Steve Borden (born March 20, 1959), better known by the ring name Sting, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he continues to make sporadic appearances since his retirement. He is regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, having cultivated a legacy over a career spanning five decades.
Sting is widely known for his time spent as the public face of two major American professional wrestling promotions: the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which was bought by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 2001, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Borden is best known for his time spent in two major American professional wrestling promotions: World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1988 to 2001 and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) from 2003 to 2014, as well as his retirement run in AEW from 2020 to 2024. Although the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; renamed WWE in 2002) purchased WCW in 2001, Borden did not sign with them at the time; he would later sign with WWE from 2014 to 2020. 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).
Sting in 2018
Early Career and Rise to Fame
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 be 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, where Borden changed 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.
Borden was hired to help recruit a fourth member of Powerteam USA, a professional wrestling stable headed by Red Bastien and Rick Bassman containing three other former bodybuilders while at his Gold's Gym in San Fernando Valley. After many failed to be recruited, Borden was given an offer to be the fourth member. At the time, Borden had little interest in wrestling, but Bassman constantly tried to recruit him in which Steve finally agreed.
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Power Team USA disbanded in 1986, and two of the members, Borden and Jim "Justice" Hellwig (later becoming The Ultimate Warrior), formed a tag team known as the Blade Runners. Borden changed his name initially from Flash to Sting, while Hellwig became Rock. The Blade Runners, under the management of Eddie Gilbert, wrestled in the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) based in Shreveport, Louisiana until Rock left the promotion in mid-1986. Left without a partner, Borden joined Hotstuff and Missy Hyatt in Hyatt International. He won the UWF Tag Team Championship twice with Gilbert in 1986 and a third time with Rick Steiner in 1987.
Initially a heel wrestler, Sting turned face following a match against Terry Taylor in mid-1987, where former manager Gilbert interfered on Taylor's behalf, costing Sting the match. Following a two-on-one gang up, "Gentleman" Chris Adams cleared the ring and became instrumental in Sting's face turn when Adams asked if Sting was with him or against him in his feud with Taylor and Gilbert. It was during this period of working for Bill Watts that Eddie Gilbert publicly endorsed Borden by stating to a 'dirt sheet' that Sting would be a megastar in the future. Later that year, Sting was tabbed to win Gilbert's UWF Television Championship until Jim Crockett bought the company from Bill Watts.
Booker Dusty Rhodes decided to put the belt on Terry Taylor to set up a feud with Nikita Koloff to unify the NWA and UWF Television titles. Rhodes decided to use the opening bout of Jim Crockett's first foray into pay-per-view, Starrcade '87, to showcase the young superstar, partnering Sting with Michael P.S. Hayes and Jimmy Garvin in a time-limit draw battle against Eddie Gilbert, Rick Steiner, and Larry Zbyszko. Having established himself as a rising star, Sting was one of the only UWF alumni to be pushed through the NWA.
World Championship Wrestling (WCW)
At the inaugural Clash of the Champions, Sting challenged Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The match itself was booked as a 45-minute time-limit draw. Sting lost to Flair in several non-televised rematches following the Clash and later that year continued to battle against other members of the Four Horsemen. Sting teamed with Nikita Koloff at the The Great American Bash challenging Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson for the NWA World Tag Team Championship; the match ended in a 20-minute time-limit draw. Rhodes continued to book Sting in title matches throughout the year against both NWA United States Champion Barry Windham and NWA Television Champion Mike Rotundo.
In the fall of '88, Sting was attacked by The Road Warriors after a televised match. Sting was chosen as the most over face with the fans by Rhodes, who knew turning Hawk and Animal heel would be no easy task. Sting then returned to singles matches in 1989, starting the year off on New Year's Day wrestling Ric Flair to a one-hour draw in Atlanta's Omni. After a long push, he finally won his first title in the NWA when he defeated Mike Rotundo for the NWA Television Championship. He defended the TV Championship actively but tended to face sub-par challengers such as the Iron Sheik.
