Initially conceived as a bad joke by Ole Anderson, The Black Scorpion storyline in WCW quickly spiraled into a convoluted mess that confused fans and nearly damaged the legacy of one of wrestling’s rising stars.
WCW’s Black Scorpion storyline promised mystery but delivered failure. Explore the disaster that almost derailed Sting’s first title reign. Photo Credit: WWE.
“Too Many Cooks” – The Booking Committee That Couldn’t Decide
Jim Herd’s bold ideas clashed with WCW’s established fan base, leading to the chaotic Black Scorpion storyline. Photo Credit: WWE.
The following year, however, saw Ole Anderson replace Flair as head booker. While Anderson had previously found success in booking Georgia Championship Wrestling, six long years had passed since he last headed a promotion.
His tenure in WCW was tumultuous, particularly as he took on the follow-up to the two-year storyline that led to Sting finally dethroning Ric Flair for the Heavyweight title: the infamous Black Scorpion storyline.
In Ric Flair: To Be the Man by Keith Elliot Greenberg, Flair reveals that Executive Vice President Jim Herd was nicknamed “The Pizza King” by the boys because of his past as a Pizza Hut executive. Herd ran a constantly rotating booking committee.
While many of Herd’s off-beat ideas were shut down by other committee members, some oddities, like the Ding Dongs in ’89 and Big Josh in ’91, still made it through the cracks.
Another bizarre pitch was the crossover with the RoboCop movie character. Though it was a Ted Turner idea, Herd backed it 100%. RoboCop, however, did nothing to boost TV viewership or attract a larger audience.
But perhaps the most infamous idea Herd approved was The Black Scorpion.
Ole Anderson’s Controversial Return to Power
The Black Scorpion unmasked at Starrcade ’90—a reveal that left fans bewildered and disappointed. Photo Credit: WWE.
WCW regressed severely in 1990 while Ole, as head booker, alienated much of the talent.
Some sources claim that by lowering wages and keeping down young rising stars who had gotten a strong push only a year prior, he wanted to frustrate them to the point of quitting so they’d leave their substantial contracts behind.
This situation reached a critical point at that year’s Great American Bash on July 7, 1990, in Baltimore, Maryland, which rounded out the event with veteran stars taking center stage and Big Van Vader squashing Tom Zenk in two minutes and 25 seconds.
Ole denies all the accusations.
Sting’s First WCW Championship Reign Begins
Sting’s return from injury saw him claim the WCW Championship from Ric Flair at the Great American Bash, but the Black Scorpion storyline soon overshadowed his reign. Photo Credit: WWE.
Paid attendance and TV ratings plummeted overall. Bigwigs within the company unfairly blamed champion Sting.
“The company was self-destructing because of Herd’s [lack of] leadership, Turner Broadcasting’s ownership,” admitted Jim Cornette in 2018 on his podcast, The Jim Cornette Experience.
WCW’s creative, Ole Anderson, needed more foresight to build credible heels to challenge Sting and generate the necessary fan interest.
“It was very frustrating. We did not have the table set for Sting when he became champion,” reflected Jim Ross on his podcast, Grilling JR with Jim Ross, in 2022.
Ole did have what he thought was a good idea at the time: The Black Scorpion.
The Birth of The Black Scorpion: A Booking Misfire
Ole Anderson, the mind behind the Black Scorpion, admits he never fully thought through the character or the storyline. Photo Credit: RF Video.
Ole Anderson believed his idea was an initial success, claiming, “I hated the idea, but it was mine. I said, ‘It is working, people are buying it, so [screw] it. Let it go.'”
So, how did the Black Scorpion come to be?
Ole claims that it started as “a joke and a half.”
After Jim Herd rejected many of his ideas, he jokingly wrote down on a notecard, “Sting vs. the Black Scorpion,” without thinking it through because he assumed it would be rejected like many of his previous pitches.
To his surprise—and horror—Jim Herd loved it.
But the problem was, with his idea now greenlit, Ole had no Black Scorpion and no clue what the storyline would entail.
Cryptic Promos and Clues: Fans Left Guessing
Hints of a potential Ultimate Warrior involvement kept fans guessing, though it was ultimately impossible. Photo Credit: WWE.
In August of 1990, only weeks after Sting hoisted championship gold, the shadowy, masked Black Scorpion appeared in cryptic vignettes, using clues and riddles to explain to Sting that he was from his past.
Each week, the strangeness of the promos escalated, with the Black Scorpion continually tormenting Sting, telling him that he wasn’t interested in his title but in his life!
Some of the critical clues presented to Sting and the audience included:
“Los Angeles and California ’86 on the beach.”
“Ask Sting about Tulsa and look at his reaction.” And…
“You know me.”
