Sting's 5 Best WCW Rivals (& 5 Worst)

Over the course of his 36-year career, the iconic pro wrestling star known simply as Sting has not only enjoyed world title reigns numbering in the double digits, but also a number of rivalries across multiple companies, including Kurt Angle in Impact Wrestling, Seth Rollins and The Authority in WWE, and Team Taz in All Elite Wrestling, But Sting’s career-defining run played out in the sadly defunct World Championship Wrestling.

RELATED: Sting: 5 Of His Best Matches In WCW (& 5 Of His Best In TNA)

Having spent nearly 15 years with the promotion, Sting’s had countless rivalries in WCW, both good and bad. So let’s take a look at some of his best rivals, as well as some of his worst ever.

10 Best: Big Van Vader

For many fans, one of Sting’s best rivalries in WCW was against the monster heel Big Van Vader. Introduced in WCW in 1990 and managed by Harley Race, Vader proved an impressive physical sight, and also racked up some major wins. It was at Great American Bash ‘92 that Vader dethroned Sting to win the WCW World Title, with several singles encounters in the year that followed, including a classic strap match at SuperBrawl III in February 1993, which Vader won. Their last singles match would be for the vacant International Heavyweight Title at Slamboree ‘94, with the Stinger coming out on top.

9 Worst: Rick Steiner

Sting and Rick Steiner had a long history together, going back to them being in the same faction — as well as tag team champions — in the Universal Wrestling Federation. In WCW, however, save for a classic bout for the Tag Belts at SuperBrawl ‘91, their singles rivalry left something to be desired, especially as WCW grew closer to the year 2000. After a series of TV matches that failed to end even remotely decisively, the two had a Falls Count Anywhere bout at The Great American Bash ‘99 which was infamous for a cheesy spot with Sting getting attacked by what amounted to a puppet meant to represent one of Rick Steiner’s dogs.

8 Best: Ric Flair

As far as most fans are concerned, Sting was the WCW babyface and Ric Flair the WCW heel, so it’s only natural that their rivalry would define not only their careers but WCW itself. It was their time limit draw in the main event at the very first Clash of the Champions in 1988 that elevated Sting to main event status, with Sting finally beating Flair for the belt in July of 1990 at The Great American Bash.

RELATED: Every Major Ric Flair vs. Sting Match, Ranked

WCW itself understood the value of their years-long rivalry, so it was only appropriate that they book the two men to close out the final episode of Monday Nitro ever on March 26, 2001, with Sting defeating Flair “where the big boys play” one last time.

7 Worst: The Black Scorpion

While Sting’s defeat of Flair for his first World Title win was a major moment in the Stinger’s career, the reign itself left a lot to be desired. His primary foe during this run was the mysterious Black Scorpion, a masked villain who’d ultimately be revealed to be Ric Flair. While that makes it sound like Scorpion and Flair would be considered the same rival, Flair was actually a last-minute change. Initially portrayed by journeyman wrestler Al Perez, WCW failed to come up with a suitable reveal when it came to Black Scorpion’s identity during what was already a lackluster feud, and so the company opted for the easy yet nonsensical choice in Ric Flair.

6 Best: The Dangerous Alliance

Formed in 1991 and led by Paul E. Dangerously (a.k.a. Paul Heyman), The Dangerous Alliance was a heel group composed of Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Steve Austin, and more, with the goal of taking over WCW. Like a certain major invasion storyline late in the 1990s, top babyface Sting was an obvious choice to oppose the villainous group, leading to what many fans consider the best War Games match of all time, as Sting led Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham, and Nikita Koloff against The Dangerous Alliance to a huge victory at WrestleWar ‘92.

5 Worst: Bret Hart

The arrival of Bret Hart in WCW post-Montreal Screwjob seemed like a major coup for the promotion, but sadly it did not pan out that way. Fans were disappointed with Bret’s run with the company, which infamously concluded with a career-ending injury. His bouts with Sting should have been dream matches of the Scorpion Deathlock vs. Sharpshooter variety, but those disappointed as well, with their first substantial singles encounter at Halloween Havoc ‘98 being massively underwhelming, with return outings in 1999 faring even worse.

4 Best: Hollywood Hogan

In 1994, Sting’s status as top babyface was supplanted by the arrival of Hulk Hogan from WWE, who pretty much became world champion and the focus of top storylines as soon as he arrived. However, with 1996 came a dark turn for both men, with Hogan becoming Hollywood Hogan of the invading New World Order faction and Sting adopting his famous The Crow-inspired look.

RELATED: Hulk Hogan vs. Sting: 10 Things Most Fans Don’t Realize About Their Rivalry

While their long-awaited title match at Starrcade ‘97 proved an unfortunate turning point for WCW’s dominance over WWE, it can’t be denied how hot their rivalry was in the 18 months leading up to it.

3 Worst: Vampiro

At Spring Stampede 2000, Sting made it to the finals of a tournament to determine a new United States Champion, only for Vampiro to cost him the bout against winner Scott Steiner. This kicked off a rivalry between the two men, and several gimmick matches including a first Blood Match and a “House of Pain” match. A rivalry between an established legend and an up-and-comer seemed like a good idea, but fans mostly remember their “Human Torch Match” at The Great American Bash 2000, in which an obvious stuntman took Sting’s place in order to be set on fire and subsequently fall off the jumbotron as a silly conclusion to an already poorly received match.

2 Best: Lex Luger

Aside from Ric Flair, one of Sting’s longest relationships/rivalries in WCW would be with Lex Luger, as the two spent their time jumping back and forth between being rivals and friends depending on Luger’s alignment. Luger was Sting’s partner for the aforementioned Steiner Brothers classic at the first SuperBrawl, but Sting dethroned Luger as World Champion at SuperBrawl 2. They held the tag title together for 154 days, but Luger’s distrust is what helped catalyze Sting’s dark turn to “Crow Sting.”

1 Worst: Jeff Jarrett

Sting and Jeff Jarrett had a pretty big feud in Impact Wrestling, but their WCW rivalry was not only lackluster but mostly forgettable. Already overpushed as Vince Russo’s “chosen one,” Jarrett’s status as a main eventer seemed like a great set-up for a feud with the face of WCW, Sting, but the result did not hit those kinds of levels. Rather, the most to come out of it was an overbooked grudge match at Halloween Havoc 2000 that involved Jarrett enlisting a cadre of impostor Stings from different eras to play mind games with the Stinger in one of the stranger PPV bouts in WCW history.