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In mid 1989, The Great Muta was booked to challenge Sting on July 23 at The Great American Bash. The match was a classic Dusty Finish even though the "American Dream" had been fired months before. Sting got the three-count and was announced as the winner. A replay showed Muta's shoulder was up at the count of two and the NWA decided to declare the title vacant. Sting and Muta battled in many rematches, but they always ended in disqualification, giving neither man the championship. Eventually, Muta won a no disqualification match against Sting to win the title after using a blackjack to get the win.
In the main event of The Great American Bash, Ric Flair faced Terry Funk. After Flair got the victory, he was attacked by Muta, who was a part of the J-Tex Corporation, only to have Sting come to his rescue. Sting and Flair feuded with Muta and Funk for the rest of summer and fall, culminating in a Thunderdome Cage match between the two teams at Halloween Havoc '89, which Flair and Sting won. Sting finished out the year winning the four-man round robin Ironman tournament at Starrcade '89. The night ended when he defeated Flair in the final match to accumulate the necessary amount of points needed to win.
Sting and Ric Flair
Sting was summarily dismissed from the Horsemen on February 6, 1990 at Clash of the Champions X after refusing to relinquish an upcoming title shot at Flair, thus restarting their rivalry. Later that evening, Borden suffered a legitimate knee injury while interfering in a Steel Cage match featuring the Four Horsemen. Borden's injury forced WCW bookers to find a new opponent for Flair for the forthcoming WrestleWar pay-per-view. Sting also resumed his on-screen friendship with Lex Luger, about this time. Luger unsuccessfully challenged Flair for the title in a series of matches while Sting recuperated. Sting played a part in the finish of the match at WrestleWar, as Luger relinquished his chance to win the title in favor of helping Sting at ringside, who was in great peril at the hands of the other Horsemen.
WCW officials wanted Flair to drop the title to Luger at WrestleWar, but he refused. Flair said that he had promised Sting that he would be waiting for him to get better, and would hold the belt until then. Flair felt that Sting, as the top face in the company, deserved the belt more than Luger, a man he held little regard for offscreen. After Borden's recovery, Sting finally defeated Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on July 7, 1990, at the Great American Bash. He went on to feud with title contenders Flair and Sid Vicious. Vicious appeared to defeat Sting in a title match at Halloween Havoc, but the "Sting" who he pinned was revealed to be an impostor, played by Horseman Barry Windham. The real Sting appeared soon after and pinned Vicious to retain his title when the match was restarted.
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During this time, Sting became distracted by a masked man known as "The Black Scorpion" who taunted and attacked Sting on many occasions. This feud culminated in a final showdown between Sting and The Black Scorpion at Starrcade: Collision Course. Sting's championship reign ended on January 11, 1991, when he was defeated by Flair in a rematch from Starrcade. In the same month, WCW seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance, in the process recognizing a WCW World Heavyweight Championship and a WCW World Tag Team Championship.
Sting then feuded with Nikita Koloff in the summer of 1991. He also took part in what many consider to be one of the best matches of 1991, teaming with Lex Luger to face the Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner) at the first SuperBrawl pay-per-view. That match had also triggered the feud with Koloff when he took a chain-shot intended for his partner Luger (who had been feuding with Koloff at the time). In August 1991, Sting defeated Steve Austin to win a tournament for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship . At Starrcade '91 Sting went on to win the first ever Battlebowl in which he received a Battlebowl championship ring.
At the end of 1991, Sting became embroiled in a feud with the Dangerous Alliance, headed by manager Paul E. Dangerously. The stable targeted Sting because he was the so-called "franchise" of WCW, and vowed to destroy both him and the promotion that he was the face of, although he was also being targeted by Luger, who had once again turned heel and as WCW Champion viewed Sting as a threat. Sting engaged in many matches with Dangerous Alliance members, especially "Ravishing" Rick Rude, who was the group's main star. It was during this feud that he won the first of his six WCW World Heavyweight titles, defeating Lex Luger at SuperBrawl II on February 29, 1992.