These clues seemingly hinted at the possibility that the Ultimate Warrior was the Black Scorpion, as he and Sting had teamed as Power Team USA in the independent All-California Championship Wrestling and as The Blade Runners in Mid-South Wrestling (later renamed UWF), based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
However, these obscure hints would have been caught only by the most hardcore fans before the Internet era.
It was more likely they were buying time to further develop the storyline since Warrior had little chance of leaving WWF.
Sting Faces The Black Scorpion: The Clash of Champions Debacle
Commentator Jim Ross, playing the “straight man” with announce partner Paul E. Dangerously adequately sold the surprise. On the other hand, Paul E. is almost too cartoony and amateurish in his over-the-top delivery during every Black Scorpion appearance. Photo Credit: WWE.
September’s WCW Clash of the Champions XII saw Sting face one of the Black Scorpion’s many incarnations, and the Stinger unmasked him, only to reveal another mask underneath.
Now, with the unmasked, masked Black Scorpion still in the ring, Sting stood him up and began to punch him instead of immediately pulling off the second mask.
Then, another Black Scorpion (apparently the “authentic one”) appeared on the ramp during the match, further confusing Sting and the viewers.
A “stunned” Stinger looked on, but the crowd noise suggested they were buying into the drama.
Did You Know?: The Black Scorpion originally began as Al Perez, who left the company soon afterward, even though he was initially slated to be the final reveal. Whether that would have made sense is debatable. He left in September after working as the Black Scorpion only once more because management told him he wouldn’t be champion at the end of his program with Sting.
Unmasking Confusion: Multiple Scorpions, No Clarity
The Black Scorpion vs. Sting at Starrcade 1990. A bizarre series of unmaskings in their feud would leave fans more confused than thrilled. Photo Credit: WWE.
Through six months of the angle’s duration and many wrestlers under the Black Scorpion mask, it seemed like not even Ole Anderson knew who the final reveal would be or where this storyline was heading.
“Ole [Anderson] started a murder mystery with a body but no killer,” Jim Cornette would later claim.
We even see a blindfolded Gordon Solie interviewing the Black Scorpion in his dark lair, trying to get some answers, but to no avail.
In a desperate pivot, Ole Anderson was planning to be the final reveal of the Black Scorpion, but he scrapped the idea after breaking his arm while training for his comeback.
Arn Anderson might have been a more appropriate choice to flesh out the Black Scorpion storyline.
On his podcast, he explained the importance of picking the right person for the character. It couldn’t be just anyone, as Ole seemed to have booked it. Anderson suggested it should have been a tall, imposing figure with a wrestling style that fans couldn’t easily identify.
Clash of the Champions XIII: Thanksgiving Thunder, live from Jacksonville, Florida, on November 20th, 1990, might take the cake for the angle’s lowest point.
While Sting was interviewed for the upcoming Starrcade ’90 PPV in December, the Black Scorpion (in a distorted Ole voice, similar to his work with the Shockmaster three years later) interrupted him.
“Sting, Sting… the people have waited for you. But I know you have been waiting for me. And in a short while, I’ll give you and everyone a chance to see my great powers of black magic. In just a little while, Sting. Hahaha!”
– The Black Scorpion
The Black Scorpion (a hired illusionist) then manifested himself and pulled a woman from the crowd. They disappeared from the stage and then reappeared on the ramp below. The woman panicked the whole time.
In another segment, he placed a trick box on a man’s head, which began swiveling around. This man was also thrown into a cage and “turned into a leopard.”
Cringey parlor tricks, yes. Scary? Hardly.
In yet another dubious segment, the Black Scorpion used “mind control” on a referee, a preliminary wrestler, and a woman in the crowd to attack him.
The Final Reveal: An End of a Mystery
At Halloween Havoc, Barry Windham dressed up as a fake Sting and got pinned by Sid Vicious. So the ideas were now out of control, and the whole Black Scorpion storyline was off the rails. Photo Credit: WWE.
“That obviously was not Sting in the ring!”
– Jim Ross
Starrcade 1990 in St. Louis saw the final in-ring showdown with the mysterious entity: Sting’s title vs. the Black Scorpion’s mask. The kicker? The Black Scorpion emerged from what looked like a multi-colored UFO, wearing a silver, glittery, sequined cape.
So now, is the Black Scorpion an extraterrestrial and not from Sting’s past? Both?
Below is a funny exchange Jim Ross and Paul E. Dangerously had as they watched the Black Scorpion arrive in his strange, floating flower-shaped contraption.
“It looks like a spacecraft,” Ross pondered.
“Hey, I wasn’t briefed about this. This isn’t right,” exclaimed Paul E.
“You want to go home to mommy and daddy?”
“Could I?”
“Sure could. We’ll get you a glass of warm milk when this is over.”
