wrestling / Columns
The Top Ten 10.31.06: Sting Matches
Greetings Goblins and Ghouls and welcome to another spooky edition of The Top Ten. Today of course is Halloween, which happens to be my favorite holiday not only because it’s the time of year where girls wear the most sluttiest outfits in their closet, but also because I’m a serious horror movie buff. I’ve been watching horror movies non-stop the last few days, a lot of which has been on AMC which continues to show classics like Dracula, The Mummy, and The Wolf Man. Bravo has also been showing a good share of horror stuff, including a countdown of the 100 best horror movie moments(which is actually a repeat from last year). So if you haven’t checked it out yet, be sure to because they have some great moments on there. Usually on Halloween, I go out to a couple parties to see the aforementioned girls wearing as little as possible, but this year I’m going to stay in with the girlfriend and a couple of our friends to have a Halloween Horror Movie Night where we’ll be watching such classics as Halloween, The Thing, Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Audition, Black Christmas, Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, Dead Alive, and What Lies Beneath. What Lies Beneath WAS scary dammit, I don’t care what any of you say! If you have any suggestions to some horror movies I might wanna check out, shoot me an email and I’ll be sure to pick it up. Ok, enough about my love obsession with blood and gore. This week, we’re going to take a look at The Top Ten Sting Matches. This one is going to be a quickie as I’m doing this really late at night and I have to get up early for work tomorrow. The feedback I got for last week’s column I’ll be sure to include in next week’s column so don’t think your feedback was in vain. Okie Doke, let’s get into this week’s list.
The Man they call Sting has been one of the most popular and influential wrestlers of the last few decades. His charismatic personality along with his in-ring skill has endured him in the heart and minds of many wrestling fans. One of the more unique things about the Stinger is that he is probably the only main event player from WCW that never jumped to the ‘E. Sting is still making huge waves in the present day as the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion which is fitting given that he was one of the last few breakout stars that the NWA produced. Here’s a quick look at some of Sting’s greatest matches.
10) Sting vs. Lord Steven Regal (Great American Bash ’96)
Sting was one half of the Tag Team Champions at this point and had a
little bit of a beef with the man we now know as William Regal. These two men went out and put on a hell of a technical display with Regal stiffing the hell out of the Stinger. The match ended once Sting locked on the Scorpion Deathlock and this was pretty much one of Sting’s last truly great matches.
9) Sting vs. Ric Flair (Clash Of Champions 27)
This was a title Unification match as there was seemingly some controversy over who the “real” World Champion was(even though Flair clearly had the only meaningful title). Sherri Martel also showed up during the match and the big question during the match is who was she going to side with. She showed up with Sting paint on so that should have made it obvious that she was going to side with Flair. Anyhows, this was a fantastic match that had some great heat on Flair. The match ended after Sting accidentally knocked out Sherri which allowed Ric to roll him up(using the tights of course) to pick up the W. Anytime these two stepped in the ring together, it was bound to produce something memorable.
8) Sting vs. Ric Flair (WCW Nitro, 3/26/01)
What else could have been more fitting to close out the doors of WCW than to have the two most popular men in the company’s history square off in one last epic battle? Although both men had their better years behind them by this point, they were still able to put on an entertaining match culminating in Sting locking in the Scorpion Deathlock and forcing Flair to tap. Seeing the two men embrace in the middle of the ring after the last match on the last show ever on WCW was absolutely perfect and a great way to remember WCW by.
7) Sting vs. The Great Muta (Great American Bash ’89)
The Great American Bash ’89 is heralded by many to be the best pay-per-view ever and this match is one of the reasons so many people remember this event so fondly. This was a match over the World TV Title and it was a classic matchup of speed(Sting) vs. high impact(Muta). This match was non-stop action from bell to bell and the crowd was very into it as both men were incredibly over. Sting won after countering Muta with a backdrop suplex and this match was a testimony to just how over Sting was in his glory years.
6) Sting vs. Cactus Jack (Beach Blast ’92)
This was a falls count anywhere non-title match(Why they made it non-title when Cactus didn’t win anyway is beyond me) that pitted the dangerous Cactus Jack against the World Champion Sting. This match was insanely fast paced with both men taking some very vicious bumps. Sting won the match after delivering a flying clothesline to Cactus from the top rope onto the ramp. Mick Foley often refers to this match as his favorite pre-WWE match and considering some of the crazy shit he did in ECW as well as Japan, that’s saying a lot.