Near the end of Sting's battles with the Dangerous Alliance, the seeds were sown for what arguably became one of the most famous feuds of his career. In April 1992, he defended his WCW World title at The Omni in Atlanta against the 450-pound Big Van Vader. During the match, Vader splashed Sting, cracking three of his ribs and rupturing his spleen. Sting recovered and defended his title against Vader at The Great American Bash in July, dropping the belt to him after missing a Stinger Splash (hitting his head on the ringpost in the process), and receiving a powerbomb.
After beating Cactus Jack in a Falls Count Anywhere match at Beach Blast and WCW newcomer Jake Roberts in a "Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal" match at Halloween Havoc, Sting again faced Vader in the "King of Cable" tournament final at Starrcade, where Sting was victorious. The Sting-Vader feud continued into 1993, with Vader defeating Sting in a bloody Strap match at SuperBrawl III. Sting exacted revenge by beating Vader for the World title on March 11 in London, England, but lost it back to him six days later in Dublin, Ireland. Sting then teamed with WCW newcomer Davey Boy Smith to beat the team of Vader and Sid Vicious at Beach Blast, in a match that was set up by a mini-movie that saw an evil midget blow up Sting's boat. At the end of the year, Sting was one of the first people to congratulate the newly returned Ric Flair after his title victory over Vader at Starrcade.
Sting feuded with Vader and Rude through the first half of 1994, defeating Vader in a match for the vacant NWA World title (referred to as the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship) at Slamboree after Rude was forced to vacate due to his suffering a career-ending injury against Sting in Japan. Soon afterward, Flair turned heel and defeated Sting in a title unification match at Clash of the Champions XXVII. In October 1995, Flair convinced Sting to team with him in a tag match against Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman at Halloween Havoc, as Anderson and Pillman had attacked Flair earlier in the night. Flair was unable to come out for the first part of the match and Sting fended off both Anderson and Pillman alone. Finally, Flair came out, but eventually turned on Sting and reformed the Four Horsemen with Anderson, Pillman, and later Chris Benoit. Sting closed out 1995 by feuding with the Horsemen.
The first part of 1996 had Sting teaming with Lex Luger (who had returned to WCW in September 1995 on the debut episode of WCW Monday Nitro) to win the WCW World Tag Team title from Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray). The reign was highlighted by the face Sting usually oblivious to the cheating tactics of Luger (a tweener) which became the means by which they usually retained the title. When Luger became temporarily unavailable in March 1996, Harlem Heat member Booker T teamed up with Sting on one occasion to successfully prevent the title from changing hands. A rematch between Harlem Heat and the team of Luger and Sting then came the following night, in which a mutual respect was displayed between Sting and Booker T. Harlem Heat eventually won the title back on the June 24, 1996 edition of WCW Monday Nitro.
In the summer of 1996, Sting was the first to stand up to The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall). They had a match at Bash at the Beach with Sting being joined by Randy Savage and Lex Luger. The Outsiders announced they would have a third man in their corner as well. In the opening minutes of the bout, Hall and Nash's partner was nowhere to be seen, but the WCW contingent's 2 on 3 advantage was short lived as Luger had to leave the match early due to an injury. Sting and Savage fought against Nash and Hall until the arrival of Hulk Hogan, who was apparently about to back up the WCW wrestlers until he attacked Savage with his Leg drop finisher in a swerve. The three subsequently formed the New World Order (nWo) at the end of the match, which was ruled a no-contest.
The nWo introduced an impostor Sting (played by Jeff Farmer), which led the crowd to believe that Sting had turned his back on WCW during a WarGames match at Fall Brawl. When the real Sting returned he was upset by the fact that many wrestlers believed that he had in fact betrayed WCW despite his denials, that he himself felt betrayed, and so he left WCW by declaring himself a "free agent." He began appearing in the rafters at WCW events; his new silent persona, complete with corpse paint, a trench coat, and longer hair replacing his spiked haircut, which was quite obviously inspired by The Crow. He was joined in the rafters on a few occasions by Randy Savage, but Savage eventually joined the nWo. He also began using a baseball bat as his signature weapon.
