Cory Graves
Dallas’ Sting To Be Inducted To WWE Hall of Fame As Part Of WrestleMania Week.
The hits just keep on coming: As if this April’s potentially record-setting WrestleMania 32 wasn’t looking kickass enough, the WWE announced earlier today that Dallas resident Sting will be the first member inducted into the 2016 class of the WWE Hall of Fame that same weekend.
The induction ceremony itself will be held on Saturday, April 2, at American Airlines Center in Dallas as part of WrestleMania Week.
It’s an interesting move because almost none of Sting’s legendary matches took place under the WWE banner. After getting his start as The Flash in the early ’80s, the wrestler born Steve Borden eventually became the face of the WCW for a decade, with his painted face and spikey, Platinum-dyed hair.
His legend was further cemented in 1996 when he adopted a darker, more mysterious persona, painting his face to resemble Brandon Lee’s character from 1994’s The Crow and often entering the ring by being lowered down from the rafters.
Furthermore, when the WWE bought WCW in 2001, Sting famously held out, eventually signing with TNA instead. Following what he describes as his “lost decade,” Sting finally joined the WWE formally in late 2014, making his RAW debut a few months later at a Dallas taping at the AAC in January. His first action in the ring came at last March’s WrestleMania 31. Though he lost that match to Triple H, a handshake between the two afterwards is said to have finally ended the WWE/WCW feud once and for all.
In any case, regardless of any real history with the WWE, the honor is well-deserved.
“His contributions to our industry are unprecedented and we look forward to celebrating his incredible career with fans all over the world,” said WWE executive vice president Paul Levesque via a press release.
It’s also fitting that the six-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, two-time United States Champion and three-time WCW World Tag Team Champion earns his induction in Dallas. Now a Dallas resident, Sting has had a few notable Dallas-related career turns. Here are a few:
• In a cross-promotional event with RoboCop 2, 1990’s WCW Capital Combat saw Sting rescued from a fake jail cell ringside by Dallas’ futuristic Detroit’s famed crime-fighting cyborg himself.
• In 2001, Borden played a biker/drug dealer named Grangus in an episode of the Dallas-filmed Walker, Texas Ranger.
• On January 19, 2015, Sting mad his debut on WWE’s Monday Night RAW program, causing all kinds of havoc in the night’s final match with little more than an extended finger-pointing session.
Congrats, Sting. You’ve earned it.