Every Major Sting Feud, Ranked Worst To Best
For many fans, the legendary Sting is best associated with World Championship Wrestling in the late 1980s all the way through the early 2000s. But after WCW went under in 2001, Sting went on to hitch his wagon to another promotion: TNA, which was founded in 2002. First showing up in 2003, Sting ended up a regular in the promotion by 2006, and stuck around for eight more years.
Why Sting Left TNA Wrestling, Explained
"The Icon" Sting had a tremendous tenure with TNA Wrestling between 2006 through 2014 as one of the promotion's biggest stars.A five-time World Champion in TNA, Sting enjoyed a number of feuds with most of the promotion’s top talent. Let’s take a look at the major rivalries the legend had in TNA, starting with his worst and ending with his best.
10 Jeff Hardy & Sting's Feud Is Memorable For All The Wrong Reasons
Sting & Hardy Had One Of The Most Infamous Matches Of All Time
First Singles Match In TNA | Last Singles Match In TNA |
TNA Impact, 5/20/2010 | Victory Road, 3/13/2011 |
Given that they’re both iconic wrestlers with face paint, fans might have had high hopes about a Sting vs. Jeff Hardy feud. Unfortunately, a great match never ensued between the two. Their first singles bout was a five-minute affair on a May 2010 episode of Impact, and Sting’s later World Title win against Hardy was also a brief TV match. Their biggest bout was - even worse - their 90-second main event disaster at Victory Road 2011, where Hardy’s intoxication levels necessitated a quick finish.
9 Sting’s Feud With Abyss Revealed The Monster’s Past
Sting & The Monster Fought In Several Violent Gimmick Matches
First Singles Match In TNA | Last Singles Match In TNA |
Genesis, 11/19/2006 | Impact Wrestling, 6/23/2011 |
Sting’s feud with Abyss didn’t do much for Sting, but it did a whole lost for Abyss, as fans learned about The Monster’s traumatic (kayfabe) past. Because it was Abyss, Sting ended up taking part in a number of violent gimmick matches, including a “Prison Yard” match and, more infamously, the Last Rites Match at Destination X 2007. A variation on the Casket Match, the Last Rites Match was so poorly received by the live crowd that fans could be heard chanting “Fire Russo,” referring to backstage writer Vince Russo.
8 Hulk Hogan & Sting Continued Their Rivalry In TNA
Hogan Had His Final Televised Singles Match Against Sting
Only Singles Match In TNA | Winner |
Bound For Glory, 10/16/2011 | Sting |
Another old WCW rival of Sting - and an obviously more important one - was Hulk Hogan, whose heel run as New World Order leader Hollywood Hogan served as the catalyst for Sting’s reinvention from surfer dude babyface to grim vigilante. However, their relationship in TNA could never live up to the heights of their WCW days, partially because their alignments were flipped in the Impact Zone.
Why Sting Vs. Hulk Hogan AT TNA Bound For Glory Was Actually Better Than Their WCW Starrcade Match
Sting vs. Hulk Hogan was one of the biggest feuds in WCW history. But was the showdown at TNA Bound For Glory better than the one at Starrcade?All that said, their TNA rivalry does include a major milestone - at Bound for Glory 2011, Hogan wrestled his last known singles match ever, with Sting defeating the Hulkster clean.
7 Aces & Eights Ran Roughshod Over The Impact Zone
Sting Formed A New Main Event Mafia In Response
Aces & Eights Roster | Main Event Mafia Roster |
Bully Ray, Devon, Mr. Anderson, D’Lo Brown, Tito Ortiz, Taz, Knux, D.O.C., Garrett Bischoff, Wes Brisco | Sting, Magnus, Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, Rampage Jackson |
The year 2012 saw TNA embark on a divisive take on the classic nWo storyline, with a biker gang of (mostly) ex-WWE wrestlers called Aces & Eights invading TNA. With AJ Styles taking the Sting role where in the ensuing drama, Sting was free to simply oppose Aces & Eights without anyone questioning his loyalty. In response to the group’s reign of terror over the Impact Zone, Sting reformed his old Main Event Mafia stable as a babyface group, clashing with Aces & Eights on numerous occasions.
6 Jeff Jarrett Continued Their Rivalry From WCW
The TNA Co-Founder Was One Of Sting’s Biggest Rivals
First Singles Match In TNA | Last Singles Match In TNA |
NWA Total Nonstop Action, 11/5/2003 | TNA Impact, 9/2/2010 |
In 1999 - a few years before TNA started up - Sting and the controversial Jeff Jarrett had their first clash in WCW. Upon arriving in TNA in 2003, Jarrett ended up being among the first wrestlers the Stinger shared the ring with - first as a tag team partner, and then as an opponent. For the rest of the decade (except the entire year of 2008), the two’s paths in wrestling were regularly intertwined, though their best singles match was arguably at Bound for Glory 2006, where Sting won his first World Title in TNA from Jarrett while putting his career on the line.
