NWO Sting On Why He Was More Successful In Japan Than WCW
Jeff Farmer, aka the NWO Sting, was a part of WCW when they gained an edge in the Monday Night Wars as he was an integral part of the NWO's battle vs. WCW. He talked about the NWO sparking the Monday Night Wars and, in turn, the Attitude Era when Farmer joined Wrestling Epicenter.
"You know, I agree with you. It was amazing to be a part of and coming out as Sting at Fall Brawl and everyone thinking it was Sting and the swerve, it was just a great time in wrestling to be a part of," said Farmer. "The amount of attention, from the fans, that the nWo was able to generate; it was amazing! Credit to Hogan, Hall, Nash and Bischoff for the success of the group. It was really an amazing feat to see it make wrestling so popular."
He then talked about the NWO's popularity raising the profile of WCW which then made it another viable option to those who were unhappy in WWE.
"You know, there was a war going on! It was a great time. It was almost like a race because you had the ratings war, the buys war. And, you know, it was a great time for the boys too because if you were unhappy, you had a little leverage to go to the other side, maybe? I think that was kind of lost after the sale of WCW, you know? You have McDonald's and Burger King – you don't want to have just one choice."
Farmer as NWO Sting experienced much more success with New Japan than with WCW. He compared his experience with NWO Japan compared to NWO in WCW.
"In WCW, there were a lot of little cliques and nepotism and you never really knew who was on whose side. In Japan, it was just straight-forward wrestling," stated Farmer. "I would get there, my name would be on the board, I thrived in that environment much more than in WCW. It wasn't anybody's fault. It was just that there was a lot of talent in WCW and everybody was fighting for TV time and we didn't really have space for it all. It was just a different time."
The NWO consisting of Hogan, Hall, Nash and Waltman will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year. Farmer shared his final thoughts on being a part of the historic group.
"I just want to thank everyone who came out and see me or watched me. It was a lot of fun getting to perform in front of them and trick them and have them hate me or whatever that was [laughs]. It was an amazing thing to be even a small part of and congratulations to those guys going into the WWE Hall of Fame! It was something I was, again, just glad to be a part of!"
After leaving WCW in 2001, Farmer wrestled on the independents before retiring in 2005. Wrestling has changed quite a bit since then and he was asked if he keeps up with the current pro wrestling product.
"You know, I really don't. I did for a while when I first got out of it but I found it really frustrating me [laughs]! Because, when you know the business, it frustrates you to see things, you know? I didn't enjoy watching it so I don't watch it anymore."
Farmer then discussed what he's been up to since leaving wrestling.
"I retired a number of years ago and went back to school and got my Masters from the University of Miami. Now, I work for the University," stated Farmer. "I make a few [wrestling] appearances every now and then but not very many. My roots are in Japan and I actually was back there I wrestled there last year for [The Great] Muta. I think I'm going over there this year as well. But, other than that, I pretty much have hung the boots up."