The Man Called Sting

The career of Steve Borden--"Sting" to the millions of masses out there--is nearing its curtain call. At 56, there isn't a lot left for the Stinger to do in professional wrestling, except the one thing that fans have been clamoring for since before the demise of his home-turf World Championship Wrestling in 2001, and that is to face the Undertaker. While that dream seems to be heading to its logical conclusion (Undertaker was reportedly feeling pretty good following his Wrestlemania match against Bray Wyatt, and both Sting and Undertaker were photographed together at the airport following the show the next day) its interesting that even if Sting and Undertaker never do make one of the last great dream matches a reality, Sting's legacy won't be hurt by it's omission.

A long-beloved mainstay of the NWA/WCW from his debut in the mid-80s all the way to the closure of WCW in 2001, Sting successfully existed alongside many different main event superstars in his careers with classic matches against the likes of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Vader, Cactus Jack/Mick Foley, Nikita Koloff, Lex Luger, Scott Steiner. The list goes on. Multiple stints with the World Heavyweight and United States titles, tag team runs...Sting's career CV is impressive and certainly worthy a first-ballot entry into the WWE Hall of Fame.

The figure--a custom using the Marvel Toys/Toy Biz TNA head repainted on a Mattel body--represents Sting when I first grew up watching him, in the persona of the blonde "Surfer" before he embraced his dark side. This was the Sting that had those great matches from the bloody strap match against Vader, the skull-cracking brutality of matches against Cactus Jack, and the sheer technical brilliance of his series against Ric Flair.

Wherever Sting goes on from here is unknown. It is not sure whether or not Sting's officially done or if he will again be back in WWE for one last blaze of glory. But rest assured, much as he's said throughout his career, that the "only thing for sure about the Stinger, is nothing's for sure".