5 Sting Dethroned Samoa Joe For The TNA World Title
Sting’s Victory Over Joe Set Up The Main Event Mafia Storyline
First Singles Match In TNA | Last Singles Match In TNA |
TNA Impact, 5/24/2007 | Victory Road, 7/19/2009 |
The first time Sting and Samoa Joe Clashed it was to qualify for the 2007 King of the Mountain match, which Joe won. More than a year later, the two had a bigger clash with higher stakes at Bound for Glory IV, as Sting challenged Joe for his TNA World Heavyweight Championship, with Sting emerging as the new champion - albeit with help from Kevin Nash. While the untimely end to Joe’s first and only World Title reign in the company was regrettable, the feud ended up paving the way for one of TNA’s best storylines with the subsequent formation of The Main Event Mafia, with Sting as its eventual leader.
4 Kurt Angle & Sting Fought Over The TNA World Title On Multiple Occasions
Sting & Angle Had A Power Struggle In Main Event Mafia
First Singles Match In TNA | Last Singles Match In TNA |
TNA Impact, 4/26/2007 | Impact Wrestling, 9/1/2011 |
Given that they spent the late 1990s and early 2000s in separate promotions, a rivalry between Sting and Kurt Angle could only go down in TNA in the 21st century. Thankfully, it didn’t disappoint, as their first major match at Bound For Glory 2007 had Sting dethrone Kurt Angle for the TNA World Championship.
10 Things Impact Wrestling Fans Should Know About The Sting Vs. Kurt Angle TNA Rivalry
Kurt Angle and Sting clashed on many occasions in TNA, often for the World Title, and sometimes they were even partners and stablemates.A year later, Sting and Angle had become stablemates in the Main Event Mafia, but soon enough began feuding over leadership, with Sting eventually usurping Kurt Angle as the faction’s boss.
3 AJ Styles & Sting Only Wrestled Twice
Sting & Styles Were Both Promotion-Defining Babyfaces In Their Primes
First Singles Match In TNA | Last Singles Match In TNA |
Turning Point, 11/9/2008 | Bound For Glory, 10/18/2009 |
Much like how Sting became the main character of WCW (pre-Hogan), AJ Styles was the homegrown top babyface of TNA before he ditched the company in 2014. It’s only natural that the two would tangle while occupying the Impact Zone at the same time, but fans may be surprised to find out that they only had two singles matches. The first time, the two were on opposite sides of the MEM/Frontline war, with Sting defending the World Title against Styles at Turning Point 2008. Less than a year later, Styles was the new champion, and successfully defended his belt against Sting at Bound For Glory 2009 in a great bout that resulted in a torch-passing moment between the two wrestlers.
2 Christian Cage & Sting Were Rivals Long Before Their AEW Clashes
Cage Turned Heel By Betraying Sting
First Singles Match In TNA | Last Singles Match In TNA |
TNA Impact, 11/23/2006 | TNA Impact, 4/26/2007 |
Modern fans have seen Sting team up with Darby Allin to take on Christian Cage and other bad guys in AEW, but they might not be aware that the two veterans go way back. After Cage arrived in the Impact Zone in late 2005, he and Sting actually teamed up as babyfaces. However, as Cage often does, he turned heel on Sting, costing him a huge match against Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Title. Over the months that followed, Sting and Christian fought in numerous multi-man matches for the Title, but the Stinger was never able to come out on top.
1 The TNA Frontline Was A Faction Of Home-Grown Talent
Sting Opposed The (Mostly) Younger Wrestlers As Part Of The Main Event Mafia
Main Event Mafia Members | TNA Front Line Members |
Sting, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Booker T, Scott Steiner, Samoa Joe, Taz, Sharmell, Traci Brooks, Jenna Morasca | AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Mick Foley, Jeff Jarrett, Rhino, Christopher Daniels, Jay Lethal, Eric Young, Consequences Creed, Brother Ray, Brother Devon, ODB, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Petey Williams |
As stated, The Main Event Mafia vs. TNA Frontline storyline is arguably one of the promotion’s biggest angles ever, with the established veterans like Sting, Kevin Nash, and Booker T united to hold down the younger TNA-loyal talent like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and even Team 3-D.
Why The Main Event Mafia Vs. The Frontline Is The Greatest Feud In TNA Impact Wrestling History (& Why It Is Overrated)
Some fans think The Main Event Mafia vs. The Frontline is the greatest feud in TNA Impact Wrestling history, but others think it's overrated.During this feud, Sting racked up a World Champion 189-day reign as champion, with defenses against not only AJ Styles, Rhino, and his own stablemate Kurt Angle, but also The Front Line as a faction via six-man tag team match at Final Resolution 2008.
