The Incredible Transformation Of The Icon Sting

Sting may have retired from professional wrestling at AEW Revolution 2024, but "The Icon" and the man often known as the "Franchise of WCW" is still the talk of the wrestling world, with many of his colleagues sharing memories of Stinger's time in the business, as well as fans sharing their own stories. The man known as Steve Borden in real life had an extensive career, not just in WCW, but in TNA, and eventually WWE for a short time, before leaving his boots in the ring in AEW.

The transformations Sting went through throughout his career, which began in the Continental Wrestling Association in 1985 before he broke into mainstream wrestling with the NWA/WCW in 1988, are vast. Before being known as "The Icon" in his black-and-white face paint and tights adorned with his now-signature scorpion, he was in what's known as his "Surfer" era, with bleached blonde hair and colorful face paint.

Sting also went through a phase in TNA where he focused more on a supervillain look, à la The Joker. There weren't many times Sting was seen without face paint, his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame being one. Though he may be gone from our TV screens for a while, we're taking a look back at "The Icon's" iconic transformations.

Beginning in 1996 in WCW, Sting started to take on a darker look. His bleached hair was no more and he started to grow it long in his natural, dark color. He began wearing tights with a multi-colored scorpion, before he started rocking black gear, as well. The darker look was created to combat the invading NWO. Sting recalled that crowds began to turn on the equally as colorful and blonde Hulk Hogan, and he knew he needed a change in his character as well.

The darker Sting character began feuding with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, who had just arrived in WCW after leaving WWE, in summer 1996. When Hogan appeared at Bash at the Beach to help Hall and Nash against Sting, Lex Luger, and Randy Savage, he declared a "new world order" in professional wrestling, and Sting became a threat to the now-established NWO.

As the feud continued, Sting became the silent vigilante he would be most remembered for, not speaking on WCW programming for months. He began carrying around his baseball bat, a weapon now as iconic to Sting as the black and white face paint, which he also started utilizing more at this time. He also began watching the action of WCW from the rafters, before he eventually began to rappel down to attack members of the NWO. Sting modeled this look after the main character, Eric Draven, from the movie "The Crow," on the advice of Hall.

Outside of WCW, Sting's longest and one of his most memorable runs within professional wrestling happened with TNA. Sting signed with TNA in 2003, initially just for a handful of appearances, but later went on to sign with the company full-time. His most remembered face-painted look from his time in the promotion was a clear depiction of Heath Ledger's Joker from the Christopher Nolan Batman film "The Dark Knight."

Sting donned the maniacal paint and character arc to combat Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, who had also signed with the promotion. In the storyline, Sting warned others of the issues the heel pair would cause and slowly descended into madness as no one would listen. With the Joker-esque paint, Sting became known as the "Insane Icon."

The Joker Sting character ran its course after "The Insane Icon" turned Hogan into a babyface at Bound for Glory 2011, which ended up being his mission after all. The gimmick was dropped following the show, and Sting returned to his iconic "Crow" face-painted form. Sting has said in interviews this was his favorite iteration of his character. Prior to this now-fondly remembered Joker character in 2009, Sting was also a member of the Main Event Mafia, alongside Kurt Angle, Scott Steiner, Booker T, and Kevin Nash, and he would often appear in a business suit sans-face paint, or even looking professional while wearing his black and white make-up. Sting left TNA at the beginning of 2014 after losing a "Title vs. Career" match to Magnus.

Perhaps even more shocking than Sting's signing with WWE, was his return to the ring following the neck injury that led to his retirement. "The Icon" signed with AEW in December 2020. He rescued Darby Allin, who would go on to become Sting's tag team partner, from Ricky Starks and "Powerhouse" Hobbs. He made his in-ring debut in the company at Revolution 2021, teaming with Allin to face Brian Cage and Ricky Starks in a cinematic Street Fight. Sting and Allin would go on to team throughout the former's entire run with the company, as Sting mentioned he was not in the condition to be wrestling singles matches.

In October 2023, "The Icon" announced his impending retirement. Sting decided to retire where he began his AEW career, at Revolution, which took place in Greensboro, North Carolina. He retired on top, when he and Allin, who had won the AEW World Tag Team Championship from Big Bill and Ricky Starks on an episode of "AEW Dynamite," defeated the Young Bucks at Revolution. Sting officially retired from professional wrestling, with his iconic "Crow Sting" black and white look, in Greensboro, having been undefeated alongside Allin in AEW.

In his WWE Hall of Fame induction speech, Stinger said that "the only thing that's for sure is that nothing is for sure," so his involvement in the wrestling landscape, outside of the ring, could be far from over. Fans of "The Icon" will have to wait and see what transformation Sting goes through next.