“Look at that thing hovering overhead!” observed Ross.
“What in the world is going on? Why didn’t you tell me about this?” wondered Paul E.
“I didn’t know about this, Paul!” a salty Ross shot back.
A Disappointing Showdown: The Black Scorpion vs. Sting
Despite Ric Flair’s legendary adaptability in the ring, he was forced to disguise his iconic wrestling style while performing as The Black Scorpion. Photo Credit: WWE.
The match was uninspired, and the crowd was silent with interspersed yells of “Nature Boy” and “Flair!”
Paul E. further muddied the uncomfortable affair by planting more seeds of doubt.
“You know what bothers me is that after all these hints, after all these months, this could have all been just a trick. I mean, none of these clues could’ve been real. It could have all been a lie!”
There was a cameraman on top of the cage and one inside, too, because the cage offered a minimal view of the action, and the metal had a fuzzy glare.
So even before officially being revealed, The Black Scorpion’s reveal was a bust!
The whole train wreck mercifully ended that night, revealing Ric Flair under the black and red hood with about one minute to go in the taping. But not before they again used the “mask underneath a mask” gimmick.
Now with a silver mask, viewers saw short, bleached blond hair poking out from the back of his neck where the cover ended. He even bladed, and blood seeped through the mask in a crimson puddle, but not even this saved the match.
We also saw Black Scorpion imposters attack Sting in the end and even special referee Dick The Bruiser throwing some haymakers at them.
It was all just ludicrous.
Ric Flair Reflects on the Black Scorpion Disaster
Ric Flair looks back at The Black Scorpion chapter as one of his career’s low points. Photo Credit: WWE.
According to his book, Flair believed that Barry Windham would have been a grand final reveal, as if the Four Horsemen were using The Black Scorpion to play mind games with Sting.
However, that evening, Flair and Arn Anderson had a “street fight” against Butch Reed and Ron Simmons, so management chose Flair instead.
“I do not doubt that Jim Herd knew precisely what he was doing by putting me in this situation,” Flair admitted in his book, “and I was distraught over it.”
How ironic that the incident occurred at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, where some of the greatest NWA title matches were held, back when men who wore the championship belt were treated with deference.
Flair went on, “Sting was more furious than I was. He believed the Black Scorpion had ruined his reign. He was right.”
They told Flair he would be the Scorpion that night in St. Louis, which went against the premise of presenting Sting with someone other than Ric Flair.
All the build-up to having Flair didn’t make sense when considering one of The Black Scorpion’s early promos, where he told Sting that “a long time has passed since you last saw me” and “even if you saw my face in the light, you wouldn’t recognize me. My face doesn’t look the same.”
So, Paul E. was correct—all the clues were “lies.”
The Legacy of WCW’s Black Scorpion: A Cautionary Tale
The Black Scorpion storyline nearly derailed Sting’s first WCW Championship reign, a low point for both the company and fans. Photo Credit: WWE.
Although logic dictated pitting Sting against Ric Flair in a rematch, Jim Herd believed that a 41-year-old Flair in 1990 was over the hill and no longer a draw or a main eventer.
Hindsight is 20/20, but in 1999, Flair and Hollywood Hogan still drew the third-largest pay-per-view in WCW history and did quite well in their 50s.
Flair didn’t want to be The Black Scorpion but did what the committee asked in exchange for a later title run, which began on January 11th, 1991.
The massive failure of the entire Black Scorpion angle was that there was no planned conclusion.
Ole Anderson and Jim Herd had little direction, and after months of buildup and high expectations, the payoff disappointed.
“I don’t know if we had anybody on our roster who could have made the impact as the Black Scorpion. We didn’t have the depth, and they didn’t seem willing to pay big money to bring someone in,” Jim Ross, who had the unenviable task of trying to sell his enthusiasm whenever the Black Scorpion surfaced, would later say.
WCW reportedly lost 6.5 million dollars that year.
The Black Scorpion fiasco became the final straw, leading to Ole Anderson’s dismissal after just seven months.
The Black Scorpion storyline is remembered not for its intrigue but for its wasted potential and chaotic execution. What began as a mysterious challenge to Sting’s reign quickly spiraled into a convoluted mess that confused fans and nearly damaged the legacy of one of wrestling’s rising stars.
Despite its many flaws, the Black Scorpion storyline remains an infamous chapter in pro wrestling history, evoking a mix of nostalgia and spirited discussion every time fans revisit it.
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Javier Ojst is an old-school wrestling enthusiast currently residing in El Salvador. He's been a frequent guest on several podcasts and has a few bylines on TheLogBook.com, where he shares stories of pop culture and retro-related awesomeness. He has also been published on Slam Wrestling and in G-FAN Magazine.
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