The nWo, in turn, began to paint Farmer's face in the same fashion to try to continue the confusion, becoming known as nWo Sting. While appearing on a WCW/nWo merchandise special on QVC Sports in late 1999, Sting revealed that Scott Hall initially suggested the idea of painting his face like The Crow. Sting continues to use this type of face paint, occasionally with different designs and the use of color. In an unusual loyalty test, Sting confronted WCW wrestlers in the ring and shoved them a few times with his bat until they were provoked enough to advance on him, at which point he drew the weapon back into a more threatening stance, causing them to stop. He would then hand the bat to the offended wrestler and turn his back, offering them a chance at retaliation. When the wrestler declined, Sting would nod, retrieve the bat, and leave the ring.
After nearly six months of uncertainty and mystery, Sting finally showed his true colors as a face by single-handedly taking out the entire nWo at Uncensored in March 1997. The pay-per-view had drawn to a close and the nWo were celebrating with their new found partner, NBA star Dennis Rodman, when Sting rappelled down over 70 feet from the roof of the arena via zip-line and began his historic battle against the nWo in which he ended up giving the Scorpion Death Drop to the principal members of the nWo: The Outsiders, Randy Savage, and WCW World Champion Hollywood Hogan. After this attack, he frequently rappelled from the rafters or even came up through the ring to attack unsuspecting members.
Crow Sting
Evolution of Sting Vignette from Nitro 1997 (Surfer to Crow Sting) (WCW)
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)
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 and instead toured with World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA), winning the WWA World Heavyweight Championship, before joining then-upstart TNA in 2003. 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.
After the closure of WCW Sting headed to TNA where he made several appearances for the new promotion from 2003 to 2004. He returned to the company in 2006 where he entered a long-running feud with Jeff Jarrett over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which he won for the second time in his career.
While in TNA, he won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship four times, the World Tag Team Championships once with Kurt Angle, and in 2012 he was the first-ever inductee into the TNA Hall of Fame.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
Previously described by WWE as the greatest wrestler never to have performed for that promotion, 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.
Sting made his WWE debut at Survivor Series on November 23, 2014. He attacked Triple H and cost Team Authority the match. Sting faced Triple H at WrestleMania 31.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW)
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.
On December 2, 2020, Sting made his debut for All Elite Wrestling at Winter Is Coming. He has since been teaming with Darby Allin. On the February 7, 2024 episode of Dynamite, Sting and Allin defeated Ricky Starks and Big Bill to win the AEW World Tag Team Championships.
Sting and Darby Allin
Championships and Accomplishments
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!
As a singles wrestler, Sting has technically won a total of thirteen World Heavyweight Championships in various promotions, though only ten of these reigns are recognized as "World" title reigns by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. He has held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship two times, the WCW World Heavyweight Championship six times, and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship two times.
| Promotion | Championship | Times |
|---|---|---|
| NWA | NWA World Heavyweight Championship | 2 |
| WCW | WCW World Heavyweight Championship | 6 |
| TNA | TNA World Heavyweight Championship | 2 |
Personal Life
He became a born-again Christian in August 1998. Sting has two sons, Garrett Lee and Steve, Jr.
Sting was previously married to Sue Borden. The couple wed in 1986 and have three children, two sons, Garrett Lee and Steven, Jr., and a daughter named Gracie. They divorced in 2010 after 24 years of marriage. Sting is now married to Sabine, who wed in 2015.
Steve Borden (born March 20, 1959) is an American former professional wrestler, actor, author and bodybuilder. He is better known by his ring name Sting. He most recently wrestled for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a one-time AEW World Tag Team Champion with Darby Allin And is the first AEW Superstar to have a Legends contract. During his time with WCW, he was known as "The Franchise (of WCW)". He is also known as "(The) Stinger", "The Icon", "The Hooligan", "The Man Called (or They Call) Sting", and "The Vigilante". Also, during a time in 2011, he went through a Joker (a character played by the late Heath Ledger in movie The Dark Knight in 2008) phase that was dubbed "The Insane Icon". He held a total of 15 championships in WCW. This includes the WCW World Heavyweight Championship six times, the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship two times, and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship one time.