5) Sting & Lex Luger vs. The Steiners (Superbrawl ’91)
This match was over the WCW tag titles that were held by The Steiners and this is one of the most action packed matches you’ll ever see. I know that you may doubt that seeing that Luger was involved in this match as well, but he held his own. These two teams busted their ass and provided a very entertaining match that saw a bunch of innovative moves and near falls. The ending came when Sting saved Luger from a chain shot and ate the pin as a result. A great, fun tag team match.
4) Wargames (Wrestlewar ’91)
This match pitted the newly formed Four Horsemen of Ric Flair, Sid Vicious, Larry Zybszko, and Barry Windham against Sting, Brian Pillman and The Steiners. These two teams absolutely hated each other and that was evident throughout this match as the blood flowed and the brutality was at an all time high. The ending saw Sid damn near cripple Brian Pillman with a powerbomb that dropped him right on the neck. This match was just a showcase of how insanely over both Sting and Ric Flair were that they could elevate other talent and put on a great showcase match like this one.
3) Sting vs. Vader (Superbrawl III)
This was a non-title strap match between the two fierce rivals and many consider this match to be the greatest strap match ever. This was years ahead of its time in terms of brutality and Vader’s relentless assault on Sting left the crowd stunned. Sting was able to make a comeback, but Vader’s overwhelming power was too much as he proceeded to drag Sting to all four corners in order to win the match. Absolutely brutal, great stuff that is definitely worthwhile to seek out.
2) Wargames (Wrestlewar ’92)
This Wargames match pitted Steve Austin, Rick Rude, Larry Zybszko, Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton against Sting, Barry Windham, Ricky Steamboat, Nikita Voloff, and Dustin Rhodes. This is considered by many to be the greatest WarGames match ever and it’s hard to disagree with that statement. This match was the culmination of the Dangerous Alliance angle, which if you think about it was very similar to the nWo storyline except that it didn’t go on forever. Sting’s team represented WCW who were trying to rid WCW of the Dangerous Alliance for good. This match was insanely bloody with particularly Austin and Rhodes bleeding all over the place. The ending saw Sting lock in an armbar to Eaton, who had already severly hurt his arm in the match, for the submission. This was an absolutely fantastic, classic, can’t miss match.
1) Sting vs. Ric Flair (Clash Of Champions I)
This was the match that made Sting’s career. Sting was an up-and-comer at this point, but after this match he became the biggest face in WCW(well NWA at the time). This was for Flair’s NWA title and there was a 45-minute time limit. Sting took it to Flair in this match and had the champ on the ropes at numerous times. With 30 seconds left before the time limit, Sting was able to lock in the Deathlock, but Flair held on until the time expired. The match was declared a draw(which incidentally was funny since before the match it was declared that there MUST BE A WINNER) and a star was born in Sting. He would go on to achieve great success in WCW, but this is the one match that turned him into the face of WCW for over a decade.
Check out all these great columns by my 411 brethren:
-Andy Clark’s “Shimmy”
-Ari’s “Column Of Honor”
-Sean, Alex and David’s “Triple Threat”
-Bayani’s “Truth B Told”
-Weyer’s “Shining The Spotlight”
-Byers’ “Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People”
-Larry and Geoff’s “3R’s”
-Fact Or Fiction
-O’Dog’s “Forgotten Goodness”
-Sat and Uncle Trunx’s “High Road/Low Road”
-Phill Feltham’s “Quick Talkdown”
-Sarnecky’s “Piledriver Report”
-Slimmer’s News Report
-Hidden Highlights and The Great Positivity Debate
-Carapola’s “That Was Then” and “The Week in Hardcore”
-The Fink’s Payload
-Gamble’s “Just ‘Spose”
-Clarke’s “Ask 411”
-Meehan’s “Meethinks”
-Sforcina’s “Evolution Schematic”
-Prag’s “In Defense Of?.”
-Wrestlers of the Week
-Sullivan’s “Crystal Ball”
-Randle’s “Wrestling News Experience”
-Double M’s Rasslin Report
-News To Start Your Weekend
-Dunn’s Rawtopsy, ECW Breakdown, Smackdown Breakdown and TNA Breakdown
-Cook’s “News From Cook’s Corner”
-Mike LaFave’s “Getting Over”
-Your News, Larry’s Views
That’s all for this week mis compadres. Be sure to send in your feedback and join me next week when the topic will be The Top Ten Celebrity Moments. Ohh you already know that K-Fed’s gonna be on that
mutha.
