Post-match, WCW wrestlers flooded the ring to congratulate their champion. Sting responded by climbing the ring posts and ending his silence with his trademark Stinger howls.

The following night at Nitro, Sting and Hogan clashed again, with almost the same ending. Then at Thunder, January 8th, JJ Dillon stripped Sting of the title, because of the controversial way he won it. A new match between Sting and Hogan was going to be at SuperBrawl to find out, who had the right to call himself WCW World Champion. Sting defeated Hogan again and won the Heavyweight Title back. At Uncensored 98 Sting was also successful by defending his world title against Scott Hall who won a title shot at WW III. But unfortunately Sting had some problems during the match against Savage at Spring Stampede 98 and lost his title due to the interferences of Miss Liz (who was stinger splashed by Sting after hitting him with a chair) and Kevin Nash. On Nitro 6/1/98 Sting joined the nWo Wolfpac (other members were Nash, Macho Man and Konnan) like his pal Lex Luger.

Sting wanted revenge on Kevin Nash for his actions, so he has joined forces with the Giant to challenge the WCW Tag Team Champions, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, to a match. Sting was in for a surprise at Nitro, May 11th, his tag team partner the Giant turned nWo, Hogan's fraction, looks like Sting is having problems at Slamboree. At Thunder, May 14th, the Giant stated that when he and Sting wins the WCW Tag Team Title, Sting have to decide if he is nWo or an enemy.

Sting and the Giant won the WCW Tag Team Title from Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, when Hall brained Nash with the title belt. As the Pay-Per-View ended, the Giant asked Sting to choose side. After the pay-per-view went of the air, Sting showed the bird to the Giant and Hall. The next day at Nitro, Sting made his decision, by spitting the Giant in the face, a fight then started with Sting on the receiving end, but Kevin Nash came to the rescue. At Nitro, May 25th, Sting and Lex Luger had a match against the Giant and the bogus Sting, after the real Sting had disposed the bogus Sting, the Wolfpac offered Sting a place in their group. Sting was hesitant, but before we could get his answer the program went of the air. After the show went of the air, Sting accepted the shirt and gave the Wolfpac signs to the rest of the members, and with that the Wolfpac and Sting stand strong. On Thunder they didn't say anything about Sting joining the Wolfpac and that he still had to make his decision.

At Nitro (June 2 in 1998) after a match between Nash/Luger and Giant/Hogan, Sting came down from the rafters, first he revealed a black and white nWo shirt, when Hogan and the Giant were happy Sting attacked knocking Hogan down and slamming the Giant. Sting then went on to tear the nWo shirt up and reveal a black and red Wolfpack shirt and so Sting became a member of the nWo Wolfpac. At the Great American Bash 98 Sting fought against the Giant as he has declared Brian Adams as his new Tag Team partner after Sting had become a Wolfpac member. Sting defeated the Giant and won the Tag Team belts, so he chose Kevin Nash as his partner. Nitro, July 20, Sting and Kevin Nash lost the WCW Tag Team Title to the team of Scott Hall and the Giant, during the match Bret Hart came to the ring and distracted Sting, who then got pinned and thereby lost the title.

From then on the Sting-Hart-feud began. At Nitro, July 27, Bret Hart claimed to be Sting's friend, but when Sting fought Scott Hall, Bret wanted to attack Sting, but Sting saw the attack coming and instead delivered a low blow to Bret, who then bailed after he escaped a Scorpion Deathlock attempt.

Sting has recently signed a three-year extension with the WCW. The newly signed deal was for over $1 million a year, and one of the conditions of the contract was that he would not have to work on Thursdays, which means we will not be seeing him on Thunder. At Nitro, August 31, Sting and Lex Luger took on the team of Bret Hart and Hollywood Hogan, during the match Hogan started whipping Sting with his belt, but Bret stopped him and the two started arguing.
Has Hart spoken the truth?

At Nitro, September 14, Sting got to tangle with Goldberg in the main event. Sting hit Goldberg with everything he got, but it had no effect. This frustrated Sting, but when he eventually he got Goldberg in the Scorpion Deathlock, Hogan came to the ring and kicked Sting in the head. Goldberg then hit the Spear and Jackhammer for the win. Bret Hart then came to the ring and told them what had happened as Goldberg helped Sting to his feet. The next week at Nitro, Sting paid Bret Hart back; Bret was being punked by Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell and Sting came to the rescue. At Nitro, September 28, Hogan challenged both Bret and Sting to a match, which Bret, on his own and Sting's behalf, accepted. During the match between Bret and Hogan, Sting came to the ring, when Hogan started working on Bret's "injured" knee, which got Hogan to back off. Sting then took Bret's spot in the match, and had Hogan in the Scorpion Deathlock, when Bret hit Sting with a DDT and then put him in the Sharpshooter. Hogan and Hart continued to work over Sting until they had had their laugh.

At Nitro, October 5, Sting was out for revenge, when he found Bret Hart he beat the daylights out of him, until security got him to back off. Later Sting and Bret squared off in the main event, they fought all over the place, using tables, trash cans, chairs, and metal poles, Bret worked on Sting's leg. The end came when Sting put the Scorpion Deathlock on Bret, and then released the hold and walked away with a bad leg. At Thunder, Bret challenged Sting to a match at Halloween Havoc. At Halloween Havoc, Sting and Bret clashed in a good encounter. Hart used his illegal tactics to keep the advantage and Sting fought all that he could, with the crowd behind him. Bret used the bat that Sting had brought to the ring to score the victory. After the match Sting was put on a stretcher and carted away.

Apart from a few recent house shows and autograph signings,
Sting hasn't been seen.

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Page Updated Sun Jul 11, 1999 3:13am EDT